Well, dear readers, we finished the color timing on Nudie Musical. I think it’s been, for me, a rather extraordinary week of watching this little movie of mine come back from years of bad full frame tape copies, splicy scratchy prints, a DVD that while a big improvement over the tape and cable broadcast copies, still looked like a brown mess, but at least was in its original ratio of 1.85. Now the film has proper color, very little dirt and scratches, most of which will be removed as we move into the next stage, and best of all, the framing is the best the film has ever had, even if it’s not strictly 1.85, for me it basically is – thanks to extra side information – so that opening up to 1.78 basically retains the 1.85 shape. Yes, the framing is a little looser than the DVD, and it really does look better that way.
We spent quite a lot of time on the Let ‘Em Eat Cake number. There’s no way it’s ever going to look wonderful, thanks to some bad direction, bad camerawork, bad set, and some sketchy choreography. Luckily, the song is cute, Cindy and Stephen are adorable, and it is supposed to be from a low-budget porno movie, so we get away with it. But I basically cringe every time I see it – we couldn’t afford a black dance floor so the concrete of the stage was painted black, but as soon as light bounces off it it just looks awful. One of the things we were able to do with some slight reframing was to not show quite as much of the floor and that really helps. The sequence was not well lit and because of that it’s a little grainier than I’d like and the contrast has always been a bit washed out – we fixed as much of that as we could, but compared to the DVD it looks amazingly better. The other problem was the end credits sequence. First of all, the final shot of the film with Stephen and Cindy dancing down Hollywood Boulevard is an optical that goes directly into the end credits. And that optical is just horrid – filthy, scratchy, dark and ugly. We fixed it as much as possible, but it’s actually worse than the print we used on the DVD because for whatever reasons the negative has emulsion lines and scratches throughout the end credits – in the cleanup phase I’m hoping we can fix most of that. Then, two-thirds of the way through the credits there’s a horrible splice and we go to even worse dupe footage because, and this is just supposition, when we got the film back from Paramount we must have had to change the copyright notice back to our company, hence the dupe footage and splice. We were able to fix the splice so you don’t even see it now and we were able to at least manage to make the color match. I also have a memory of this spliced version of the credits being in all the prints once the film had a new distributor and I think it really caused a problem with the song at the end and its level. Luckily, our sound came from my personal mint print made at the time of the original release, so the song quality should be just fine on that.
I’m hoping to do a little comparison video for the Kickstarter page, just so you can see a little bit of the difference. After we finished, we began transferring to tape (all the color and brightness and framing settings are stored in the computer and happen automatically as the film gets laid down). We got to reel two and I wasn’t totally thrilled with the flesh tones in one sequence, so we went back to that and made a few adjustments and it was better – subtle, but more to my liking. So, we were there for five and a half hours and got two complete reels done. We continue this morning and should wrap it up in no more than two hours, since we only have another hour of film to do and it’s real time, save for when we stop and do any further corrections. And then it’s on to the cleanup and the sound session, after which we do the sound layback and we’re done.
After the session, which went longer than planned, I had to rush and pick up one package at the mail place, then come home, where I had to answer e-mails and return telephonic calls. I finally managed to do a mile and a half jog just before rehearsal commenced. Rehearsal was, as always, a bit rough – that’s just the way our first rehearsals are. Singers are feeling their way through the songs and getting used to the arrangements. We adjust keys, I do little adjustments to the arrangements, and they tape it all then come back on Friday, when we really do the interpretation and performance work. But the singers are matched perfectly with their songs and it was so much fun to hear them today, even rough. It’s a superb cast (Juliana wasn’t there – her first rehearsal will be on Thursday, when she’s back in town) and the songs are, of course, wonderful. The day began with Lauren doing Sing Happy, A Quiet Thing, and then Marsha Kramer arrived and they did their duet, The Grass Is Always Greener. Then Marsha did her two other songs, So What (from Cabaret) and Yes. Then Damon arrived and did his three songs – he’s really fantastic – he’s doing The Skin Of Our Teeth, Married/Marry Me, and All I Care About Is Love. Then Zachary Ford arrived and did beautifully with Second Chance, I Don’t Remember You/Sometimes A Day Goes By, and Isn’t It Better. Then Melody Hollis, the thirteen-year-old came and we ran her song – she’s opening the show with Wilkommen (I’ve adjusted the dialogue so that it’s about the Gardenia – it’s pretty funny). She only does a chorus of that, then she goes into City Lights. After listening, I realized we had to really commit to a style for Wilkommen and then City Lights, so we spoke on the phone later and talked through it and we have a clear direction now. Juliana’s doing Cabaret, My Coloring Book, and The World Goes Round and Gregory Harrison’s doing First You Dream. It’s a lot of variety and will be a fun show.
Then I went and had a sandwich and fries – I know I shouldn’t have had the latter, but I needed a treat and it’s the small version of fries. But when I got home I was feeling guilty about it, so I went out at seven-thirty and did a close to four-mile jog at a good pace – so I did over five miles and that should take care of the fries. I then listened to the Jason Graae master and the master of our next soundtrack release, both of which I approved. I then wrote the liner notes for the soundtrack release.
Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get some semblance of beauty sleep.
Today, I’m back at the lab at eight and we should be done by ten, after which I’ll do some errands and whatnot, jog, eat, and hopefully pick up a package or three. The piano tuner comes at three, and then I’m doing our radio show after that.
Tomorrow, I have lots to do, then the Juliana rehearsal. Friday is our second Gardenia rehearsal, and I’m sure they’ll be scheduling me back at the lab for the final stages of the project. On Saturday, I’m seeing Barry Pearl’s ever-lovin’ Cindy in a play.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, finish the transfer, jog, do errands and whatnot, eat, have a piano tuned, and do a radio show. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, where I’m sure I will dream of the newly beautified Let ‘Em Eat Cake.