Any Plan should Not be a Rigid Plan.
Military planners have a saying: Any war plan is no good after the first day. Meaning: The forces of chaos will always interfere with your long-term plans. You must build into your plan some flexibility.
-Expect things not to happen on time.
-Expect stuff to break down.
-Expect an outside entity to not behave as expected.
But there is another benefit to having a plan with a loose enough structure to allow changes on the fly. Sometimes an unexpected event will occur that will advance your project a beneficial way. It is similar to my philosophy about handling chaos when trying to accomplish something:
Surf the Wave.
Surfboarding is literally riding chaos. The hydrodynamics involved with an ocean wave rising and cresting is unpredictable. Surfers instead shoot themselves into the situation and make adjustments to ride it out. The lesson is instead of fighting these opposing forces, work them into plan. This gets you prepared for contingencies in a way that you already know how to deal with, so they won't slow you down.
Examples:
- Extra cash on hand
- Put in a buffer of extra time in the plan
- Have backups of all normally used tools
- Check things you don't normally check
- Perform thought experiments (What if we did this?)
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
The 85% Rule
Is this a Rule? I don't really know. It was my intuition married with many years of low budget production to come up with this very accurate rule of thumb about how much time equates to how perfect your project must be. The rule is basically this:
For a normal budget, the closest you can allow yourself to achieving 100% of your vision is 85%.
The amount of money and time to get the last 15% will cost up to three times as much relative to the 85%. You should be happy to get 85% of the shots you were looking for on a given day. Maybe you wanted a few extra takes on a shot, or a little more time to light, but you keep the ball rolling. You still get close enough to reaching your mark to catch something that is Great, just not Excellent. I think good B-Movie directors are also good magicians by figuring out how to fudge that 15% and make those cheap effects or other attempts at a money shot look better than they really are.
The Show Must Go On
The fledgling TV show I worked on in the '90's, "Video Nation", had just enough money to put it on the air and pay for a couple days of editing. The show was ambitious, one of the first ever to green screen the VJ with wild animation. We had many cool ideas to add, but only got about 85% of them in the actual show. In the case of the 'no budget' feature that I am restoring right now, the film was originally finished after about 3 months back in 1997. The picture cut went smoothly and 90% of the location audio was usable. But the director wanted to fix all the bad dialogue reads during shooting. The main character (that is in every scene of the film) had all his dialogue re-recorded. Twice. If the director stuck to the 85% principle, he would've cut his losses and not spent another 9 months trying to fix everything. He ran out of money to pay for all the post-production sound costs and the movie was shut down.
Perfection can only exist in a vacuum. Nature abhors a vacuum.
The forces of nature will ALWAYS conspire against your vision from the first step of the process. Many people kill themselves for that last 15%, but for what? A rock band will tour for 10 years until they finally get that hit album, only to be burned out from the long and gruelling process. For me, I will always work that extra amount when it counts. Like yesterday, I needed to update my video editor Demo Reel for a job application, something that I could whip together in 4 hours. However, this DVD I was creating also represented how much attention I gave to detail. That extra 15% caused me about 12 hours more work.
Perfection is always a virtue, never a reality.
Moviemakers will spend $200 million dollars getting a movie just right, but will still wish they could've fixed a couple shots. Even when George Lucas went back to 'fix' his earlier "Star Wars" films, he still said that he never got to 'clean up' as much of the film as he wanted. Or, look at Francis Coppola's "Apocalypse Now". His quest to make the perfect film nearly killed him, and he still was never satisfied with the ending. In these cases, you get 99% there, but chaos will always factor in the equation. Such as the Demo Reel I finished yesterday, I still notice minor glitches or slight imperfections (that hopefully nobody else will notice).
The 85% Balance of Life
So what the heck am I talking about? Take anything in my Bohemian lifestyle, I pick and choose the perks in my life, while letting other things slide.
- I own a 16 year-old car. It looks OK (not much rust), and gets me from point A to point B. It cost $2000. To get the dream car of my life, would cost at least $10,000. Indeed, I have tried to maintain nice old cars a few times in my life, but I never made enough money to justify the upkeep.
- I own a Digital Audio Workstation software called Logic. It is less well known than the industry standard - Pro Tools. However, I get (at least) 85% bang for the buck for thousands of dollars less.
Ying/Yang. Karma. Balance.
But there also is a balance in the world. I can see the 85% principle as a theme in my life. It's like going to college. Many know that to get to the PhD level requires up to three times as much school compared to a four year degree. I hear some friends questioning the value of killing yourself to get that extra piece of paper. When I was growing up, I was required to sit by myself in a room and practice the piano for two hours a day after school. Meanwhile, my friends were outside playing kickball or off on some adventure. The biggest issue I have with the hard work of reaching my Big Goals, is that I miss the rest of the world passing me by. I eventually quit the piano the same time I quit college. I would decline to work overtime at my job, to make time for such things as meeting my niece at a scheduled time to go walking with her dog. It was just as important as whatever critical issue was going on at work.
Live Your Life by Not Killing Yourself.
So my suggestion is to be content with getting "almost there", and understand the sacrifice it takes to actually reach the top of the mountain. Of course, do it when the momentum is right and it is one of the most important things in your life. I have accomplished much, and killed myself over making the grade in my film and audio career. But I also found the time to let other far flung dreams have a chance to express themselves. None of the other hobbies have ever made me financially successful, but that's not the point. I notice many movie stars like to record their own music and release albums. They probably don't expect to be able to quit their day jobs, but they get a chance to act out their fantasy. I spend a great deal of time recording my pop music, but only give out the CDs to friends, or post them for listening on MySpace. The balance rule works both ways. I find that I can let things slide too much in the other direction, like yardwork. There is a karma to the whole philosophy, and I don't realise the dividends that paying more attention to my yard will do.
For a normal budget, the closest you can allow yourself to achieving 100% of your vision is 85%.
The amount of money and time to get the last 15% will cost up to three times as much relative to the 85%. You should be happy to get 85% of the shots you were looking for on a given day. Maybe you wanted a few extra takes on a shot, or a little more time to light, but you keep the ball rolling. You still get close enough to reaching your mark to catch something that is Great, just not Excellent. I think good B-Movie directors are also good magicians by figuring out how to fudge that 15% and make those cheap effects or other attempts at a money shot look better than they really are.
The Show Must Go On
The fledgling TV show I worked on in the '90's, "Video Nation", had just enough money to put it on the air and pay for a couple days of editing. The show was ambitious, one of the first ever to green screen the VJ with wild animation. We had many cool ideas to add, but only got about 85% of them in the actual show. In the case of the 'no budget' feature that I am restoring right now, the film was originally finished after about 3 months back in 1997. The picture cut went smoothly and 90% of the location audio was usable. But the director wanted to fix all the bad dialogue reads during shooting. The main character (that is in every scene of the film) had all his dialogue re-recorded. Twice. If the director stuck to the 85% principle, he would've cut his losses and not spent another 9 months trying to fix everything. He ran out of money to pay for all the post-production sound costs and the movie was shut down.
Perfection can only exist in a vacuum. Nature abhors a vacuum.
The forces of nature will ALWAYS conspire against your vision from the first step of the process. Many people kill themselves for that last 15%, but for what? A rock band will tour for 10 years until they finally get that hit album, only to be burned out from the long and gruelling process. For me, I will always work that extra amount when it counts. Like yesterday, I needed to update my video editor Demo Reel for a job application, something that I could whip together in 4 hours. However, this DVD I was creating also represented how much attention I gave to detail. That extra 15% caused me about 12 hours more work.
Perfection is always a virtue, never a reality.
Moviemakers will spend $200 million dollars getting a movie just right, but will still wish they could've fixed a couple shots. Even when George Lucas went back to 'fix' his earlier "Star Wars" films, he still said that he never got to 'clean up' as much of the film as he wanted. Or, look at Francis Coppola's "Apocalypse Now". His quest to make the perfect film nearly killed him, and he still was never satisfied with the ending. In these cases, you get 99% there, but chaos will always factor in the equation. Such as the Demo Reel I finished yesterday, I still notice minor glitches or slight imperfections (that hopefully nobody else will notice).
The 85% Balance of Life
So what the heck am I talking about? Take anything in my Bohemian lifestyle, I pick and choose the perks in my life, while letting other things slide.
- I own a 16 year-old car. It looks OK (not much rust), and gets me from point A to point B. It cost $2000. To get the dream car of my life, would cost at least $10,000. Indeed, I have tried to maintain nice old cars a few times in my life, but I never made enough money to justify the upkeep.
- I own a Digital Audio Workstation software called Logic. It is less well known than the industry standard - Pro Tools. However, I get (at least) 85% bang for the buck for thousands of dollars less.
Ying/Yang. Karma. Balance.
But there also is a balance in the world. I can see the 85% principle as a theme in my life. It's like going to college. Many know that to get to the PhD level requires up to three times as much school compared to a four year degree. I hear some friends questioning the value of killing yourself to get that extra piece of paper. When I was growing up, I was required to sit by myself in a room and practice the piano for two hours a day after school. Meanwhile, my friends were outside playing kickball or off on some adventure. The biggest issue I have with the hard work of reaching my Big Goals, is that I miss the rest of the world passing me by. I eventually quit the piano the same time I quit college. I would decline to work overtime at my job, to make time for such things as meeting my niece at a scheduled time to go walking with her dog. It was just as important as whatever critical issue was going on at work.
Live Your Life by Not Killing Yourself.
So my suggestion is to be content with getting "almost there", and understand the sacrifice it takes to actually reach the top of the mountain. Of course, do it when the momentum is right and it is one of the most important things in your life. I have accomplished much, and killed myself over making the grade in my film and audio career. But I also found the time to let other far flung dreams have a chance to express themselves. None of the other hobbies have ever made me financially successful, but that's not the point. I notice many movie stars like to record their own music and release albums. They probably don't expect to be able to quit their day jobs, but they get a chance to act out their fantasy. I spend a great deal of time recording my pop music, but only give out the CDs to friends, or post them for listening on MySpace. The balance rule works both ways. I find that I can let things slide too much in the other direction, like yardwork. There is a karma to the whole philosophy, and I don't realise the dividends that paying more attention to my yard will do.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Hazards of Being a Late-Nighter
I was a Boy Scout as a Kid
About three years ago, I was up past midnight on a weeknight. My neighbourhood is pretty quiet, with a church on the corner. The doorbell rang, odd for the late hour. There was a woman at the door, she had been crying. I myself am a considerate person, and will not just turn a blind eye to those in need, so I let her in to see what her problem was. She explained that she got in a fight with her boyfriend, but she did not appear to be physically harmed. A couple things about her started to illuminate her disposition beyond her story of woe. She explained that she was wandering in the night. The church on the corner has a lit-up sign that is easy to see, and she walked toward the sign as her guiding light. She said she spotted the lights on in my house when she reached the church. She looked in her late twenties and was a burnout. I sympathised with her relationship problems, and didn't mind too much that she rang my doorbell. She then started asking how to get someplace from here. It seemed that she was unfamiliar with this part of town, perhaps she visits this boyfriend but doesn't know the neighbourhood. It started to seem apparent that she had been drinking, and judging by the piercings and tattoos on her face and everywhere else, that she was not leading a responsible life.
The Pitch
She asked for some cab fare to go to a friends house. I was going to give her ten bucks. She asked for twenty, now her friend's house was in St. Paul. I was reluctant, but gave her the $20 just to get her out of my house. I have performed Good Samaritan deeds from time to time. I think it is good Karma. A few months later I was driving a few blocks down from my house and saw her walking on the sidewalk. She seemed pretty familiar about where she was. My guess she might've used the cash for drugs or booze, but at the time I was not hurting financially.
The Friend in St Paul
Maybe a year later, a guy stops me as I pull into the parking lot at work. His car broke down, he says, and he needs to get the part to fix it from a guy in St. Paul. He needs cab fare to go get the part from the guy. I think, why does everyone in need have a friend that lives in St. Paul? Low and behold he wants to borrow $20, noting that he knows where I work, and will return to pay me back. Now, being a Good Samaritan, I evaluated whether this guy really needed my money. He was not in tears, having just broke up with a girlfriend. He was not stranded in the middle of the night (a bus runs in front of the place where I work), and I didn't know this guy. Not that it mattered, but he was a bit of a rough looking biker dude who probably chose a lifestyle that wasn't financially secure. I told him I didn't think his story merited $20 (take a bus, ask your friend for a ride, theres a mechanic just down the block). He held no bad feelings and that was that.
The Beacon in the Night
Tonight at about 2am there was a knock on my front door. There was a man with puppy dog eyes asking for help. His buddy was supposed to give him a ride but ditched him. He asked to borrow money for cab fare. He started to mention the people in the neighbourhood that he knew, but I did not know him. He had a strong smell of alcohol on his breath. He wanted the cab fare to go to New Brighton, about a mile away from where we were standing. He appeared to be in good physical condition. To make is easy, I told him I didn't have any cash. He hemmed and hawed. "Can't help you, sorry", I shirked. He made an offer, he would give me an extra ten bucks if I went to a cash machine to get some cash. Of course, the failure of his logic is that:
A. I would have to leave the house, get in the car, drive to a cash machine, and drive back home.
B. If a cash machine was going to be involved at all, then this man could withdraw his own cash.
No, I told him, I was not going to leave my house at 2am in the morning so a drunk man can get cab fare instead of walking about a mile. I'm sure that he had the same plans as the tattoo lady did when she visited me in similar circumstances. I apologised and he went on his way.
Karma: Closed after Midnight.
I don't mind helping people out, as others have so graciously done for me. But I don't hit up strangers for $20 to get drunk. If I am stranded in town without money, I'll make my way to a cash machine before I'll beg for money. Mostly, I see the value of living responsibly so that I don't find myself drunk and poor and only concerned about how to get drunk again. I sincerely hope that these people can use guidance and other support that is available for them (I donate to Salvation Army and foodshelves), but don't feel it is right to support their destructive habits.
About three years ago, I was up past midnight on a weeknight. My neighbourhood is pretty quiet, with a church on the corner. The doorbell rang, odd for the late hour. There was a woman at the door, she had been crying. I myself am a considerate person, and will not just turn a blind eye to those in need, so I let her in to see what her problem was. She explained that she got in a fight with her boyfriend, but she did not appear to be physically harmed. A couple things about her started to illuminate her disposition beyond her story of woe. She explained that she was wandering in the night. The church on the corner has a lit-up sign that is easy to see, and she walked toward the sign as her guiding light. She said she spotted the lights on in my house when she reached the church. She looked in her late twenties and was a burnout. I sympathised with her relationship problems, and didn't mind too much that she rang my doorbell. She then started asking how to get someplace from here. It seemed that she was unfamiliar with this part of town, perhaps she visits this boyfriend but doesn't know the neighbourhood. It started to seem apparent that she had been drinking, and judging by the piercings and tattoos on her face and everywhere else, that she was not leading a responsible life.
The Pitch
She asked for some cab fare to go to a friends house. I was going to give her ten bucks. She asked for twenty, now her friend's house was in St. Paul. I was reluctant, but gave her the $20 just to get her out of my house. I have performed Good Samaritan deeds from time to time. I think it is good Karma. A few months later I was driving a few blocks down from my house and saw her walking on the sidewalk. She seemed pretty familiar about where she was. My guess she might've used the cash for drugs or booze, but at the time I was not hurting financially.
The Friend in St Paul
Maybe a year later, a guy stops me as I pull into the parking lot at work. His car broke down, he says, and he needs to get the part to fix it from a guy in St. Paul. He needs cab fare to go get the part from the guy. I think, why does everyone in need have a friend that lives in St. Paul? Low and behold he wants to borrow $20, noting that he knows where I work, and will return to pay me back. Now, being a Good Samaritan, I evaluated whether this guy really needed my money. He was not in tears, having just broke up with a girlfriend. He was not stranded in the middle of the night (a bus runs in front of the place where I work), and I didn't know this guy. Not that it mattered, but he was a bit of a rough looking biker dude who probably chose a lifestyle that wasn't financially secure. I told him I didn't think his story merited $20 (take a bus, ask your friend for a ride, theres a mechanic just down the block). He held no bad feelings and that was that.
The Beacon in the Night
Tonight at about 2am there was a knock on my front door. There was a man with puppy dog eyes asking for help. His buddy was supposed to give him a ride but ditched him. He asked to borrow money for cab fare. He started to mention the people in the neighbourhood that he knew, but I did not know him. He had a strong smell of alcohol on his breath. He wanted the cab fare to go to New Brighton, about a mile away from where we were standing. He appeared to be in good physical condition. To make is easy, I told him I didn't have any cash. He hemmed and hawed. "Can't help you, sorry", I shirked. He made an offer, he would give me an extra ten bucks if I went to a cash machine to get some cash. Of course, the failure of his logic is that:
A. I would have to leave the house, get in the car, drive to a cash machine, and drive back home.
B. If a cash machine was going to be involved at all, then this man could withdraw his own cash.
No, I told him, I was not going to leave my house at 2am in the morning so a drunk man can get cab fare instead of walking about a mile. I'm sure that he had the same plans as the tattoo lady did when she visited me in similar circumstances. I apologised and he went on his way.
Karma: Closed after Midnight.
I don't mind helping people out, as others have so graciously done for me. But I don't hit up strangers for $20 to get drunk. If I am stranded in town without money, I'll make my way to a cash machine before I'll beg for money. Mostly, I see the value of living responsibly so that I don't find myself drunk and poor and only concerned about how to get drunk again. I sincerely hope that these people can use guidance and other support that is available for them (I donate to Salvation Army and foodshelves), but don't feel it is right to support their destructive habits.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Update May 2007
Am I There Yet?
When I first was laid off from my job over 5 months ago, I accepted it as the next stage in my life, so I let things fly and gave them time to see see where I would land. Most people would've reached for the panic button after a couple months, and I myself had a slap in the face of reality about a month ago. Since that time I have adopted a Plan B that will start to get organised if Plan A continues to be lackluster.
The beauty of Plan B is that it will only re-enforce my efforts all around. I will create a website for myself (finally) and use it to promote Plan A.
The Road to "Acid Snow"
Where I sit today, however, I feel that I have allowed this freedom of time to distract me from my initial big push - to finish "Acid Snow", the only feature film I have edited so far. The road map for Acid Snow is to have a final product by the beginning of September. Just this week I have re-directed my focus to working on the soundtrack. About 3 hours ago, I finished editing the last available foley take made during the original foley sessions back in 1997. Chris White, the foley artist, did a masterful job creating all the footsteps, coats (film in winter had lots of taking off coats), glasses (lots of drinking), and zillions of incidental sound effects, like:
Soundtrack Restoration
When the original foley sessions took place, they were all neatly organised on an Avid timeline, synchronised with the picture. When the film was shut down, several months worth of sound editing was lost (could not afford to release soundtrack from rented computer system). Like a good postproduction supervisor, I had meticulously backed up all audio sessions to DAT. There were approximately 15 hours of post audio to re-edit back in sync with the picture. I began this process off-and-on in January, and now am up to the point of placing in other sound effects not covered in the foley sessions, like phone ringing, background walla, ambience, etc. This could take another month, as there are many gaps left in the soundtrack. I also plan to re-record some new foley sound to replace some spots that I couldn't find on the DAT tapes. Once I have finished filling all the holes in the soundtrack, I begin what is the Big Mix. With 24 tracks of audio, a careful blend of all the sound elements is needed to bring life to the film. This means adding reverb to the ADR voices, and finding the delicate balance of hearing footsteps without making them sound unnatural.
Sound Design - An Audio Canvas
Sound editing is a lengthy process. There will finally be some review of any additional music, or perhaps some slight changes, and then mastering the picture and sound together. The sound mix for a film is really the moment when everything comes together. A director and an editor will have gone through repeated viewings of each scene with only temporary sound, and one becomes used to hearing only that. A metamorphosis takes place when the final sound elements are brought together, and all the rough edges are smoothed out. This process will probably take most of the summer. But it also a moment I am excited about. I have mixed short films and put together some complex video soundtracks, but never a full blown feature. Back in the 80s, I at one time wanted to get a job at Cinesound, a film mixing facility in town run by Denny O'Rourke. He had the same enthusiasm about audio as I did, and was working with the latest technology. Sadly, Denny died recently and Cinesound is now closed. I have a Logic Audio system in my studio, as well as a control surface mixing board with motorised faders. This automated system will help organise the 24 tracks of audio. Sound Design is a creative process that can be as original and stylistic as any other creative medium, and it is fun for me to enhance the story by carefully crafting the reality by controlling what is heard.
Passing Time
Alas, the last five months have little else to show. I have posted some video clips on YouTube, and have made good initial progress on my new pop album. But the last five months so far has been me enacting the role of Curator for all my collected work. I am compiling, organising, arranging, scanning, documenting, capturing, archiving and scripting all the physical things I've collected in my life. The archiving of my music alone is gargantuan. I have probably 100 tapes of my original music - each holding 90 minutes. That's about 150 hours of music! (including rehearsal and basic tracks). Then there is my photograph collection, which is slowly growing on this blog and flickr. Then there is my other video work, the early stuff, and the recent corporate and broadcast projects to put together on a snazzy demo reel. Then there are my pages and pages of comedy scripts. Starting back in the Ozone Radio days, I wrote scripts in notebooks and saved them for 'some day'. Now, I feel like I can direct some of these scripts, as well as some new material.
Summer in Minnesota
The most unpleasant thing about being unemployed is the lack of social contact. I spend (by choice) the majority of my time in my home office, multi-tasking like crazy. On the other hand, Summer in Minnesota is upon us, and one has no choice but to go outside and join everyone else celebrating the time of year in our great state when it is Not Winter. This means that there is a festival or party every weekend somewhere, and if you don't have a beer in your hand, someone will quickly make sure you do. As my own projects start to slowly unfold in the next few months, hopefully I will be able to look back upon this period and see that it was worthwhile. On the other hand, there is of course, Plan B.
When I first was laid off from my job over 5 months ago, I accepted it as the next stage in my life, so I let things fly and gave them time to see see where I would land. Most people would've reached for the panic button after a couple months, and I myself had a slap in the face of reality about a month ago. Since that time I have adopted a Plan B that will start to get organised if Plan A continues to be lackluster.
PLAN A
- Continue finding freelance work
- Finish film "Acid Snow"
- Make a new Demo Reel
- Record new music album
- Script out new video projects
PLAN B
- Get additional software training for Web Design
- Look for Web Design work
- Use Web Design work to fund Plan A
The beauty of Plan B is that it will only re-enforce my efforts all around. I will create a website for myself (finally) and use it to promote Plan A.
The Road to "Acid Snow"
Where I sit today, however, I feel that I have allowed this freedom of time to distract me from my initial big push - to finish "Acid Snow", the only feature film I have edited so far. The road map for Acid Snow is to have a final product by the beginning of September. Just this week I have re-directed my focus to working on the soundtrack. About 3 hours ago, I finished editing the last available foley take made during the original foley sessions back in 1997. Chris White, the foley artist, did a masterful job creating all the footsteps, coats (film in winter had lots of taking off coats), glasses (lots of drinking), and zillions of incidental sound effects, like:
- Signing a letter
- Shifting in a chair
- Massaging hair
- A painting falling off a wall
Soundtrack Restoration
When the original foley sessions took place, they were all neatly organised on an Avid timeline, synchronised with the picture. When the film was shut down, several months worth of sound editing was lost (could not afford to release soundtrack from rented computer system). Like a good postproduction supervisor, I had meticulously backed up all audio sessions to DAT. There were approximately 15 hours of post audio to re-edit back in sync with the picture. I began this process off-and-on in January, and now am up to the point of placing in other sound effects not covered in the foley sessions, like phone ringing, background walla, ambience, etc. This could take another month, as there are many gaps left in the soundtrack. I also plan to re-record some new foley sound to replace some spots that I couldn't find on the DAT tapes. Once I have finished filling all the holes in the soundtrack, I begin what is the Big Mix. With 24 tracks of audio, a careful blend of all the sound elements is needed to bring life to the film. This means adding reverb to the ADR voices, and finding the delicate balance of hearing footsteps without making them sound unnatural.
Sound Design - An Audio Canvas
Sound editing is a lengthy process. There will finally be some review of any additional music, or perhaps some slight changes, and then mastering the picture and sound together. The sound mix for a film is really the moment when everything comes together. A director and an editor will have gone through repeated viewings of each scene with only temporary sound, and one becomes used to hearing only that. A metamorphosis takes place when the final sound elements are brought together, and all the rough edges are smoothed out. This process will probably take most of the summer. But it also a moment I am excited about. I have mixed short films and put together some complex video soundtracks, but never a full blown feature. Back in the 80s, I at one time wanted to get a job at Cinesound, a film mixing facility in town run by Denny O'Rourke. He had the same enthusiasm about audio as I did, and was working with the latest technology. Sadly, Denny died recently and Cinesound is now closed. I have a Logic Audio system in my studio, as well as a control surface mixing board with motorised faders. This automated system will help organise the 24 tracks of audio. Sound Design is a creative process that can be as original and stylistic as any other creative medium, and it is fun for me to enhance the story by carefully crafting the reality by controlling what is heard.
Passing Time
Alas, the last five months have little else to show. I have posted some video clips on YouTube, and have made good initial progress on my new pop album. But the last five months so far has been me enacting the role of Curator for all my collected work. I am compiling, organising, arranging, scanning, documenting, capturing, archiving and scripting all the physical things I've collected in my life. The archiving of my music alone is gargantuan. I have probably 100 tapes of my original music - each holding 90 minutes. That's about 150 hours of music! (including rehearsal and basic tracks). Then there is my photograph collection, which is slowly growing on this blog and flickr. Then there is my other video work, the early stuff, and the recent corporate and broadcast projects to put together on a snazzy demo reel. Then there are my pages and pages of comedy scripts. Starting back in the Ozone Radio days, I wrote scripts in notebooks and saved them for 'some day'. Now, I feel like I can direct some of these scripts, as well as some new material.
Summer in Minnesota
The most unpleasant thing about being unemployed is the lack of social contact. I spend (by choice) the majority of my time in my home office, multi-tasking like crazy. On the other hand, Summer in Minnesota is upon us, and one has no choice but to go outside and join everyone else celebrating the time of year in our great state when it is Not Winter. This means that there is a festival or party every weekend somewhere, and if you don't have a beer in your hand, someone will quickly make sure you do. As my own projects start to slowly unfold in the next few months, hopefully I will be able to look back upon this period and see that it was worthwhile. On the other hand, there is of course, Plan B.
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