From Dorothy to Disney

I'm going to work for Disney in a week.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Hello Steamboat Willie

I've had a great time on "Dorothy of OZ" over the last 18 months but an opportunity came up that I felt I should pursue. I'll be working on a show for the next couple years at DisneyToon Studios.  All I can tell you for now is that it's going to be awesome.  Once I get there and figure out what's okay to share, I'll give more info I'm sure.

This isn't the film I'm going to but here's a little sneak-peek info from John Lasseter on "Planes" (at the Oscars 2011):
http://tinyurl.com/3tkpb5y

I've always had a desire to work for The Mouse, and this situation looks very promising.  Can't wait to get started!

More later...

Dorothy of OZ - Snapshot

This is a promotional shot of Dan Aykroyd during the studio recording for Dorothy of OZ.  He plays the Scarecrow.  In the background you can see a still image from the storyboard animatic I have been helping edit.

Dan Aykroyd

As opposed to live-action films where you shoot the footage first and then cut it all together, in animation you record the voices first, then animate the footage.  This allows the animators to match the animated performance of the character with the voice. 

I think of two of my favorite voice performances in animation and wonder what effect they had on their respective animators.  One is Jane from Tarzan.   Minnie Driver's incredible performance allowed supervising animator Ken Duncan to have tons of fun with her on-screen.  And perhaps my favorite voice performance in animation to date would have to be Kronk from The Emperor's New Groove.   Patrick Warburton is out-of-his-mind fantastic as Kronk, and supervising animator Tony Bancroft had a field-day with him.

We have also been getting some great performances from Dan and the rest of the OZ cast.  The animation studio is working to get some iconic magic like the above mentioned films as well.  It's due out in 2012... hmmm, isn't that when the Mayan calendar runs out... let's hope it's releases earlier in the year, before any of that takes place.

Dorothy of OZ - The Animatic Editing Phase

I like puzzles.  A couple of weeks ago I did a 1,000 piece puzzle of San Diego with my kids. It was fun, and when it was finished we felt like we'd really accomplished something.

Before we started though, it was intimidating to look down at the island in our kitchen and see 1,000 pieces extracted from the box, half of them upside-down, waiting to be connected with the rest.  I also noticed how much space I needed on the island for all the pieces when they were not put together yet.  It was like twice the space. 

Dorothy of Oz

It's been a long time since my last post, and a big reason for the delay has been my latest gig. I'm Associate Editor on an animated feature called "Dorothy of OZ". It's based on the sequel written by Roger Baum, great-grandson of Frank Baum, author of the classic, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz".  Click the "read more".

It's Never Too Late to Learn a New Skill

Well, today became the first day for me to be credited for my work in the Picture Editor category on television. Up to now, I have been in the sound departments for many animated TV shows on WB and Cartoon Network, like The Justice League, The Batman, Teen Titans, Duck Dodgers, etc, etc...

Dinosaur Train Commercial

Finally, "Dinosaur Train" is trickling onto the web. Here's a TV spot PBS created out of some of our footage. (click through to the youtube site so you can see it in it's 16x9 glory)

Catching Up

Too many things have happened since my last real entry, so I’ll just try to do a bit of catch-up work, and then I‘ll get back to blogging in my semi-regular way.


In November, I started a new job. I’m a picture editor at Jim Henson Co. Above is the building I'm working in now. I admit it's pretty cool to be working for the company founded by the man who created the Muppets!

This is a departure career-wise for me, because I’ve been strictly in sound for so long, but I’ve enjoyed the change and the challenge of it. I still cut sound effects for my storyboard reels, so that’s keeping me sharp in that arena.

The show is for pre-school age kids and very cute. It’s called “Dinosaur Train”, which will debut Labor Day week on PBS this year. It’s CG animation and sort of new territory for Henson Co, but so far so good. As soon as I’m allowed, I’ll post some images from the show.

One of my goodest friends in LA, Dan Molina also joined the crew at the beginning of this year, so it has become that much more fun to go to work. He is a seasoned film and sound editor, whom I have already told that I will unapologetically steal as many ideas and tricks of the trade from.

I am sure I’ll so more sound work in the future, either at WB or Skywalker Sound, both of which have been very good to me in the past but I’m just going to ride this wave while it’s here. Jobs in the film industry aren’t necessarily abundant right now, so I’m happy to have this one.

One major downside of this gig is that now I’m driving all the way into Hollywood. My commute just grew by about 1 million cars. I go less crazy when I commute on my motorcycle, but I also have more road-raged drivers to worry about.

Ugh.

BTW, in case you haven’t visited, Hollywood is anything but glamorous.

We stayed home for Christmas and New Years. I’m sure I don’t need to explain how nice it is to be home for the holidays.


We went to Travel Town in Griffith Park for our friend Elliot Edwards’ 2nd birthday party.



Last week we we're in Oklahoma for my Grandmother Esther’s Memorial service. We were finally able to bring her to her final resting place alongside her husband Lester. Esther and Lester are finally reunited after so many years. I know they’re having a great time together.

The other night, McKenna our 10 year old, had a dream about Esther running around a playing with our family. I know she was given a picture of the future when we’re all together in heaven. That’ll be a sight!

Coming soon:
I’ll be back with more industry/editing related stuff soon. I’ll take you along with me on that adventure, sharing Final Cut Pro tricks and insights on editing as I discover them.

I’ll give you some glimpses of the Henson lot as well. The history is amazing, since it used to be the Charlie Chapman lot.

Plus, I’ll share with you my favorite addictive podcast.

Drumming For A Lifetime pt.9

Here's a video of the Dallas-based band I occasionally play with. We used to be known as 'The Calling', but that was 20 years ago, then we broke up. In the late 80's, we had a pretty decent following in the Texas and Oklahoma region.

A year or so ago, we started playing together again, but the name 'The Calling' had been used by a flash-in-the-pan group a few years ago, so we couldn't use it again. The never-ending struggle to rename the band has plagued us for a year, so we just ignore people when they ask, and turn up the amps. One day, we'll agree on a new moniker.

This is a song called "Time Passes", and I think it's not a bad rendition of it, considering what you're hearing is a dry feed from the mixing console.

We had four cameras shooting that night, but they had no game-plan. It took a while to sort out the footage and come up with a good edit of the song. Oh, fyi, Micah (my oldest) ran lights for us that night, but unfortunately the available lighting he had to work with was a disaster.

Here it is, enjoy.

Looney Tunes Volume 5 Releasing Soon...

Another great Looney Tunes DVD collection is coming out October 30th.

It took about 7 months for me to wrangle the audio restoration of this volume. We had some tough issues with some of the old film elements, and that kept putting us off course. But eventually we managed to get 'em all together for this release.

I think it's a strong collection. It includes a couple of my 'Bugs' favorites, like "A Star is Bored" and "Buccaneer Bunny".

The new rumor is that we'll be starting on Volume 6 very soon. Little did I know when I watched these great cartoons as a kid, that I'd have the opportunity to work on them one day. I'm thankful for that!

Check it out HERE.

Okay, all time favorite Looney Tune... easy, "Rabbit of Seville".
Tell me what your favorite Looney Tune is...

Amateur

I saw this on a couple other blogs I read, and man this guy is awesome! He claims to not be able to play, but he is a composer just the same. Check out these editing chops!



Now that's a nice mixture of my two passions: drums and editing.

The Films of Mitchell Rose

Here is a website full of hilarious short films. I met this man at a Final Cut users group meeting last night. Go to Mitchell's site and see his stuff.

Make sure you see at the very least, "Case Studies from the Groat Center for Sleep Disorders" and "Learn To Speak Body: Tape 5". Though all of his stuff is great.

Have fun!

Inspiration For Editing

I double-checked, and I was actually surprised to find that I have not blogged about "The Cutting Edge - The Magic of Movie Editing" yet. I first saw this documentary around Christmas '05, have watched it a few times, and have since then bought several copies of it and given them away.

In short, it is a terrific history of the profession of movie editing. It discusses the first editors, and the risks they took to push forward the craft. It talks about the studio system of old, and how editors have come from the chop-shop cutter, to the director's right hand in post-production. Today, film editors have unprecedented say and creative input in the making of a movie - but it wasn't always so.

(Disclaimer: there is a shot showing too much of Sharon Stone from the movie "Basic Instinct", and though it made it's point about the editing of that scene well enough, I thought you deserved a heads-up. So, screen it before you decide to put it on for the high school film class.)

That said, I still highly recommend this film as an 'editing history and techniques primer', as well as a look at today's best editors and directors giving their insights into movie making and the working relationships they share. Check out this documentary if you haven't already seen it. It will inspire editors to further greatness, and compel those who aren't editors to become one.

Western Mania, and Some Other Things to Talk About

What I'm watching right now:



I've always liked westerns, but I'm becoming a western junkie. I've been lapping up all the John Ford/John Wayne classics lately. Chana bought the collection for me for Father's Day. I had picked up "The Magnificent Seven", a John Sturges film, a few months ago, and that kicked off my renewed craze.

Watching these Ford films is teaching me that there has still been no equal to Wayne. (Clint Eastwood and Sam Elliott are great runners-up, but still no Duke)


Steve McQueen is one of the stars of "The Magnificent Seven", and I thought I'd check out some of his other acclaimed work. "Bullitt" has become a favorite. It is the film with the famous car chase through San Francisco.

Chana and I watched the car chase again last night, and I marveled how the scene was riveting through and through, and not ONE special effect was used. Just juicy car footage and gutsy editing.

Another fun part of "Bullitt" is that the style is very reminiscent of Soderbergh's "Ocean's 11". (haven't seen "12") The music, the graphic opening title stylings and a few other factors of "Bullitt" reminded me so much of "Ocean's 11". It made me wonder if Soderbergh studied "Bullitt" and other films of that era to capture the feel of them for his film.


What I'm doing right now:

Final Cut Studio


plus

My new Mac Book Pro 17" (more on this beauty later)



Time off from Warner Bros means I'm trying to use my time wisely and hone some picture editing skills. It's been a treat to actually have some time to invest in cutting picture. I'm actually doing a few projects right now (for pay even!). I've always wanted to cut picture on a regular basis. Well, at the moment I'm definitely getting my chance to focus on it totally.

Dede Allen

I'm a sound editor/designer, but I am also interested in editing picture. So, I've been studying everything I can find about the art of cutting film/video and learning my Final Cut Pro software.

Last night I went to a Los Angeles Final Cut Pro Users Group, (LAFCPUG) event featuring film editor Dede Allen. She is 80 years old now, and she still works from time to time. Her most recent film was in 2004.

Her biggest films she has edited would have to include:
The Hustler (1961)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
Little Big Man (1970)
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Reds (1981)
The Breakfast Club (1985), and many more.
You can see more of her filmography at www.imdb.com

Her career has spanned around sixty years so far, and it seems everything she's touches turns to gold.

At the event, they showed several clips from her movies, and then discussed each one. It's very cool to hear someone speak about film when they've been in the business for over half of our industry's history.

One interesting thing she shared was, "go to as much theater as you can and learn story and scene, because that's where you'll really find out about the three act form and learn about (character) performance - even though it's very different on film."