Reaching that finish line at the end of 2011...

 

The end of the world is almost here. 2012 is nearly upon us. 2011 brought us a lot of things. We wrapped everything on Blaming George Romero, dusted ourselves off, and started all over again with Red Scare. 

Last Friday, Joey came over to finish up the sound work on Red Scare. He came over at 6pm. By 6am, Red Scare was finished. Complete. Done! With music! I watched to make sure everything was okay, it was, and here we are. The DVD is in for reproductions now, so there should be copies of Red Scare available after the screening if you happen to be interested. 

We still have a little work left... Have to add the trailers for the screening, and have to make sure that Joey's movie Dark Wings is ready to go... But other then that, we are in a good place right now.

The screening, once again, is on Thursday, 1-12-12. Tickets are still on sale, but we do not have too many left. You can reserve yours by emailing me at redscaremovie@gmail.com. Tickets cost $20 each. 

If you did not know, we are donating a portion of ticket sales to the Simpson-Baber Foundation for the Autistic. 

I hope to see you at the screening. I just know you are going to fall in love with Red Scare. =)

Stay tuned, 

Sam

Actor, Writer, Producer

Red Scare

What the heck did we just do?

Bear with me, because I am not exactly sure what we just did. In the last blog, I talked about how I don't think many indie films are recording full orchestras for their scores. There is a reason for that. It is costly, it is difficult, and who wants to add to all that trouble after so much work, time, and money has been put into the film before the music?

I guess the answer to that question is: us. Because late last night, we successfully finished recording the Red Scare score. It was an incredible experience, and I still don't really know how it all came together so well. The music is awesome. Joey & I actually started putting some of the music into the movie earlier this week, and I am so excited about how it all looks and sounds. 

So, that is it... Another huge goal passed for the movie. We are literally days away from a finished product, and it will be such a relief. Don't get me wrong... I love everything about the movie, but this must be exactly how a pregnant woman feels 10 months into a pregnancy. You heard me!

So, I don't know how exactly it came together, but I do know it would not have come together if Temple Beth Am in Bayonne, NJ hadn't agreed to let us record in their space.

I know it would not have come together if Dan Granda hadn't whipped together an amazing score AND assembled an incredible orchestra in a short period of time.

If Joey Mosca didn't have a ridiculous amount of recording equipment/connections to get more equipment and the knowledge of how to use it all, we would have been screwed. 

If Tony Pineiro & Bill Dautrick didn't agree to do everything from transporting equipment/people, to helping to set up and break down, to going on dinner runs, and more, I don't think we could have done it. 

Loarina Gonzalez could have told me that she didn't want to help out, but then Joey would not have had a recording assistant who was so good at her job and both the movie and morale would have suffered and Joey might have gone crazy long ago. 

I could have paid for all of the meals for the orchestra, but I would have been beyond broke, so it is a good thing Isaac Platizky was generous enough to help me out with some extra cash from time to time. 

And then, we cannot forget the people who actually played the music so well. Here for the first time, I present to you, the Red Scare recording groups:

Red Scare Full Orchestra: 

John Fragasso (percussion)

Evan James Young (Horn)

Paul Campbell (Bassoon)

Paul Scott (tuba)

Peter Cruz (percussion)
Gregory Mueller (percussion)
Scott Porter (clarinet)
Emma C. Coleman (oboe)
William Newrock (bass trombone)
Jim McCaughey (trombone)
Leah Van Doornik (horn)
Herbert Foster (horn)
Steven Zagami (percussion)
Esther Novo (flute)
Elyse D'Agostino (flute)
Leah Garber (trumpet)
Bokyung Park (trombone)
John Cross (trumpet)
Donna Dixon (clarinet)
Hope Heredia (trombone)
Barbara Zacheis (French horn)
Robert Quinn (bassoon)  

Red Scare Chamber Group

Dan Granda (percussion)

Gregory Mueller (percussion)

Donna Dixon (clarinet)

Barbara Zacheis (French horn) 

Red Scare Jazz Combo

Dan Granda (percussion)

Asher LaBella (guitar)

Matthew Lepek (saxophone) 

Eric Walton (piano)

Matthew Quinones (bass)

Loarina Gonzalez, Dan Granda, Bill Dautrick, & Sam Platizky (Agent White backup singers) 

 

That is all... The screening is coming up very soon. If you haven't already, you are going to want to reserve tickets by emailing me at RedScareMovie@gmail.com. Tickets are $20 each, and a portion of the ticket sales will be donated to the Simpson-Baber Foundation for the Autistic. 

Stay Tuned!

Sam 

Actor, Writer, Producer

Red Scare

Red Scare Recording Session

There are a lot of unknowns in making a movie. You can try to plan all you want, but in the end there is a lot you just can't control. So, when we first started talking about recording a live orchestra, I kind of stepped back and let the thing come together. With the exception of securing the location, I really had very little input at all. 

Dan Granda is our composer/conductor. I met with him once to discuss a few things about the movie and the score, but make no mistake, the score is 100% his. And I didn't know what we were going to get... I like what we talked about, but without hearing it, how could I know? So, I trusted Dan. 

Today, I got to see if that trust paid off in our first orchestra session... 

I am not sure if I could adequately put it into words... I wish I had a picture of me and Bill's faces as we listened to the opening of the movie's score... the Russian theme... the American theme... etc. I really do... Because we had the biggest smiles on our faces the entire time. I am sure the orchestra thought we were crazy. It was amazing. This was the first time that this orchestra played together, and they were amazing. The best way I could describe it is somewhere between that feeling you get when you were a kid and you opened a present that you really wanted but didn't know you were going to get... and the feeling of being part of something that has become much bigger than you intended. 

Everyone knows how important the score is to a movie... A movie can live or die by its score. And boy will this one live. It is huge... It is epic... It is funny where it needs to be. I have that same goofy smile plastered on my face just thinking about it. 

So, big thanks to Dan Granda for composing this magic... the orchestra who I will credit and acknowledge by name and instrument once we finish with the recording... Thanks to Joey for once again risking his sanity for me as he records a larger group of musicians than he ever has before... Tony for being his usual calm and ever helpful self..... Loarina for doing whatever she can to help and showing once again why she has probably the most credits in the movie... Billy for his equipment help and just being there for this process to help wherever he can. 

Also have to thank Bayonne's Temple Beth Am for being so accomodating. When we were at a loss for where to record, they stepped up in a big way. 

We had a lot of help from people who provided stands and mics: "All around class act" Keith McCord, supporter and zombie in the movie Mike Castro, the guy who is going to be reproducing our DVDs Greg Colletti, Ryan Shumacher, and probably a bunch of people that got Joey some stuff that I don't know. 

Billy & I talked during the session about how big this is. Not only how epic the score is... But how often does an independent film record a live orchestra? Not often. And how often does that live orchestra sound as good as ours? I have no idea. I would say never, but I am not sure. All's I know is we are doing something that few, if any, indie filmmakers are doing. 

Yesterday, Red Scare was a very funny movie that I was insanely proud of... Today, I am kind of in awe of the whole thing. It's way bigger than any of us had any idea it could be. This is gonna be awesome. 

Stay Tuned!

Sam