How To Make A Thunderstorm
This is Finish Your Monsters, a weekly blogletter about the creative process. I'm sharing adventures in art and life as well as setting CLIFFHANGER goals for myself, so--
DID I MAKE MY GOAL?
Big picture, I’m working away on the post-production of our horror film, Dead Media. I’m editing the film in chronological order. Last week, I committed to the goal of editing up to minute 90 of the film.
And I made it! Okay, in total honesty, I made it to 1:29:54:16. So roughly five and a half seconds short of my goal, but hey, that’s where the scene ends.
I was at minute 78 last week. So I did a big push this week editing 12 minutes of complicated, intercut scenes with lots of horror in them.
Two times this week I stayed up until 4 am to finish a scene. One of the scenes features a character repeatedly screaming. The actor did a fantastic job with the emotional reality and ferocity of the scream. I wrapped up the scene, got a few hours of sleep, and wondered why I felt “extra off” the next day. Truly, a great mystery.
I’m very happy with the progress on editing. I’ve only got about a third of the film left to edit then I can move on to revisions, scoring, and more post-production.
If you’re interested in helping me pull this film across the finish line, I need to raise a bit more money for post-production. You can make a one time tax-deductible donation via Film North here.
Thanks so much to everyone who has supported this film—financially, emotionally, just by reading this blog and going with me on the journey.
ADVENTURES OF THE WEEK--
This week I did a pretty good job of keeping my head down and staying focused on my work.
But emotionally it was a challenging week. The onslaught of cruelty and chaos in the world. The sad, ugly need to resist the steps we’ve taken as a society toward more empathy, more respect, more justice for everyone. The increased amount of obstacles for people everywhere to just enjoy their lives—hobbies, career goals, travel, finances. (The staying up until 4 am with the screams probably didn’t help either.)
Two things helped me this week: Breaking and music.
First—breaking. I had a day this week where I just gave myself permission to feel AWFUL. My instinct is to always stay strong, power through, be hopeful, etc. But sometimes that just makes the tension grow.
On my “breaking day”, I listened only to sad and angry music. I did not try to see the silver lining. I was honest with my wife that I was in a miserable mood and we talked through the long list of personal and big picture things that were upsetting me.
I love living in Los Angeles, but I miss the big, angry thunderstorms of the midwest. The ominous rumbling thunder, the sky turning slightly green then ripping itself apart in a fit of rain and lightning. Finally, the mood in the air of aftermath.
My personal breaking day was the closest I’ve had to experiencing a thunderstorm in a while. It didn’t fix any external problems, but it was a much needed internal reset.
Next up in the helping list—music.
I’ve got an old joke I say to myself from time to time: “Are you actually depressed or has it just been too long since you’ve listened to Paul’s Boutique by The Beastie Boys?”
Music has always been a big part of my life. It’s on my mind a lot as I gear up to work on the score for Dead Media. But I don’t always do a good job of keeping music present in my life. I can’t really have music on in the background while I do my work of recording podcasts and editing dialogue heavy film scenes.
So I need to make a point to make time for it. I’ve been listening to Lady Gaga’s Mayhem while I make lunch. My wife and I usually put on a jazz album while we make dinner or an evening cocktail.
Recognizing my breaking point this week, I made an effort to listen to more music of all kinds. Albums that would uplift me. Albums that would commiserate with me. Albums that are mostly research for the movie score.
Music can be deeply personal, but it also generates connection and community.
I love vinyl records. I love physical media. (There’s a reason the horror film I’ve put so much work into is about a haunted DVD.)
So I really wanted to go to Record Store Day last Saturday. But finances are tight and so is space in our apartment so I need to be careful about my choices. I was torn about going. But Sara was excited to go and make a fun adventure of it. So we walked to one our four (!!!) local record stores, Amoeba, and had a great time looking around. There were some great deals so we picked up a couple albums, CDs, a deeply discounted collection of Frank Sinatra films on DVD, etc.
The place was packed. One guy was on a mission to physically look at EVERY album in the soundtrack section. The staff was very friendly and efficient, helping maintain the lines and wishing people a happy Record Store Day. The store was selling deeply discounted record players so when we left Amoeba about half the people we saw walking along Hollywood Boulevard were lovingly hugging record players to their chests.
After that burst of community, we didn’t feel like going home. So we walked to an old Italian restaurant, Miceli’s. My understanding is the place used to have waiters singing at your table. But now they have a pianist and all the waiters took turns singing old tin pan alley tunes every half hour or so. Our server sang a song that is about romance but now sounds like it’s about the tariff war called “Slow Boat to China” and I got to chat with her about the song.
All that community, all that human connection from music.
After our trip, my wife and I discussed the term “touch grass” and how important it is to get out and experience the tactile world. I joked that I was going to start telling people to touch vinyl.
Then I remembered a curious thing I saw at Miceli’s. When we were walking up to the front door, there was a man in a dark suit with flashy red accents. He looked like he maybe worked at the restaurant. As we passed, I saw him gently pat the large mural of Sinatra outside the restaurant. I forgot about it until we were walking out and I realized he was the pianist.
Maybe as a short hand for getting out in the world and reconnecting to community, I’ll start saying “touch mural.”
LIGHT PLUGS—
The Nightmare Adorable!
I wrote and directed this short horror film back in 2023.
AWOOGA: Can you help us get to 1000 views on YouTube? I’d love to get more views on this short film as I look ahead to the promotion of Dead Media.
Speaking of Dead Media, We’ve got a fiscal sponsorship with the great Minnesota organization Film North. They can accept one-time donations that will go directly toward finishing the film: SCORE, VFX, COLOR GRADING, etc. It’s like a Kickstarter where the rewards are A) a tax deduction and B) helping us make the film.
For full info, please check out the page for the upcoming horror film, DEAD MEDIA!
Or if you have any questions about supporting the film, feel free to reach out to me personally!
MY GOAL FOR THE WEEK--
My foot remains on the gas for Dead Media. I need to really focus on the editing so nothing but a big editing goal. I want to knock out the next 15 minutes so my goal for next week is to edit up to minute 105 of the film.
YOUR GOAL FOR THE WEEK--
I would absolutely LOVE to hear what you're working on this week in the comments below. What's your goal? How can I help you literally finish your monsters?
A LITTLE SKETCH--
I had fun doing a quick sketch of a record that I would like to exist. I hope everyone has a a good week and finds some time for whatever music helps you the most.
