Scoring the Movie

Music was always easy for me back in film school. It was also the most enjoyable part, because you get to add a flair of emotion to your movie. I don’t remember laboring so hard as I have on this project in finding the correct tone of the movie. I think the more complex your characters and story, I think adds to it. In essence, you are lending the unspoken voice when you add music. It’s a crushing feeling because everything I tried thus far was so….wrong. It felt wrong. Sometimes it was temporarily scored to upbeat music. Sometimes to whimsical, and other times to a fairy tale quality. NONE of it matched the sensibility that the movie was saying.

I think it took me this long to buckle down and FINALLY complete the project because of fear. The fear being that I’ve lost that immediacy. That way of just knowing what works and what doesn’t. Since I stopped boozing, I rarely sense emotions in a wild rollercoaster. The process was simple, drink myself into oblivion, work on an artistic endeavor and be too hungover to care in the morning. What booze was doing was concealing fear with bravado. It wasn’t honest, but it got results. When you change your life drastically, it really tweaks your mindset as well. This would be the first movie (over 15 minutes long with sync sound) I’ve made without booze.

Not to say that is the complete reason why, but it definitely adds to it. Also, I’ve included more and more people into the mix. I rely on sound mixers, composers, colorist, etc… whereas before I had to do it completely on my own. A friend was impressed I was still able to come this far without all that much logistical support. I didn’t tell him that I went through four failed scripts and doors slamming in my face to get here. It’s debilitating when you can’t pay people properly to do something you believe in. They have to believe in you. It’s not an easy sales pitch, especially when you’re drying out from all those years of drinking and get twitchy.

So, I’m excited and happy to say, that I’ve set a definitive date now. Hook, crook, good, bad or ugly, IT WILL BE FINISH BY JUNE. And the best part is…I’ve started to slug in music that is PERFECT for the movie. It feels right…even at my most tired after work, I come home watching the short with this new temp music, I am satisfied I am on the right track (pun intended). It’s a good feeling to feel so confident in finally coming to that decision. In a way, I think the time pulled away from this project helped get me perspective. I can’t wait to show it to people when it’s done. It’s no “Lawrence Of Arabia” but it’s close. Heh heh.