Music Video Shoot

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In the Rep Theater, actors John DiDonna and Jennifer Bonner arrived on the set. They were told which theater seats to sit in. Scott Wilkins, who wrote the Britt Daley music video script, stood in front of the actors and described the scene. Scott was boldly silhouetted against a fill light that illuminated a scrim. Both actors were to be preoccupied not paying attention to the audition. John was to be turned away talking on his cell phone while Bonnie fingered her cell phone surfing the web or checking Facebook.

The camera began to roll and the director called, “Action!” John started arguing with the person on his cell. “I’m not having this discussion with you now.” He repeated the point again several more times raising his voice till he was shouting into the phone. Jennifer stared vacantly at the screen of her cell phone. In the next shot Katie Peters sang the final note of her audition song. Jennifer glanced up from her phone and shouted, “Thank you!” with disdain and disinterest. Katie walked off screen, crushed.

The next shot was to come after Britt Daley had sung her song, “One and Only“. John and Jennifer were locked together in a passionate kiss. Of course when shooting for a quality production you never shoot a scene just once. John and Jennifer kissed again and again. Scott suddenly realized that they should still be holding their cell phones and he asked John to move his hand lower for the next shot. They kissed again and when Britt’s music ended they were startled back to reality. Jennifer struggled to straighten her disheveled hair.

Britt Daley Music Video

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Inside the Rep Theater there was an all day shooting marathon to complete Britt Daley’s “One and Only” music video. The camera crew set up the tiny digital camera so it was on stage at the Repertory Theater pointing out at the theater seats. They were setting up for a shot of the Director played by John Di Donna and his assistant played by Jennifer Bonner. Britt’s dad sat in the seats so the cameraman could frame the shot before the actors arrived. Fill lights and spots were adjusted to light the seats. The director kept checking how the shot was framed by looking at the laptop. Scott Wilkins looked through the script and storyboards so everyone was on the same page.

A small crate was set up Katie Peters to stand on. She is the female singer in the local band CIRCUS. She stood in front of the camera facing the theater seats. She was instructed to sing the final note of the song she was singing for the audition and then step out of frame. The song she was supposed to be singing was an old minstrel/vaudeville tune, “Bill Bailey Won’t You Please Come Home“. A funny choice since Britt Bailey and Britt Daley sound so similar.

Free Jazz, Improvisation

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The thing that I find fascinating about the Accidental Music Festival is that each evening is truly unique. I never know what to expect when I walk into Urban ReThink. This evening was unique to say the least. As sound technicians scurried and adjusted mics, I started blocking in my sketch. I was impressed by the drum set which was covered with decals. In itself it was a visual treat. Kris Gruda performed on guitar. He wrestled with the instrument contorting his body to the sounds produced. He experimented with how to create music. A glass was pressed against the frets, a drum stick banged against the strings. The water bottle at his feet became an instrument as he twisted it creating sharp plastic sounds. I loved when he used a kazoo and played it in a cup of water. That was music any dentist could appreciate.

Jill Burton performed vocals. I can’t say she was singing since there were no lyrics. Her vocal chords were just an instrument to create experimental sounds. At one point she sounded like a whale at another like an Indian princess speaking in tongues. Part of me wanted to laugh and yet some passages were quite operatic. Lord knows I don’t understand opera, yet it is considered art. Her throat howled like the wind, filling the empty room.

My favorite performance came at the end of the evening with Michael Welch on drums and Daniel Jordon on saxophone playing a close approximation of Jazz. Drum Talk was a solo performed by Michael and it sounded very much like a beat generation mantra. The sets were long and uncharted. Daniel introduced himself slyly saying, “It has been a long time since I’ve been the corniest cat at a gig.” When the song ended, he thanked Urban ReThink for, “bringing real musical expression to Orlando in what is otherwise a f*cking wasteland. This evening allowed the artists to perform something new rather than reenacting what happened in the past.”

Contemporary Chamber Music

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The Accidental Music Festival hosted an evening of contemporary chamber music at Urban ReThink (625 E. Central Blvd). When I arrived, musicians were milling around and there was the usual mad rush to get everything in place and working by show time. Violinist Eric Smith introduced himself. He knew of my work since I had sketched a string quartet he played with in Winter Park last winter. He said someone shot video of the performance and there I was in the front row of some chairs set up in the street sketching away.

For the first piece Brandon Clinton played piano and Christopher Belt, the festival organizer, played guitar. I decided to sketch from halfway up a staircase. Each chamber music pieces was short and to the point. Eladio Sharron performed with Carrie Wiesinger on flute. Their piece elicited a standing ovation from the 30 or so attendees. On a trip to Germany, I discovered that a very distant relative, Cornelia Thorspecken, is a professional flute player in Wiesbadden. She gave me a CD and since then I’ve become infatuated with the pure sweet tone of the flute. Thad Anderson performed last doing a drum solo. He warned people sitting close that things were going to get loud. If people needed to shield their ears, he wasn’t going to be insulted. Bravely people stayed where they were. It was a stunning way to end the otherwise peaceful evening of music.

On the outer edge of each step of the staircase I was on, there were small candles in glass jars. I was careful to avoid them when I rooted around in by bag for art supplies. When the concert was over, an old man came down the steps cradling his empty dishes from the salad he ate during the concert. He had a cane and it dragged next to him as he walked down. The cane knocked over every candle on the way down. A sound technician followed him down, righting each candle as it tumbled. He turned to me and said, “Unbelievable.” Luckily they were not lit. It was hilarious simply because the guy had no clue about the havoc he was causing.

ReThinking the City

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At Urban ReThink, several local activists and organizers were invited to give presentations about how they are helping reshape the city. Each was allowed to show 20 slides for 20 seconds each. John Rife spoke about organic food growers in Orlando. A few years ago there were just 12 organic growers in the organization, at the last meeting there were 150 people. They arranged to sell organic food boxes in Orlando and 400 have been sold to date. Their catch phrase is, “local is lovely”. They are helping bring sustainable food products to Central Florida. A public garden is being planned in an empty lot on the corner of Eola and Robinson. On November 19-20 John is hosting the first Harvest Festival in Winter Park. The two day event will focus on celebrating local food and the farmers, chefs, entrepreneurs and non-profits that bring that harvest of their fields to our plates.

After the local presentations, Dawn Silensky was Skyped in from Pittsburgh. She told us about the storefront project. Together with Jon Rubin, Dawn turned an abandoned store into a waffle shop and a mini talk show TV studio. The shop was between two night clubs and they wanted to attract the club kids as costumers. Locals that frequented the waffle shop were interviewed. Dawn is an artist and she said, “conversations are my process and people are my medium.” The sales of waffles keep the conversation alive. She feels that culture is a personal thing. An intercontinental dinner party was held where skype projected on a large screen was used to make it seem like Iranians were seated at the same table as the American diners.

A portion of the building seemed to go unused and it was converted into the Conflict Kitchen, which is a walk up restaurant where you order food from countries America is at war with. This walk up window is reinvented every six months featuring another countries cuisine. The food wrappers have commentary about the countries culture, helping start discussion and debate. Each meal is a cultural exchange. Dawn feels art needs to move outside the studio and out into the streets. Food helps facilitate that. Food is something comfortable, something everyone needs. The point that Dawn and all the presenters made clear is that we all can help bring culture home. When you have a vision, just go out and do it. Start small and let the idea grow. Don’t over think. Each of us can make a difference.

Accidental Music Rehearsal

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The Accidental Music festival held an open Rehearsal at Urban ReThink. I spoke to Christopher Belt the festival organizer, and he let me know the performers were being paid for their time. Juan Trigos composed and conducted “Ricercare VI” for guitar and chamber orchestra. There was no guitar player at the rehearsal. I recognized the flute player, Colleen Blagov, from the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Benoit Glazer’s son sat up front playing violin.

I can’t tell you much about the flow or overall structure to the music. The percussionists clapping out the beat reminded me of a Spanish Flamenco dancer. When the drums joined in, I was reminded of a scene from the Planet of the Apes as humans were hunted. The rehearsal was very staccato with short bursts of music followed by many conductors notes. The piece will have its Florida premiere on September 11th at the Timucua White House (2000 S. Summerlin Ave) at 7pm. The acoustics in the White house are perfect. Benoit Glazer designed the space from the ground up to make the perfect performance space. As always the concert is free. Bring your own bottle of wine if you care to sip a drink during the show. Arrive early this is going to be a big one!

The Big Bang

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On the second day of the Accidental Music Festival, there was an open rehearsal at Urban ReThink for a big band orchestral work titled “In the Beginning”. Composed by John Alvarez this was a new work that referenced what the beginning of the universe might have sounded like. Chris Belt conducted the piece which was organized in three movements, Before Time, the Big Bang and the Expanding Universe.

A computer crash held up the electronic sounds associated with Before Time. After the computer was re-booted, the piece began with the a gentile rise and growing unrest of pure electronic noise. Big band members who did not have to play began to shield their ears from the high pitched sound.

In one punch the whole big band attacked a note announcing the Big Bang. Alto, tenor and barl saxophones mingled and fought with the trumpets, trombones and percussion. The drummers each had bright day glow flexible tubes they waved over their heads like lassos. This created a mysterious hollow tone like wind singing in a cave. Much of the composition is cacophonous and aggressive yet every note was planned. Several times players got lost in the chaos and everyone would begin again.

On September 11th at 7pm the world premiere of “In the Beginning” will be held at the Timucua White House (2000 South Summerlin Avenue). With September 11th also being the ten year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the sounds of the Big Bang will likely evoke emotions tied in to another chaotic moment that continues to cause unrest. As always the concert is free just bring wine or a snack if you would like to imbibe.

Accidental Music Festival

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The Accidental Music Festival will feature 10 nights of concerts, lectures and films celebrating creativity in music. The festival was started by Christopher Belt. He asked to use the space at Urban ReThink and it just happened that The Civic Minded Five, another music group had scheduled concerts the same week. He said to Patrick Green, “It’s like an accidental music festival.” The name stuck. On the second day of the festival, I stopped into Urban ReThink to see Jason Kahn and Bryan Eubanks perform.

I arrived sweaty after a full day of painting the Mennello Museum Mural. I waved to Pat Green in his office and headed straight to the bathroom. Opening the men’s room door, I was startled to see two young women. The woman directly in front of me had her shirt off, wearing a black satin bra. She shouted raising her hand up. Time slowed down. I responded, “Whoops, sorry!” as the door slammed shut. I sat on a small stack of chairs in the hall which shifted awkwardly under my weight. I waited for a while, then I decided they might need privacy, so I went to grab a beer.

The instruments were a huge tangle of wires. Jason sat behind mixing boards, coils, contact microphones, and a sound recorder that played back ambient sounds of the room. A synthesizer processed and modulated sounds, creating feedback loops. Bryan who built many of his instrument components, used guitar effects pedals, a master mixer to mix sources like radio frequencies, ambient room noise and sound clips he randomly collected over the years. He used Super glider,a computer program, to generate sound. All the sounds were generated live in real time.

Initially the sounds generated reminded me of the THX sound system audio played at the start of movies. Brian described their music as a collaborative structure with both players seeking a balance to fill it out. The music generated was unpredictable. Both musicians sought control but the form was complicated by movements or unexpected shifts. This would knock the musician out of the ring, out of control, as he adjusted. Lisa Bates shouted out, “Just like in life!” Jason agreed feeling their music corresponds to the vast barrage of information generated by social networks today. The music was completely intuitive with balance and disruption. It is not your typical acoustic sound. The sound generated inspired me to attack the drawing aggressively my hand moving in syncopation to the changing, unpredictable modulations.

Two young college girls inspected my sketch. One was an artist herself. She did a pencil sketch of Bryan during the performance and gave it to him. The artist seemed annoyed at me, but her friend was enthusiastic and affable. I told her about Urban Sketchers and said she should take a look at the sight. I wondered if these were the women I had interrupted in the bathroom. I couldn’t be sure. In shock, I forgot to look at her face. The Accidental Music Festival will continue through September 13th. Admission to all the events is free but donations are accepted.

Britt Daley Music Video

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I went to the Orlando Repertory Theater where a music video was being shot for Britt Daley for her newly released song, “One and Only.” Scott Wilkins wrote and directed the video shoot. When I arrived, Full Sail interns were setting up tripods and lighting outside the doorway to the greenroom. Wires snaked everywhere and they had to be ducktaped down so no one would trip. A small SLR digital that shoots high definition video seemed out of place mounted to a bulky tripod. A laptop was also mounted on a tripod so more than one person could see what was being shot. The hall was already bright thanks to large plate glass windows. The lighting was enhanced by mounting lights up near the ceiling.

The story that anchors the music video is built around an audition. Britt is in the audition and shakes things up. In this shot she enters the scene by opening the purple door at the end of the hall. She then struts down the hall carrying a huge 1980’s style boom box. The cameraman told the intern to dismount the camera from the tripod. Instead of a steady shot, he wanted to dolly back keeping Britt in frame as they both moved down the hall. A wheelchair was brought in and the cameraman sat down.

They shot the scene multiple times. Some takes were full body, while others focused on closeups of Britt’s lethal high heels. An intern had to quickly coil in the video cable as the cameraman was backed down the hall. The setup and shooting was time consuming. Everyone felt they were falling behind on the shooting schedule. There was a mad dash to strike everything and they rushed off to the next shooting location.

Orlando Shakes Scenic Shop

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Jeff Ferree suggested I stop by the Orlando Shakespeare Theater’s scenic shop. I wasn’t sure exactly where it was so I asked a woman at the ticket booth where it might be. She seemed unsure but suggested it might be behind the Goldman Theater. I wandered around a bit until I saw a woman whose clothing was spattered with paint. I asked her and she walked me back. Jeff was working on some wooden columns. Jeff introduced me to the other folks in the shop.

Work was being done to assemble the set for “The Importance of Being Earnest“. Jeff showed me the blue prints. The set resembled a British country estate with a quaint outdoor garden patio. I believe the set would allow for interior and exterior scenes. The play, written by Oscar Wild will run from September 14th through October 9th. The Red Chair Affair had a scene from the play where Ernest is asking a matronly British woman if he can marry her daughter. The matron was played by a man in an ostentatious red gown. He, she held a notebook checking items off her list as she interrogated the suitor about his credentials. Things seemed to go well until he reveled that he had been found in a basket at a railway station. Shocked, she advised him to find a family immediately. The scene was hilarious, pointing out the silly notion that your family name is the only thing of importance when establishing ones station in life.

Ron was at a large work table and he mounted a router blade to the machine. Large boards needed a slot routered down the center. Jeff showed me where to get ear plugs since the shop was going to get loud. The ear plugs had flames printed on them. When the router fired up I stuffed the plugs in my ears and started sketching.