Behind the Scenes again

Under the file of "you never know who is going to read your blog" I went back to the church this afternoon to do some work in my office, and also to watch a bit more of the action on the movie set, when during a break, John Landis, the director, came up to me to say that someone had told him about my blog and that he read it. (Thoughts went through mind about whether or not I had inadvertently said something offencive or not - not that I had reason to, it was a great experience).

Anyhow, he didn't seem upset, and we had a great discussion about the behind the scenes of music in movies. Turns out even though the sound of the organ will not be what we were hearing last night, they will have someone play the same piece I did in post-production for the sound (it needs to be incorporated into the soundtrack, which of course can't be done live). So some poor musician in California has to watch my performance and time his exactly to my finger movements. NEAT is what I say. They are pros though of course, and Landis says they do it seamlessly. I'm looking forward to seeing it!

We went on to discuss all sorts of interesting things about orchestral sound tracks, including the fact that Elmer Bernstein conducted all his sound tracks without click track, and just used the movie footage as a live guide through recordings. Bernstein wrote and conducted the scores for "Animal House", "Trading Places" and probably my absolute favourite movie of all time "An American Werewolf in London" - yes, it's a cult classic, but my Dad and I can't get enough of it, all of which Landis directed.

I have to admit that I've been a little start struck by the past two days, and not from the lead actors, who I have never heard of or seen before - but from this gentle, humorous, and giving director, who takes great pride in his work, and has been extremely approachable and open to talking about his trade, and experience in the field of film and TV work.