Saturday, November 27, 2010

So what’s going on with our film now?

Fans & friends are asking: “Where and when can we see A MODEST SUGGESTION? What’s going on with it now?” Well, here’s the route we’ve planned. We submitted the film to two big film festivals. If the film is accepted, we’ll work with distributors to decide where and how they will distribute the film. Only then we will know how and where it will be shown. I would guesstimate that our film will be available to rent or purchase by mid-2011. Of course we will keep you updated as information becomes available. - Israel Orange

Monday, November 1, 2010

A Modest Suggestion -Composer’s Perspective

Composing the music for “A Modest Suggestion” was an absolute joy!
My involvement began with my friend director Arnon Shorr. I had worked with Arnon in the past on a short film project, and we had kept in contact over the last few years. When he told me some months ago that he was considering doing a feature film, I immediately expressed my interest in scoring his project. Well, one day I finally got the okay from Arnon to do the score, and now I am very proud that my name and music is attached to this project.

Arnon had in mind to give the soundtrack a “Spanish feel.” I immediately sought out my friend Richard Peterson who is an extremely talented and versatile guitarist who can play Spanish style guitar with aplomb.
I used some of Richard’s improvisations as a “foundation” to work with on some of the tracks, and then I composed other tracks without the guitar based sounds. I think the results satisfied Arnon’s vision for the music, and “marries” to the film nicely.

The Composing Process:

I received the script a few weeks before the actual shoot, and began to compose some Spanish-themed material based on certain scenes from the script. This particular way of composing for film is not that unique; sometimes composers get a cut of the film to work with, or, we receive the script prior to the filming like I did, or, sometimes it’s a little of both. Besides composing themes based on the script alone as scenes were being shot and edited, I then received a 20 minute cut of a portion of the film to work with. A few days later I received the “locked picture” cut of the entire film. Naturally, I had to find the places where the pre existing music cues that I wrote would fit in, as well as write some new cues based on my receipt of the balance of the film.
This was accomplished in a very compressed time schedule because the film was shot in 9 days after 98 pages of script, and then had to be edited, sound mixed, and pressed as a DVD for entry in the Berlinale Film Festival in Germany, just a few short days after the shoot was finished!

It was definitely crunch time!

As I had completed portions of the score, I forwarded the music to Arnon for his approval. He was reassuringly complimentary and supported me all the way. When a director likes a composer’s work, there is nothing better.

The film is now in the very capable hands of Executive Producer Mark Jaffee who is in Berlin to promote our film.

I wish Mark and the rest of the production team the best of luck with this very important and timely film.

“A Modest Suggestion” will go places!