Bowl of Oats and Composer Notes

MMMM.... OATmeal.... delish (I hate the word delish. I'm using it anyway)

I cook up a big bowl of steel cut oats, throw in 3 tablespoons of hemp seeds, 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed, a cup of pecans or walnuts, pour in some honey or maple syrup and BOOM.... big bad bowl of benefits.

Busy these days. Trying to brush up on my time management skills. My work with illy issimo is definitely keeping me busy. I got up on Saturday morning at 5AM and drove out to Malibu to get an ideal parking spot and set up to give out samples at a Surf event. The coordinator of the event told me he would have THOUSANDS of people on that beach. I would say there were maybe 100.... IF that. What a waste of a 5AM rise.

Still moving forward on TRAILS OF GRAY. It's just about time to start coordinating a shooting schedule. I've been spending time lately collaborating with a few musicians and composers. I really want the score to this film to be EPIC. So its important to find the right person, or artist, or band... and create the right sound. I sent this email to a friebd who is a musician/composer who has been ding a lot of work in the "Downtempo" and "Dubstep" world lately....



SETH!!

Whats up man... I'm excited that you're in to this. Hoping we can come up with something cool... and hopefully I can help generate a little buzz for you as an artist.

so I have some specific thoughts in mind for this score and I have some NOT so specific. I'll throw you some of my notes and include some links here to songs that have strongly influenced my writing. Some of these songs carry certain elements of what I want to carry over into this film.

First off, the beginning.... the opening shot is of a garage. Just a center framed All-American garage, shot from the outside, simple one car garage with the door closed.... we'll hold that shot for an extra beat or two and then cut to a credit or two, then fade back up with a shot of a vast canyon at dawn, a car comes around the corner and into frame, pulls over to the side of the road. We cut to the inside of the car, driver puts in in park. Its a couple, the husband stares straight ahead for a moment and then looks to his wife. Very softly he asks "You ready?"

Cut to title of the film.

I'm giving you all that description because I want the music to spike right there in some way and coincide with the presentation of the title of the film.. I'm trying to hold on to that idea for all my projects. I will show you a link to my web series CATCH, from a few years ago and you can see how I tried to spice up each opening with some cool music and match it up with the titles... THIS film is a lot more poignant and somber than CATCH, so the vibe would different.... the production quality will be much better too. I have a much better team, better cameras.... but check out some of these CATCH episode to get an idea of how I like the soundtrack to fill the room....


http://youtu.be/Q16FqSxmSOU

http://youtu.be/QQF4dOGoQIA

http://youtu.be/X-kA2F4d3rQ


So, after the opening and the titles and what not, these characters get out of the car and start their ascent to the peak, I'm imagining this steady methodical rhythm or cadence to mark the beginning of the journey and follow them through much of the film. The song "Lullaby" by JJ Grey and MoFro starts out with a sound that I really like for this vibe.... forget the lyrics... although they work as well... I'm just talking about that slow, haunting guitar. This story is almost like one tragic last dance for a couple that's been together for a very long time and "Lullaby" really hits that note.

http://youtu.be/G3els3wlnLM

I notice some of your tracks had some elements that seemed to be going in a direction that I thought would fit.... EPIC CHILLOUT is good. The beginning of PRECIPICE has a nice "count" to it... like a little bell ringing or "Ticking" quality... something like that would be great for building tension. Even the EP Promo mix "Dub" has a great menacing or forboding quality to it. Valvellar (Rkane depths below mix) is great too... has a "serious journey" thing going on there.

http://soundcloud.com/rkanerecords/sets

Ok, all that being said... I'm really looking for something that would end up running the length of the film, roughly ten minutes... accompanying the entire story, with variations in rhythm, pace, tempo. The main character, LYNN, goes through hell and back up in those mountains. She finds herself alone in this vast, strange place and is pushed to the brink of insanity in her efforts to find her husband.

Let me know what you think.


OK.... not much to share anything else. Giving out samples of Canned coffee at the Snow Patrol concert tonight. We'll be set up outside of the Hollywood Paladium somewhere hoping to hit up the converging concert-goers.

Later.