Upon arrival, I was escorted into a darkened room, with two figures sitting in the shadows. As I was told, this would be my producer and director, so I was anxious to make a good first impression. I stood about 6 feet away, unable to make out the faces clearly, and spoke a confident "GOOD DAY" as a greeting, which was met with an icy silence. "Come closer..." a hushed voice spoke, the director's, I thought, and I stepped into the dim light of the lone lamp in the room. Mr. Spielberg's words were short and to the point:

"F*@! You're not Jerry Goldsmith! Get the hell out of here!" As I began to protest, a coked up Jerry Bruckheimer jumped at me and grasped my throat with the might of Samson! Everything began to get dark and fuzzy, as the oxygen began to fade from my brain, and then...

I woke up.

Each of the three composers, Ben Houge, Lonnie Mardis, and Tom McGurk (me), were chosen at random from a lottery, as were the assistants (Bob Ingals, Eric Borling, and Francyl Gawryn). We then were contacted by Kathleen to supply a demo reel for the directors to listen to, to choose who they would like to work with. After that process, we were assigned to a director, given an assistant, and told when we would be able to meet the directors.

On Sunday of the Fly Film week, the SIFF had a press conference, with the directors and producers in attendance. There was "Baby Express", Shaya Mercer (Dir.), and Steve Utaski (Prod.), "Open House", Dan Mirvish (Dir.), and Peter Allen (Prod.), and "Spare Me", Guinevere Turner , my director, and Kathleen McInnis, my producer. As an added bonus, the Seattle Times had sent a reporter to do a feature on the process, and he was already following the directors and taking copious notes. (His much more engrossing article is available on the Times web site - check it out!) At the end of this conference, the composers were introduced to the producers and directors of their respective films, and allowed a brief conversation about the direction the score would take. Then they all rushed out of the room to some other meetings. I can't really speak for the others, but my Director, Gwen, gave me this little reassuring nugget:

"Music? Hmmm... I thought we would just slap something from a band or something in there. I haven't really given it much thought. Can I get back to you? Thanks. (smile)"

She was quite nice, so I just went with the flow. Later that day, we were invited to a production meeting with the crew, to sit in and plan out the logistics of the shoot. After this meeting, Gwen and I met and spoke much more in depth about the music. She was very open to suggestions, and had a much clearer direction in mind at this meeting, so I felt a bit relieved. I was also given a copy of the shooting script, and invited to the set. It was a great chance to be involved with the whole process, something we as composers rarely get to do. I read the script voraciously, first forward, then backward, then by removing every other word, then with my eyes tightly shut. I wanted to get into the character's psyches, to understand their make up, their DNA of mind, as it were. OK, that's crap. I just wanted to know what was going on in the movie so I wouldn't screw it up too bad.

After shooting was complete, which took two days, we met again, in a small group, to look at dailies, at the editor's (Todd Howard) home. We watched some of the dailies, then Gwen told me some of her ideas for the music, which included a smarmy bubble-gum pop theme song! I really began to get a clear idea of the musical direction, and I left with some great ideas.

As part off the Fly arrangement, each film was edited on a similar Apple Final Cut Pro system, at Westwind Computers in Seattle. This was where we met up again, as the Directors and Producers worked with their respective editors, all through the day and night. I came down twice, once during the start of editing, and once during the final transfer. Each time, I spoke with Gwen to get a clear idea of the story in her mind, how she wanted the music to interact with the characters and the overall concept. Maybe we weren't making a feature length film, but being this involved was great. It really gave me a sense of the process in a compacted form, and Kathleen McInnis had the whole process completely streamlined. It was nice to just be able to show up and get involved have a set schedule everyone stuck to, and be allowed to participate at every step in the process.

Next came the actual composing, which was quite grueling for me. I wrote and wrote for hours on end, until I realized I was using the eraser. Ha Ha. Actually, I sketched out some stuff with my sequencer, themes and sound ideas. I did some rough mixes and waited for audio post to present them to Gwen.

Audio Post was done at Bad Animals, with each film given a day to spot, edit, sound design and mix. Gwen's film was edited by Jeff Vanderhyde, on a Pro Tools rig. I found Bad Animals to be quite a friendly place. Everything I asked for I got, without any complaints! Hmmm... I met with Gwen and played her my ideas, and she gave me some great feedback. They were more preoccupied with the sound design, it seemed, so I went back to work, hoping they would give me some time for comments later.

At this point may I praise my assistant, Bob Ingals. He was great, there all the time, always in contact with me to help (even though I was a bit of a recluse during the actual composing), and gave me some great suggestions. He really was into the whole process, which made it even more fun for me. Props to you, my man. You put the junk in my funk. No, really, you do.

After tweaks to the music, it was laid in under picture, and final mix was done. We all said our collective sighs of relief, and then they were off for more transfers and video stuff. I then got to work with Kathleen on a little side project, a documentary of the Fly Film making event. She said "Just do what you think is right." I laughed maniacally, and then did a version of Nine Inch Nails' "F#@! You like An Animal", with the lyrics rewritten to Film You Like An Animal. Not very orchestral á la Horner or Spielberg, but effective none the less. It was quite exhilarating.

Finally, we got to attend the screening, in the Moore theater, of all the films and the documentary. I think each one turned out great, but 'Open House' was my personal favorite. Afterward, there was a panel discussion of the whole process, and each director was quite complimentary to the composers in turn. Gwen even said one of my cues caused her to shed a tear. (Good, or bad??)

All in all, I would say it was a great experience, one I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to get involved, and get dirty in the guerrilla film making world. Hoo Ra!