Wednesday, October 1, 2008

"doulbleyoo O doulbleyoo" WOW - GRAND SLAM!

WOW!


I dont know where to start? WOW!

What a freakin Dream!
Ok......so I ofcouse couldnt sleep the night before we recorded but I tried my hardest. We were In bed by one in the morning and ready for some nice egg sandwiches in the mornin. I invited my good friend B johnson to join us for this momentus occasion due to his appreciation of Art , film and Film music----supporting personal artwork of friends is always a reason to be there as well. I used to go to art school with Bryan back in Pittsburgh and we have kept in touch though all of our professional careers. After breakfast We all packed into the minivan and headed for Capitol Records.
Hollywood is only 20 minuets {without traffic} from our house so gettin there was easy....upon arrival we entered the lot under {Justin Rasch - Director} ha!.....and we made our way to the front lobby. We went through another check point and they told us to head for {Studio A}.




This is the same recording studio that Frak Sinatra and Nat King Cole sang in and recorded many of their songs.......amongst many other Music artists. It was cool to feel the history of the building.....Hollywood is a pretty trashy place but its got character for sure.

We made our way down the hallway to studio A......with pictures on the walls of all the Big Record people from the past. When we got in there we finally saw Robert.....He was a shnazzed up and lookin ready for Bizznezz . He introduced us to many members of his family and we found some seats up front . In the Studio there were 20 plus musicians warming up their instraments and seeming ready to rock. These musicians must have arrived before they were needed as well as their instraments were delivered in advance. We only had three hours to record our whole film....so no time was a wastein .

Very shortly after arrivein they began playin music. A big part of the dream was to have my film shown on the monitor while they played live.....and feeling the music and Images finally come together. Well.....there it was and WOW!! It all started with a chain ....a real big powerfull HOME DEPOT CHAIN..... One of the musicians dropped it and did a ""Struuummof "" with some dark instrament to kick of the intro. ...kinda like in old western gun fight music.....{As the boot in the forground steps into the shot while far into the distance you see the badguy ready for the Showdown}If you can hear that music with those images .....Thats the first notes right there.
Heres a taste-




So cool!!!!.......they played through the intro several times .....looking to Robert for timeing and key moments to hit. There were so many things in the music that I didnt know would be there....low violins.....supporting Bass and chello...neat little moments of MYSTERY SOUNDS....It was so amazeing!!! It was a Home Run...Out of the park....and it was obvious!!
Shortly into the Intro was being recorded the Grandparents showed up....they grabbed a seat next to us and were instantly blown away by the size and scale of the orchestra ! They said ....we had no idea it was going to be this big? We thought it was going to be a harmonica guy and a piano? This was next level!!

They musicians finished up the Intro nicely and moved onto the Rich Sequence....this is another spot where I only had a basic idea ....what was in store for me. SUPRISE!! so much freakin MAGIC sprinkled all over my film.

From the first moment Gerald hears the keys jingle and he raises an ear....{xylophone} Kicks in.....then in Weaves the piano and harmonica ....This is so freakin cool.....As Gerald dives for the corner of the cage the Harp and piano stums his leap.....WOW. This is freakin unbelieveable!!!!

Onto his thought bubble sequences....imagination...This was illustrated with Piano and Harp again. Wow guys.....he thinks and ponders while the plucks of chello and violin support the images.....WOW WOW WOW......

Rich sequence Music-





I always think of Tom and Jerry episodes and music......how they would support the action with crazy music.....this was happening in my very own film. But even better!!!! because I had a full and complete story.....not just a series of gags like in Tom and jerry....and Roberts Score was Masterfully Weaved into and throughout the film.


Little Girl Music -




.....It was weaved by the same Musicians that do the hollywood feature music we all know....from {Harry Potter to Cool hand Luke}......Quality is what we have here. This is Tommy Morgan....the best Harmonica Player in the world. Over 700 feature films hes played on.....as well as countless television shows we all know. I was completely honered that he play for our little film.
I could go on and on and on about all the Amazeing pieces of Music accompanying my animation.....but it all come down to WOW. I promiss you guys that this film just improved 100% over what it was....or could have been with out Roberts talent .You are going to be getting a professional film when all comes together.....worth every penny of your hard earned Stopmo bucks!


We also had a friend of Roberts film the entire scoreing with a nice camera.......so well have more juice for the special features.

I want to give a big thanks to Ryan McCulloch for the Robert Litton recomendation.....and I totally understand your thoughts on......{the second I got done with the score I wanted to start a new film just so I could score it} Ha!! It didnt even take me that long.....I was ready after the first sequence!!!!THRILLING!!

AfterGlow!
over and out guys....


heres the BIG song....credits....POWERFULL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




jriggity

18 comments:

JPierro said...

Quite an amazing journey.

Hiring a composer and orchestra to write and record your
music: ......expensive...
Seeing it played along side your film: ..... priceless....

Congratulations!!
Wam!... Another Homer!!

Emily said...

It sounds amazing - just adds a whole new level knowing all the work that went into the audio, let alone the film! I can't wait to watch the whole thing!

Ryan McCulloch said...

WOw Wow WoW! Congratulations! You guys did it! And it all sounds so great!!!! How lucky to get such a beautiful yet quirky score for your film, glad Robert lived up to his reputation, seems you two are great collaborators. Now put it all together so we can watch!

Anonymous said...

Fantastic! If only I had enough money to have that kind of music, its sensational!

Shelley Noble said...

My God. I also had no idea what was going to happen that recording day. I thought a couple o' instruments at most, and then to see what happened stopped me in ma' tracks! Stomach drop, chills, the whole thing!

I can't imagine how thrilled you and Shell must have been! You both must have been bursting through your skin with joy!

What a great thing Ryan has done in putting you and Robert together. He seems to be a great matchmaker. Maybe he will produce more in the future.

Robert and his musicians have done something incredible to your film. Sounds like from the great clips above as though they've enhanced what couldn't be enhanced any further. The artistry and sensitivity required to do that is supercharged talent.

This release will be way bigger than selling a few copies online, or even winning tons of formalized recognition at festivals worldwide.

This film to me can launch something huge that showcases, not only the brilliant work you both do, but also features (takes advantage of) who the interesting makers themselves are in the exciting process.

Scary powerful stuff.

Any smart content producers out there?!

Anonymous said...

OMG!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much for blogging this..what a great expiriance and we get to go along for the ride!!! It sounds so great I'm ready to by the soundtrack on it's own merit. I think it's true that you can never underestimate the importance of music in animation...Congratulations!!!!

Craig Harris said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!! Wow man...very beautiful sounds for a great looking film. Triple Crown MAGIC!!!! Can't wait to see the whole thing put together. Amazing job you guys!!!

Anonymous said...

That's FANTASTIFRICKEN AWESOME!

Yous guys gots Toy Story-caliburrr music on your film. I can't wait to see the finished product on DVD. So excited for you- and glad that I got to witness your journey from novice stopmotionist to ANIMATION IMPRESSARIO, EXTRAORDINAIRE!

Anonymous said...

I'm proud of ya, Brohamalus!

Ken A. Priebe said...

Justin-
This is so incredible you got to do this. Everything you guys are doing is very inspiring. Thanks!

Ken

Young Vo said...

Man,that was awesome! I know I've said it, I know other people have said it but it's true. Inspiring!

Brian Johnson -that dude is cool, a good guy to have with you anywhere.

That small clip of music was amazing so much emotion, the mood is so clear.

Congrates! Can't wait to see it.

jriggity said...

THANKS Soooo much Guys!!

youve been a part of the whole ride.....I ve been feeding off your kind words as I work toward the completed film!

Ryan - thanks again for the hookup bro. We were just letting Robert know about our next round of films from my past that I would like him to score.....then I can share them here with you in all their Soundtastic Glory!

Herself- super nice words!! We were totally bursting out of our skin with excitement! Ha! We are also sending out our first submittal to a festival this friday....so Fingers crossed!!

cant wait to share it with you guys!

jriggity

Kenneth Sipel said...

That day is probably going to last forever - your first time - yeah... WOW!
I just wanted to say, after watching the videos, the interviews, and reading the blog, that this is no accident. Your hard work and great attitude have made it happen. Everything about this project is an inspiration and I thank you for sharing. Really really.
On a more practical note, I can't wait to buy this DVD.

Paul (Vortex42) said...

Absolutely amazing Justin!

I am so happy for you guys. I knew this was going to be a special film, and it is really exciting to see as much love and effort going into the music as there was going into the visuals.

Congratulations - The recording session sounds like a truly exciting and inspirational experience!

Well done and yes... WOW!

Adam said...

POWERFULL orchestra of JUSTICE!

I don't see an oboe player though. Not sure if you can have a real film score without an oboist. ;)

Can't wait to see and hear the final piece!

Chris Ilvento said...

OMG!! Man that is awesome! Congratulations! It sounds amazing, I can't wait to see it all together.

Unknown said...

That is incredibly cool! Congrats!

Robert Litton said...

Just wanted to make it a clean, even "18 comments"

powerful...