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September 4, 2008

Grand

It seems that this is my 1000th post here. I'll dedicate it to Orson and Veruca, my two favorite cats, both of whom died on the same day this past week back in Texas. The latter was almost nine years old, the former not even one. Veruca was my first cat and, before being adopted into my family at large, she lived with me and James in Gay Manor, our first ill-fated abode. She was mean and spiteful and moody and hated almost everyone, and I loved her for it. Orson, who James and Amy adopted last winter, was exactly the opposite in ever possible way, and never failed to lighten the mood at homebase throughout the St. Nick shoot. I miss them both very much - more than I thought I would before I ever considered the possibility of their absence from the periphery of my life. Oh, animals.

* * *

I shot the closing credits for St. Nick the other day; seeing as how I filmed the opening titles in New York, I figured it was fitting to do these in California.

I've spent the last few days making little trims, polishing up odds and ends, crossfading sounds, recording rough foley and all the other things that will make this picture a little more capable of standing on its own two feet. We did a first pass at color correction on the shots that needed it the most. There was one scene that required ADR, involving Tucker and Toby; keeping with our cross-country theme, James recorded Tucker's half in Texas, and we did the other half here in LA, in a whaler's rum-fueled session that quickly turned hilariously obscene; and then, through the magic of FTP, both sessions were mixed, made one and bound together by an old country tune on the radio, performed by my brother. I also attempted to record some temp score myself, and let me tell you, it ain't easy. My compositional aptitude is horribly at odds with the exactitude I require from a film score. I managed to come up with a nice organ number to close out the film, and then, for an earlier sequence that needed a little something melodic, I fell back on Satie's Gymnopédie No. 1. Not the most original choice, but it actually works quite beautifully. I wonder how much it would cost to license.

And now I think I've taken this movie just about as far as I can on my own. Time to find some folks to turn it over who can carry it that last quarter mile...

Posted by David Lowery at September 4, 2008 3:15 AM

Comments

Posted by: Clay Liford at September 5, 2008 12:25 AM

Posted by: Adam Donaghey at September 7, 2008 7:17 AM