So I spent about a month and a half running around the U.S. (from ND to Los Angeles to Vermont and back again) as part of the production crew for the upcoming 'The Whisperer in Darkness'. If you haven't checked out the blog over at HPLHS, I recommend you do so! (
http://www.cthulhulives.org/Whisperer/twid-blog.html
)
All of the crew wore numerous hats during the greater part of the principal photography session. My function was primarily as set-sound recordist. The duties included recording dialogue of the actors, whether through using hidden microphones in their clothing (lavaliers) or my Boom operator ( Robyn Heller - Los Angeles unit, Barry Lynch - Vermont unit) would capture audio with the microphone while I monitored and mixed it to the camera. Robyn and I also spent a good deal of time at Universal and Warner Brothers, sorting through furniture, props and other set-dressing materials. It was great fun. I also exercised my paramedic skills on several occasions for minor incidents on set.
I'm back home in the studio now and all of the above mentioned experiences have inspired me greatly. I am currently working on music sketches for the score to the film. When I receive segments of the film, I'll start composing to picture. As of now, I have a lot of still shots from the set that I am using to get a feel for the instrumentation I will use. Invoking a mysterious aural accompaniment to the film will be a great challenge and I look forward to it.
Because this HPLHS production has sound and dialogue, a film composer has to find a balance between dialogue, sound effects, ambiance and music. I can tell you from being on the set, the actors' performances were astounding and coupling music with them will be extremely rewarding.
As I am writing now, there are several principal photography scenes that need to be shot. I anticipate going back out to assist with those soon. Follow along at the blog linked above for more frequent updates than I publish here. When I start to score the film and begin to work with orchestra, I will be posting more frequent updates and, possibly some video links. Stay tuned!
