Music to my ears

I'm the kind of person that has ideas and then tries to implement them. I don't consider difficulty, I consider the end result if someone says yes. I don't care if I hear no, I tried and got an answer. I know a lot of people that wouldn't even ask, they wouldn't even bother.

It's a calcualted gamble, you weigh up what you will lose vs potential success. If you don't ask, you'll never know.

So I'm driving in the car and I hear a song on the Radio called "Waiting for Something to Happen" by 'The Solomons'...I caught half the song, loved the quirky, interesting sound and heard the DJ back announce who the artist was. (I wish they did that more often, otherwise who knows what the name of the band and song is if a listener comes in halfway?)

Anyway, I jumped online and Googled the band. Found their site, and most importantly, the record label producing their album. I got onto itunes and bought the song for $2.69AUS and listened to it from start to finish. An idea was forming.

After seeing the trailer for the Animal Kingdom, an Australian film directed by David Michod which won the World Cinema Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.



I loved the contrast of such a soft song from Air Supply with the hard visuals of the film. I thought that perhaps I could do the same with my trailer, have hard hitting action and emotion to the light sounds of this band "The Solomons"



I tracked down their record label PopBoomerang and contacted them. Something that has been bugging me for a long time is that there are independent film makers busting their guts trying to the their films off the ground (I'm one of them) and there are independent musicians and record labels doing the exact same thing. At no point have I seen a concentrated effort to bring these two industries together.

A film needs music. Music for trailers, music for scenes, music as background radio noise, music to highlight emotion and add depth to characters themes. When I write, I line up music tracks that suit the mood of what I'm writing. Action scenes are usually written to the tunes of Heavy Rock (I love the fact that Iron Man 2 has drawn upon Aussie rockband ACDC - yes we claim them)

Emotional scenes are written to orchestral scores from soundtracks such as The Truman Show and Thin red Line and Batman Begins scores. James Newton Howard and Danny Elfman are my favourites.

So in approaching PopBoomerang, I spoke of a collaboration, a meeting of ideals, I have a film to make, which is a product, and they have product that I need to add depth to my product. A film is a great way to showcase their product in a form and market that has an impact. Great visuals combined with music stick in your mind. If the majority of tracks come from PopBoomerang, well there's a film soundtrack release to be considered.

PopBoomerang immedietly saw the possibilities, and I negotiated to get their entire catalogue of artists and trawl through all their tracks. 60 CD's with up to 15 songs on each on average. That's an average of 900 tracks to listen to, many many many hours. But it's worth it, because it could be the start of a beautiful (business) friendship.

PopBoomerang contacted "The Solomons" and I have permission to use their song if it suits when it comes time to create the trailer. Once all the footage has been filmed, we'll assess if the idea and impact is still viable. It's an idea, and is organic, but I've put the wheels in motion to implement the idea.

Speaking of implementing ideas, in the film there is a nightclub scene. A nightclub singer is required. Like I said, I have ideas and I put them into motion, not being afraid of hearing no.

I contacted British Pop Sensation Tina Cousins people, to see if she would be interested in discussing a cameo appearance as this performer in the nightclub.





This is the response I got back -

"Simon
This sounds fantastic. I will speak with Tina shortly and get back to you. I know she is back in oz shortly to promote material thank you for contacting us
Dave"

It's a beginning. It's an idea that I had and put into action. As Chris Jones of the Guerilla Film Makers Handbook says 'Take Action. Take BIG Action'

Get out there and take action, do something, implement an idea, PUSH THAT STRING!

And if your wondering why I'm not hiding the fact that I've asked, while I haven't got a concrete answer, it's because I'm not afraid to fail, and if these 'ideas' fall over because I've shared them with you, well then that's not the open and honest relationship I want involved in making my films.

I promise you now, I will make this film. I have to. I will make it with integrity, honesty, and I will work in a professional manner with professional people, giving them the respect they are due, so I may one day earn the respect of my peers and my audience.

Come with me as I try. Pushing String.