Thursday, March 30, 2006

Closing The Loop


The highlight of the entire Got Your Nose animated short process came last week. The preliminary "sketches" of the music score had exceeded my expectations of having such a great composer on board. But, now I'm completely blown away. Sitting in the mixing booth at Capitol Records as the musicians tuned up and familiarized themselves with the material would have really been enough for me. I could have left after that. But, to watch and hear them bring the piece to life in the next few hours was truly remarkable. It's a fantastic piece of music and they far surpassed what this little project probably deserved. I hope that this in some small, or not so small, way is an impetus for other animated shorts and even series to return this approach of arranging music. The difference it makes is huge.

Thanks to Michael Giacchino and Chad Seiter for composing such a masterful and appropriate score. And funny too.

At the end of the session we took a trip up to the top of the building. It was a gorgeous post-rain LA evening. Apparently they used to have parties up on the roof fairly regularly. Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, The Beatles, The Beastie Boys had all hung out up here. The mind reels thinking about the shenanigans gotten up to.



Could the day get any better? Yes. Yes, it could.

When my best friend moved out from Sweden to attend Guitar Center we decided to share an apartment nearby. That aparment right over there.




The Capitol Records building filled the window of our lobby. It was also the first apartment Jill and I shared and where I lived when we started dating. The one room apartment that would regularly be home to 4-6 people. And many, many more on weekends. The apartment that housed the elevator in which Jill found a very large and very bisected snake. The apartment that employed a security guard that wore a bullettproof vest, and needed it. The apartment form which I watched the DEA raid the place next door. There's more, but you get the point. I'm standing on the top of Cap Records 2 blocks from where it all started. Who'd have guessed that I'd be driving up from OC for the pleasure.
Jill and I eventually moved down the street a couple of blocks, just down from the police station also known as "The Wilcox Hotel" made famous by Lee Ving in Fear's "I Don't Care Bout You". Was that really 17 years ago? Damn! I just figured we moved another 9 times since then. And we bought our house 8 years go.

Loop closed? Close enough.