Sunday, February 28, 2010

Music update

Just got off iChat after a long discussion about the score with Geoff.  So far I have heard 3 music cues and it is all sounding really great, I had a couple suggestions about the cues and we talked about the ones he is working on, as well as the end song.  He is putting in some big hours to meet the deadline and it is really appreciated.

Looking forward to recording Dustin's ADR tomorrow morning, then David and I have to deliver some sound files to someone in the valley, then we'll be going to Warner Brothers Studios.  Katy Wood, who is an AFTRS friend of mine, is working as a Dialogue Editor there on Clint Eastwood's latest film.  She invited me up to view the facility.

So it's getting very busy on the Kanowna front, both in Australia and in LA.

Friday, February 26, 2010

LA

Well I arrived at LAX and made it through Customs in record time.  Went straight to the B&B that I am staying at and got settled in.  It is a lovely place in Hancock Park, which is a really nice area and quite central.  David organised for us to attend an MPSE event yesterday evening, which was about Inglorious Basterds.  I thought it would be great to hear the sound guys discussing the film.

To my surprise Vfx legend John Dykstra, the films editor Sally Menke, DOP Bob Richardson, Supervising Sound Editor Wylie Stateman and Re-recording Mixers Tony Lamberty and Michael Minkler were in attendance.  The big surprise was Quentin Tarantino showed up halfway through the forum.  Wow!  what a way to start an LA visit!

We're now working hard on the dialogue edit, discovering little gems in the material that Adrian sent to us. Geoff is working hard on the musical score, but communication over the past few days (while I was in transit) was difficult, which meant he worked on a cue for a day longer than he actually needed to.  The clock is ticking, but it's all coming together.

I will be going to see Ep.3 of The Pacific this evening with Dustin, the series hasn't been release in the US yet and probably won't get to Australia until later this year, so I'm excited to see it.

I guess this is the difference about living in the sleepy town of Perth and the American film capital of Los Angeles, there is so much going on over here that you would probably be able to find some sort of film function to go to every night.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

2nd cue

Geoff and I spent much of today and this evening working on, discussing and coming up with ideas for the 2nd cue of the film.  Communicating electronically from across the country can be fraught with misunderstanding when files don't upload correctly and you can't get comms working as they should.

That said, the second cue is sound very nice and there is a lovely touch, which I won't reveal here.  I wonder how many people will pick it up, when they watch the film?

Bag is semi-packed, communications tested (partially working)... ready.

Monday, February 22, 2010

ADR

Three hours doing recording ADR for the film.  We didn't have enough actors so Ben played a number of roles, as did Michael and I.  It would be great if we had the resources to do this all properly, but I'm sure we've go enough to do the job.

Ben did the best Chinese laundry owner!

Very tired now, need sleep.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Congratulations Clarkie!

Clarke Richards, who plays the role of Trooper Clarke in Kanowna, has just been awarded Best Actor at the 2010 Tropfest Film Festival, for his role in the film Happenstance.  It's a fantastic achievement and we are all very thrilled for him.
The happy award winner, pictured here with Katie May Johnson who won the Woman in Film Award


Onya mate!

Saturday, February 20, 2010

First music cue

Geoff sent through the first music cue which goes for all of 27 seconds, but in that time he has managed to do something incredibly emotional and haunting at the same time.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

You choose




Red or Gunmetal?  Which one do you like for the opening title?

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

iChat rocks

I had a three hour sound spotting session with David today who, as you know is in LA.  We used iChat and were able to play the film in one portion of the chat screen and discuss scenes as we played them.  I've done lots of discussions over Skype, but iChat was clear, with no lag time and didn't drop out once! 

The film was discussed from start to finish with effects, foley, ADR and the relation to story of all.  At the conclusion we decided that we need ADR from Dustin and Ben, and also group sounds for the town scenes. 

It was great to be working with him as he isn't a one man band.  He has this team who do various parts of the project, overseen by him and I, which are all pulled together at the mix. 

I am heading to LA next week, for the final sound lock-off and dubb.  Exciting time, we're getting very close.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Sound spotting

Just finished a two hour music spotting session with Geoff, the films composer.  We went through the film scene-by-scene and discussed emotional beats, story points and structure.  I really enjoy the creative process and working with Geoff is always good.  Interestingly we are working over Skype, as he is in Sydney and I am in Perth.  So long as you are working off the same files, with timecode, it is really easy to communicate and get your ideas across.

Sound spotting session has be organised for Wednesday morning and I am really looking forward to that.  We're getting close!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Larson Studios

David will be working the post sound on Kanowna at Larson Studios in Hollywood.  The gang at Larson's are highly regarded and have won around 20 Emmy's and 1 Oscar between them.  So there is a lot of knowledge and talent around the place.  I visited there when I was last in LA and they were really friendly and accommodating. 

It's mad that our little film from Perth, Australia will be mixing there, but it's exciting and I know it will lift the film to another level just by having professionals of this level involved with the film.

Kanowna (short film). Sound Post begins!

Due to a little delay we are about to go into Post Sound and Music.  LA based, Emmy nominated Sound Editor David Raines, will be leading his team for the post sound on Kanowna.  We are really excited to have David involved in the film.  His involvement eventuated when David offered to work on the project during a telephone conversation with Kanowna's Director, Chris Richards-Scully. 

The final mix is scheduled for March 5, so keep watching for updates and a few surprises.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Kanowna poster


Hello everyone and sorry for the lack of posts of late, we have been very busy and will be adding more to the blog very soon.  Here is a draft of the Kanowna film poster, Michael and I have already made suggestions for alterations to the designer, but I thought it would be nice for you all to see it anyway.

We are discussing the colour of the title's font and will be posting the options for your feedback in a future post.  If you have any comments about the poster please let us know, we'd love to hear from you.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Follow Kanowna on Twitter

http://twitter.com/kanownathefilm

Kanowna website

I've been busily working on the Kanowna website, which is looking pretty funky and almost ready to go live.  Unfortunately you will all have to wait until the film is finished, before we advertise, but when we are finally ready to 'go live', we'll need everyone's help to get the web address out to everyone they know and encourage them to get it out to everyone that they know and so on...

For now, we'll keep modifying the content and wait until the official date.