AN APOCALYPSE IN ONE ACT!

November 21, 2012
MUSIC, NICK



So after months of writing, rehearsing and tearful grappling with social media, The Last Prom grand finale has taken place. My long- held ambition to stage a live narrative concept album has now passed into cockamamie reality. And by every important measure, it worked. All thanks to the most incredible group of artists and performers I've ever worked with, and one stellar crowd.

20121121-150149.jpg On the night, we had to wait for the Canberra Youth Orchestra to finish there rehearsal before we could even begin to set up, leaving us with just 3 hours to transform The Ainslie Arts Centre into Aleister Crowley High School. We were still getting sound check done when the crowd began to arrive, but luckily my amazing friends The Sinbirds (pictured below) covered our asses by performing a warm-up set in the carpark.

20121121-150709.jpg After that, the entire night was almost derailed when our smoke machine set off the fire alarm (shout out to the local firefighters for their quick response time). Nerve-racking, but nothing could have derailed my excitement by then. People had come! Lots of people! And they'd come in costume, with their own characters, ready to fully immerse in the story world. I was overcome with gratitude, and high on the absolute faith that I had in my band. Ladies and Gentlemen: War! Famine! Pestilence! Death! And myself, The Antichrist!

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20121121-151309.jpg Over a breathless and surreal 50 minutes we played 10 songs (that had never been played to an audience before) and told the story of the Antichrists's tragic love story with Death. I managed to pull off my lines to an acceptable standard, but most of the dramatic heavy lifting was handled by our director Joel Barcham in the role of the SOCE teacher and Ali MacGregor and Bib Cain as The Muses Of The Apocalypse.

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20121121-153126.jpg Julia 'Death' Johnson definitely had the toughest role, singing co-lead in all of the songs while assaying her transformation from Death to Death-disguised-as-mortal-girl to Death-as-prom-queen-of-the-apocalypse. She was completely amazing, despite the failure of her keytar strap to fit over her shoulder carapace (your standard performer issue).

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20121121-153812.jpg Once the show concluded, the real main event was the epic after party set by Dead DJ Joke, who's been a critical part of The Last Prom experience from the start.

20121121-154708.jpg There's already some voices calling for us to restage the show, but I'll have to sleep for a good hundred years before I can think about that one. Meanwhile, I'll post more photos and a couple of reviews soon. All photos by the star of The Aleister Crowley Student Newspaper, Adam Thomas!

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PROJECT Z – SUNSHINE SALLY

November 11, 2012
FILM, LUKE, MUSIC

Eked out some time today to work on Project Z (we’ll have an official You Are Here event name soon…).

Out of the five hours of material I received, I’ve chosen to work with 1922 silent film Sunshine Sally. Set in Sydney, it’s got engaging characters and a lot of fun, breezy scenes.

Before I can score it, I first have to edit it down.  The surviving copy (the one I’m working from) is 60 minutes long, and is missing the entire ending.  To work around that AND edit it to 20 minutes has meant a major restructure of the narrative – I’ve done away with the subplots, five main characters (including a love interest), and some cool lifeguard rescue scenes that just weren’t going to fit.  As is, with some new intertitles, it should flow nicely.

I’ve also been able to shave a few seconds here and there by topping and tailing scenes.  Compared to today, movies of the 20s came into scenes early and left late.  Cinematic language was being invented as they went along – we now need far less information to process what’s going on.

It blows my mind that I’ve been given a chance to edit footage from 90 years ago (to the month).

More soon.

ONE POT PUNK ROCK – THE PUMPKIN THE PINENUT AND THE ROSEMARY RISOTTO

November 6, 2012
FILM, LUKE

I thought I’d write about the process behind an episode of One Pot Punk Rock.

It starts with an idea for a suitable dish – generally one from the repertoire I’ve acquired over the years (though that pool is rapidly depleting – I’m counting on suggestions!).  I’ll then research any fun facts or improvements I can make.  From there, I write a rough script, adding in gags, ideas for camera angles or fx, and finding the shape of the episode.  We didn’t do this for the first couple and it’s part of the reason they ballooned out – we now keep episodes under five minutes.  The script is subject to change while filming, but it gives us a head start.

Being a cooking show, we don’t have the luxury of filming out of sequence.  As a result, 99% of the episode is filmed in the order you see it.  Having to adjust/change lights, lenses and angles, from shot to shot, chews up a lot of time.  We start by dressing the set (i.e. cleaning the kitchen), lighting it (we use work-lights pitched at the ceiling, along with some smaller LEDs), and finalising wardrobe (picking the Ramones hoodie off the floordrobe and donning the mask).  A typical episode takes around three hours to shoot.   Most things need a couple of takes, as I sharpen my performance (and tweak the accent).  Some shots have needed eight or more takes, usually when the script is vague, or I have a brainfreeze and can’t move past a certain line.

Filming wrapped, we finally get to eat the spoils.  I won’t edit until the following day.  A trouble-free editing session takes around three hours (it’s been as high as six for some).  I’ll select the best takes and assemble them in my editor, then add in titles, transitions, sound effects, graphics, music and colour grading (a truly dark art which I only now feel I’m getting a grip on).  Sourcing music, graphics and sound effects also takes time.  Very little changes at this point, though I might cut gags that fell flat, or come up with other cues (the Crunchie graphic in this current episode being an example).

I’ll upload it overnight, and we’re on to the next one!

THE LAST PROM IS THIS SATURDAY!

November 6, 2012
MUSIC, NICK

This Last Prom project has stretched me in more directions than any other arts thing I've ever done. Songwriting, scriptwriting, singing, band-leading, acting, producing, comic- book writing, webisode- making and, as you can see from the above photo, craft assistant! We had a dress rehearsal on Saturday and it's got me ultra-excited for the show. Shout out to all the special people who've done such special work toward this special night.

PROJECT Z REVEALED

October 28, 2012
FILM, LUKE, MUSIC

Last month I mentioned Project Z – I’m now able to spill the beans.

As part of next March’s You Are Here festival, I’ve been commissioned to compose a soundtrack to a silent film.  The final work will be performed in front of the film at the National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA).  It’s an incredible opportunity and I’m mega-excited.

The NFSA has given myself and two other artists access to several 20s and 30s films – each of us will create a 20 minute ‘response’ to the material.  I came across the Cineconcert movement in Edinburgh last year, and was fortunate enough to experience several performances.  Bikini Machine live-soundtracking Desperado is one of the top five gigs of my life.  Ever since, I’ve been enamoured with the concept and looking for a way to do something similar.   

My intention is to find a suitable 20 minute segment (or edit together something), compose a soundtrack, and then form a scratch ensemble from members of the Canberra band scene to perform it.  Stylistically, I’ll combine electronic and acoustic elements, and at this point, I want to do something bright and summery.  Pieces will vary in length as appropriate to mirror the footage – I envisage it will comprise short pieces (5-20 seconds), some longer passages (up to a couple of minutes) and one or two full songs, all matching the mood and themes onscreen.  To create an immersive experience,  the musicians will be costumed and the stage set to reflect the film. 

I took carriage of the films last week, and will spend the next fortnight figuring out what footage to use and brainstorming ideas.  Check back – I’ll be blogging as I go…

YOU DON’T KNOW FROM FUN!

October 28, 2012
FILM, LUKE


I’ll admit One Pot Punk Rock is an outré concept. 

But it occurred to me that it is not without precedent.  Consider:

    • A masked host.
    • Juxtaposition of presenter and format. 
    • Bug-eyed, non-human, belligerent production personnel.
    • A purposefully amateurish, “car dealership ad” production style.
    • Series of in-jokes and anti-jokes.

You got it yet? 

Space Ghost Coast To Coast blew my mind when I first saw it.  I like to think the seed for One Pot Punk Rock was thus sown subconsciously over a decade ago.

THE LAST PROM – STARGAZING

October 23, 2012
FILM, LUKE, MUSIC, NICK

After the frenetic pace of the WAR promo (and the anarchic nature of One Pot Punk Rock), it was bliss to work on something languid and deliberate.  I had the idea for this scene, then Nick and I went back and forth on the script.  It’s only three shots, but I’m pleased with all the nuances, both in the editing and the camerawork:

  • Car tail lights (bokeh’ed into blinking orbs) as stand-ins for stars (both already shorthand for longing and desire – I recently re-watched Idiot Box and love the scene on the overpass where they imagine the bright futures of the people zooming past underneath them). 
  • How the tail lights initially lead Death towards The Antichrist.  When they return, they push away from her.
  • Death’s footsteps falling in time with the music.
  • Pulling focus on Death’s face when The Antichrist directs a question at her, then having the focus shift back, in time for the line, “… distant and mysterious and inscrutable.”. Depth of field as subtext.  

I also had fun with the text – finding the right shade of honeyed moon, and bunching it together for a bespoke look.  Just little things, but that’s all filmmaking consists of – tiny, constant decisions building towards a whole.  I love how every shoot teaches you something for the next as well – filming live music in a car gave me a couple of tricks for getting decent sound in imperfect locations. 

If I could make another 89 minutes just like this, I’d have a hell of a feature.    

Tickets for the show are available now at MOSHTIX.COM.AU