Days in the Life of a Film Composer

This is hands down one of the coolest movie posters I've seen in a while. It was designed by Michael Anderson. I first saw it last fall during a public screening of the rough cut long before I was hired to score the film. I walked into the theater where the poster was on on display in the lobby and I thought to myself "Whoa! Now, that's a kick-ass poster!"

What makes it even cooler today is seeing my name on it. This has been one of the highlight experiences of my career right down to movie poster. Simply awesome!

It's common practice at big film festivals to have people on behalf of the various films passing out postcards advertising exactly when and where the film screenings take place. When you're walking the streets of Austin this weekend you're sure to run into a few of them.

The good folks at Beef & Pie Productions who made MAN ON A MISSION (2010) are taking this practice a step further. This weekend they'll be passing out official space patches of Richard Garriott's mission (one the Soyuz mission, the other the ISS mission) with a sticker on the back advertising the two screenings during SXSW.

These aren't cheap imitations or reproductions but the same high-quality mission patches used on the flight suits of the astronauts. I've got a pair already and a small collection of Space Shuttle mission patches I've gathered over the years. If I were just casually walking the streets of Austin during SXSW and somebody gave me a mission patch advertising their film, I'd be utterly blown away (yes, I'm kind of geeky that way).

These are the two patches. I hear they're passing out a thousand of them this weekend. The first is the Soyuz mission patch and the second is the ISS patch. Be on the lookout for them this weekend while you're in Austin and be sure to come to one of the screenings (Sun, 3/14 @1:30PM or Thurs, 3/18 @ 2:30PM).

I found out this past weekend that CELL will be going on a brief hiatus. Some new obstacles have developed that they're taking time to iron out. I talked with the director, Mark, the other day while I was playing him the score for episode five and he said the priority is to keep the quality of the show high even if they have to compromise a bit on maintaining a weekly release schedule. Koldcast.tv, who is broadcasting the series, agrees.

It shouldn't be a major delay. Just a bump in the road. I'm continuing my schedule scoring the show and will tackle episode six as soon as they post it in the next week. The show continues to get better with each episode so be patient and we'll get them out as soon as we possibly can.

I just found out that ARTOIS THE GOAT (2009) will be released by Indiepix Films on DVD. Pre-order is already available.

Check it out HERE.

...and don't forget to add it to your Netflix queue!

Here is episode "four" from the web series CELL.

A few weeks ago, smack dab in the middle of the busiest period of my career, Harry Lynch came to me with a short video that he wanted me to score. I've worked for Harry many times including the IMAX film RIDE AROUND THE WORLD (2006). If it were somebody else I'd probably say, "eh, I'd love to but I'm really busy," but I just couldn't say that to Harry. Besides, it was a short project and wouldn't require that much of my time. If I had to stay up a few nights later than normal I'd be willing to do that.

The project was a short award presentation video for Richard Rainwater who was set to receive a very distinguished alumni award given by the Stanford Graduate School of Business. It was a very well shot collection of interviews by Richard's closest friends and business associates. As with all the project I've done for Harry, it was a lot of fun and turned out very well.

Here's the finished piece:



I'm slated to work on Harry's next major documentary later this summer. Assuming all stays on schedule I should be very busy once again soon.

The brand new MAN ON A MISSION (2010) web site has launched and it looks pretty space-tacular!

Also here is the invitation for the MOAM premiere party on Sunday, March 14th. Everybody who gets a film badge for SXSW will be receiving one of these in their packets.

The score for MAN ON A MISSION (2010) is now complete. Last week was pretty intense even though I really didn't have that much left to do. I delivered all of the completed cues (26 of 29) last Monday so they could start cutting them into the film. The film mix was going to commence that week so I wanted them to have as much of the score as possible.

I had three more cues left to write. Two of them took place early in the film and weren't terribly difficult to compose. The first was approved right away and the second was approved after some fairly extensive rewrites. After that I just had one cue left.

That may sound relatively easy but it wasn't. Remember what Murphy said?

There was a reason I was putting this one piece off until the end. I tried diving into it on several other occasions throughout the scoring process but couldn't quite get it right so I'd jump out and try something else in order to keep the pace moving forward. Well, there wasn't anything else left so I had to get this one done.

It was a long cue, about five minutes in length and accompanied the sequence where Richard and his crew go through their final exams just before they're set to launch. It took several drafts and several rewrites but I finally got done...but not really.

Once I finished composing the cue the only task that remained was to get it mixed, mastered, and uploaded to my FTP server for delivery. I uploaded the Logic project files for Matt to mix it but there was a problem. A major winter "snow-icane" had invaded New York and was dropping bucket loads of snow all over the state. Matt lives and works in New York and he was getting barraged by the intense snow. About an hour before I got the approval of the last cue, Matt's internet went out. That means he wasn't able to download the cue to mix it. We were stuck!



We waited and waited. There was nothing we could do but go to bed and see how things were in the morning.

On Friday morning (the very last possible day the cue could be turned in) his internet was still down. So we proceeded with our backup plan. There I sat at the controls as Matt talked me through the flight from air traffic control just like in the movie AIRPLANE! Since 70% of the sounds I had used on this cue were used in previous cues he was able to read me the individual mixer settings for those particular tracks from other mixes. That meant going in opening up each plug-in he used and reading each knob, fader, button, and switch that he manipulated. It wouldn't really be perfect but it would at least get us close.

After several hours I finally got all the settings in. Then I proceeded to fiddle with the remaining tracks that were unique to this piece. I'm not much of an audio engineer but I did my best.

Finally, Matt had to walk me through his mastering process so we did the same thing after I bounced my mix to stereo. All the while his cell phone kept going out about every five minutes because his studio is in the basement of his house and doesn't get good reception down there. The blizzard wasn't helping things either.

In the end I got a relatively decent mix done and delivered the final cue to the filmmakers.

But the story doesn't end there...

Matt called me around 2PM my time to tell me his internet just came back on! What were we going to do? I told Matt to go ahead and download the project, mix and master it and I'll come in to approve it. I was set to leave for the weekend for a family retreat in the country at 5PM so we didn't have much time. I was packing and getting ready while Matt mixed the cue.

Matt called me a little after 4PM and said he had a mix for me to hear. I raced to my studio and took a listen. It was pretty damn close. There were a few tweaks I had and then we'd have it. Just then, Logic crashed on me. sigh Oh well, I'll restart my machine to make sure it doesn't happen again. Problem was, when I restarted everything came back to life except I couldn't log into iChat which is how Matt and I communicate when we mix long distance like this. No problem, I'll call him on my cell phone...But wait!...I FORGOT MY PHONE AT HOME!!! ARRGGHHH! Someone or something does not want this cue mixed!

I sent Matt and email as the minutes ticked away. After some internet research, I got iChat back up again. It was almost 5PM. I shut down the rest of my studio, turned off my lights, grabbed my coat and was ready to walk out the door. I listened as Matt played back the mix. I had a few little tweaks left and then I said it, "That's it! Master it!" It was 5:05PM. I raced out the door as Matt finished up the mastering process and uploaded it to my FTP server.

As I was driving out to the country I called up Brady to tell him where he could get the file for placement into the film.

The score for MAN ON A MISSION was done...whew!

The feature length documentary from Alaska that I've been working on since October is now completed. I delivered all the cues yesterday but am expecting some tweaks and possible rewrites after the editor gets up there to start cutting in the music. The film follows twelve women, all survivors of breast cancer, as they journey to Alaska for a retreat to share stories and support each other as survivors.

It's a beautiful film. One that was very difficult to find the right musical tone for. It had to recognize the emotion of their past when they were dealing with a life threatening disease but more importantly it had to be uplifting and strong. It was a difficult balance but one I think I eventually arrived at.

It's always humbling to be a part of a film like this. It's to be expected that many women will see this film who either are battling the disease themselves or dealing with a loved one who is. When a film transcends mere entertainment and becomes a tool of such importance, it's a humbling experience.

I hope I did the film a good service.

Here is the score for the string quartet that I recorded for the re-entry cue a couple of days ago. It's a very simple yet emotionally expressive section when Richard is back in his Soyuz capsule preparing to undock from the ISS and head back home to Earth. It's an amazing moment in the film. This sequence, along with the music I composed for it, could be my favorite of the film (which has many candidates!).

(click image to enlarge)

So I've been told that MAN ON A MISSION features the very first footage ever captured from the inside of a Soyuz capsule during re-entry into earth's atmosphere. That's already wicked cool. What may make this even cooler is the fact that I got to score it. So I guess that makes me the first film composer to score footage taken from inside a Soyuz capsule during re-entry. Whoa!

Here are some screen shots of this amazing moment in the film.

Throughout all the work I've done for film you may notice that I'm not a huge track-stacking type of composer. I don't have layers upon layers of tracks in my scores as I think the status quo tends to be. I've always been a less-is-more type of composer with a penchant for allowing a few musical ingredients carry the weight of the goals and tasks at hand. I also have an aversion to layering so many tracks that the ear can't possibly digest it all.

Using a food analogy...I'd rather cook with three or four delicious ingredients and bring out those well-combined flavors to their fullest potential than throw in a couple dozen different spices to make it good. If you're not careful, too many ingredients can ruin your creation. It's true in cooking and it's true in music.

For MAN ON A MISSION (2010) I've pretty much stuck to my usual routine of keep my tracks relatively balanced. They're powerful yet delicate at the same time. However, there are two cues in this score where I was able to wander outside of my usual practices and stack up a fairly significant layer of tracks.

For other film composers twenty-five tracks or more may not be a big deal. Again, it's really the status quo. For me though, I rarely venture outside of twelve or so. Here's a screenshot of the re-entry cue for MAN ON A MISSION. Already there are twenty-eight audio tracks and what's missing from my session file are the eight drums tracks and four guitar tracks which were recorded at Matt's studio in NY. That may break a new record for me in the amount of audio tracks used in a cue.

(click the image to enlarge)

So what does this all mean? Well, this piece of music is layered as hell and has tons of sounds thrown at you. It's probably the loudest, beefiest, most crazy-insanely powerful piece of music I've ever written. I just went nuts and had complete fun with it.

Here's a screenshot of my session file for the countdown to launch sequence for MAN ON A MISSION. This too has a ton of tracks but since it lacks the guitar and drums it's not quite as many as the aforementioned re-entry cue.

(click the image to enlarge)

This piece of music has a lot more intricacy and finesse than the re-entry cue which made it a little bit more difficult to compose. I have to admit it has been fun to create a texture and sonic palette that is far larger and more congested than I normally create. Matt certainly has his work cut out for him mixing all these sounds together. He'll do his best to arranged them all in a way that you can hear each ingredient in it's own sonic space. In a theater, with the intensity of the images flickering in front of your eyes, it should be a real treat not just for the audience, but for me as well.

Who would've known that Monday, February 22nd, would be such a big day. The two feature film scores I've been working on the last several months have coincidentally arrived upon the same due dates. One of these projects alone would have given me fits so the fact that I'm doubled up is both terrifying and outrageously fun! Composers who have been in this situation know what I'm talking about...the rush of adrenaline, the feeling of power and pride that comes from achieving so much when it's all on the line.

Actually, I'm in a pretty good spot. The Alaskan documentary I've been scoring since October of last year is nearly completed. I brought in an oboe and English Horn player to record the various instrumental parts for this score. We just finished up the session and it sounded fantastic. Amy Morrison is a student at Texas State University studying oboe performance and she did a fantastic job. I can't wait to edit and mix the tracks into the score. It was a fairly easy and quick session. There are only five cues that have the oboe and English Horn on it. I had originally thought of going with a MIDI track on these. I have a really good sample library but damn, it just wasn't the real thing so I decided to replace it with a live player. It makes such a huge difference on the expressiveness of the music.

While that was going on, I had my mixing engineer, Matt up in NY, record a guitar player on a handful of cues for MAN ON A MISSION (2010). We were hoping it would take the energy up a notch to a whole new plateau. I just heard the raw tracks and I think it's going to definitely do that. It sounded fantastic as well. Matt's got his work cut out for him though. There's a TON of tracks on a few of those cues.

I've already started to deliver final mixes for both scores. The Alaskan doc is nearly done. I've got to edit the oboe tracks and send them up to Matt for mixing, then I just have one more cue to compose. MAN ON A MISSION is coming along as well. I've delivered about a third of the score already then we'll edit and mix in the guitar tracks we recorded today which will complete another batch of cues. Then I just have the four cues left that I have to write on my plate to finish. As long as the rest of the score is delivered on Monday I should be able to get another couple days to finish up what little remains. They'll be mixing the film all week.

I can't believe it's nearly over. MAN ON A MISSION is going to be a seriously cool flick! I can't wait to show it to people. More people will probably see this film than most of all my other films combined. It'll premiere at the Paramount Theater in downtown Austin which holds over a thousand people. I would hope it would get some sort of distribution as well. Perhaps not theatrical, but it'll get out there and have the chance for people to see it. It's pretty fantastic. I can't imagine somebody watching this movie thinking, "...meh."

Well, it's back to work. I'm going to have a long night tonight and then I'll be back early first thing in the morning. I've only got a handful of days left to maintain this pace. After that I'll devote some time to sleeping and being with my family whom I've missed terribly during the last couple weeks. I haven't taken a night off in at least two weeks so they miss me too.

Countdown to Launch....5 days 5 hours 36 minutes 24 seconds

Today I had a quick recording session over at Cacophony Recorders in east Austin to record the string quartet parts for two cues for MAN ON A MISSION (2010). While most of the music I'm composing is comprised of all synth textures, there were two cues that needed the live quartet: MOAM-M26 "To The Stars" and MOAM-M33 "Re-Entry." Both of these cues have swelling emotional moments which the quartet provided exquisitely.

We recorded it with the Tosca String Quartet (Leigh Mahoney, violin; Tracy Seeger, violin; Ames Asbell, viola; Sara Nelson, violoncello) whom are well-known and lauded here in Austin and around the country as well. The other composer on board this project, John Constant, hired them for the handful of cues he composed and so I basically tagged along and got my two cues recorded as well.

I just finished editing the tracks and they're currently uploading to my FTP server so Matt can start mixing them.

On Saturday I'm recording an electric guitarist on a handful of cues which will wrap up all the live recording elements I'm needing for this project. More than half of the cues are fully mixed and ready for mastering. Another batch is awaiting these live recording elements and an even smaller batch is still currently on my plate to compose. It's coming down to the wire as usual but so far it's really shaping up to be a great score!

Here's a picture that Catie (the editor) took of the session today. It was short, but very sweet.

Here is episode "three" from the web series CELL.