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Introducing: Upbeat Drop!

Long-time IT'ers have seen me, over the last few years, introduce a handful of projects. None of these projects have come to fruition (but I keep them as potential for the future). At this point, I may come off like The Boy Who Cried Movie, but I don't really care, haha. One of the things that I appreciate about IT is the fact that not only can I share my filmmaking ideas with other people who have similar ideas and get feedback from them, but I can share my filmmaking emotions with other people who "get it".

This time feels different. This time feels more like how I felt when I was in the early stages of developing Antihero. This time feels like something I've done before, except better. :)

In Upbeat Drop, Rosalyn DeLeon Geurerro, coming from a very traditional Catholic family, struggles to come out of the closet as lesbian, choosing to use musical expression to battle her inner-demons.

I'm making a musical! :D :D :D :D

I've spent the last couple months outlining and researching. The research is mainly character-related, as the two main leads are people with very different life experiences than me. The outline is pretty solid (at least insomuch as I have a general idea of the story), and I'm a few weeks away from being ready to start actually writing. The research has been going well, and it will be on-going until the shooting-script is finalized.

Which, in addition to just being excited about my project and wanting to share it, the deadline for the shooting-script is the main reason for this post. Up until a couple days ago, I had no deadline for my next screenplay. My idea was that I'd just let it happen in whatever time-frame it needed to happen. A couple days ago, life circumstances forced me to make a deadline. It's not an arbitrary made-up deadline. This one actually matters, for personal reasons that I don't care to share here.

The initial deadlines I've set are that I plan to be finished with the 1st rough draft by the end of January, 2017. And I need a finalized shooting-script by the end of November, 2017.

My main question is this -- seeing as how the 11-30-17 deadline for a shooting-script is one I need to stick to, do you think 1-31-17 is a good deadline for the 1st rough draft? Do you think I should allow more or less time for the many revisions that will need to take place?
 
I haven't written a feature yet so I can't comment on that.
But I can say good luck!! My projects have been dragging slowly along too but I'm still working on it.
 
Thank you all for your words of encouragement. And thank you, Mara, for sharing your thoughts on the timeline.

Nick, I'm making a musical, but I'm not really making a musical. Like, nobody is ever going to just break out into song while standing in line at the grocery store or whatever. I'm modeling this movie in the fashion of movies like Once, Begin Again, and Sing Street, in that any time our hero sings her emotions, it's because she's writing a song. :)

That being said, yes of course please send me any notes you'd like, regarding the musical you're working on.
 
At some point I guess I should say that yes, I'm making a musical, but not a traditional musical. I'm going to do my best to follow in the footsteps of John Carney, by making a movie about a songwriter, so that any time our hero expresses herself through song, it's because she's writing a song.

There's been some stiff competition, but Sing Street is on my short list for favorite movies this year. Once and Begin Again are pretty damn good as well. I've heard I need to watch Llewyn Davis.

Any other non-musical musicals I need to check out? Of course there's Ray (loved it), and Walk the Line (overrated in my opinion, but maybe I should give it a 2nd chance). For satire, Walk Hard, CB4 and Fear of a Black Hat are pretty great. But that's a short list -- there's got to be more movies about songwriters making music that I need to see. Your recommendations?
 
Love & Mercy certainly. La La Land looks like it's more of a "traditional" musical but it's getting enough attention that I would say you should see it when it opens in January even if it's not the way you want to go with your project.
 
Good luck! Deadlines are definitely good, coming from a procrastinator. Outside forces usually set deadlines as I am bad at doing that myself.
 
At some point I guess I should say that yes, I'm making a musical, but not a traditional musical. I'm going to do my best to follow in the footsteps of John Carney, by making a movie about a songwriter, so that any time our hero expresses herself through song, it's because she's writing a song.

I liked both pitch perfect films
 
So are you writing all the songs too? I am in awe of you if so :) After trying my hand at songwriting and screenwriting, having to do both concurrently is a mindset I don't think I could occupy for a feature-length duration!
 
So are you writing all the songs too? I am in awe of you if so :) After trying my hand at songwriting and screenwriting, having to do both concurrently is a mindset I don't think I could occupy for a feature-length duration!

No, I'm looking to other people to write the songs. I'll be sequencing the arrangements, but that's of course not the same as songwriting.

You should still be in awe of me, cuz I'm kinda awesome! Lol, just kidding. :P
 
No, I'm looking to other people to write the songs. I'll be sequencing the arrangements, but that's of course not the same as songwriting.

You should still be in awe of me, cuz I'm kinda awesome! Lol, just kidding. :P

Oh, I see. What exactly do you mean by "sequencing the arrangements" in this context?

And I am still slightly in awe of you, as I am of anyone with completely ironclad confidence in their own abilities :)
 
Oh, I see. What exactly do you mean by "sequencing the arrangements" in this context?

And I am still slightly in awe of you, as I am of anyone with completely ironclad confidence in their own abilities :)

Aww, thanks for the compliment. You've brightened my day, and I mean that. :)

For the record, I do not have ironclad confidence in my abilities. It's actually quite scary what I'm doing. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I believe artistry in general is kinda scary for all of us. I do not hold a monopoly on being emotionally vulnerable as an artist. The fact that you're on this website, my intuition tells me that you probably know exactly what I'm talking about. Artistry, as I know it, is this weird balance between thinking yourself to be a total genius, and then instantly feeling like a fraud. But then you get a really great idea, and the pendulum keeps on swinging, amiright?!

That being said, yes, I do believe I can do it. Part of the reason that I believe I can pull it off is because I've done it before. And I would encourage other filmmakers to also use their past successes to build their confidence, incrementally. Look, everything hasn't always gone the way I've wanted it to, not in life and not in filmmaking. Which, those are kinda the same things.

But the times that things have gone the way I wanted them to, I can learn from those experiences and use it as a way of affirming myself that every time I feel scared to take the next risky step, hey there buddy, you've done this before. :)

To answer your question, "sequencing" is a musical term, as is "arrangement". In a nutshell, sequencing is a way of recording music without actually recording any audio. What you're recording is instructions. Technically, sequencing is part of songwriting, but I don't really consider myself a songwriter. Maybe a little bit, but it's not my strong-suit so I'll be looking to other people to do most of that work. Somebody like Alcove or APE or JoshL, or any of the many other audio experts could do a much better job of explaining what sequencing is, though I do have some experience in it.

The arrangement of a song is also closely related to songwriting, but it's different. Like, listen to Eric Clapton's "I Shot the Sheriff", vs. Bob Marley's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fou_HD2S5KA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XiYUYcpsT4

It's the same song. Same melody, same chord-progression. But they sound very different from each other. That is the arrangement. Different instruments for different parts, and the rhythmic patterns are not even slightly the same. The Clapton cover is rock-and-roll mixed with soul. The Marley original is hardcore reggae, specifically Marley-esque reggae. The difference you hear between those two versions is the arrangement.

I prefer Marley's, FYI. :D
 
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Oh, and also I thought I should follow-up by stating that I'm just doing what is fun for me. This isn't work, this is fun, and the story I conceived for this movie was specifically crafted because I know that I'll enjoy making it. So, I don't think you should be in awe of me for just trying to have fun.

Oh my God, this movie is going to be so much fun!
 
Aww, thanks for the compliment. You've brightened my day, and I mean that. :)

For the record, I do not have ironclad confidence in my abilities. It's actually quite scary what I'm doing. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I believe artistry in general is kinda scary for all of us. I do not hold a monopoly on being emotionally vulnerable as an artist. The fact that you're on this website, my intuition tells me that you probably know exactly what I'm talking about. Artistry, as I know it, is this weird balance between thinking yourself to be a total genius, and then instantly feeling like a fraud. But then you get a really great idea, and the pendulum keeps on swinging, amiright?!

That being said, yes, I do believe I can do it. Part of the reason that I believe I can pull it off is because I've done it before. And I would encourage other filmmakers to also use their past successes to build their confidence, incrementally. Look, everything hasn't always gone the way I've wanted it to, not in life and not in filmmaking. Which, those are kinda the same things.

But the times that things have gone the way I wanted them to, I can learn from those experiences and use it as a way of affirming myself that every time I feel scared to take the next risky step, hey there buddy, you've done this before. :)

Amen to all that :) A lot of artistry is chutzpah and front, and you are evidently good at that :)

To answer your question, "sequencing" is a musical term, as is "arrangement". In a nutshell, sequencing is a way of recording music without actually recording any audio. What you're recording is instructions. Technically, sequencing is part of songwriting, but I don't really consider myself a songwriter. Maybe a little bit, but it's not my strong-suit so I'll be looking to other people to do most of that work. Somebody like Alcove or APE or JoshL, or any of the many other audio experts could do a much better job of explaining what sequencing is, though I do have some experience in it.

The arrangement of a song is also closely related to songwriting, but it's different. Like, listen to Eric Clapton's "I Shot the Sheriff", vs. Bob Marley's.

It's the same song. Same melody, same chord-progression. But they sound very different from each other. That is the arrangement. Different instruments for different parts, and the rhythmic patterns are not even slightly the same. The Clapton cover is rock-and-roll mixed with soul. The Marley original is hardcore reggae, specifically Marley-esque reggae. The difference you hear between those two versions is the arrangement.

I prefer Marley's, FYI.

I should probably have been clearer with my question, as I know what sequencing and arrangements etc. are (any music I produce these days is electronically with sequencer software!)

My question was more concerned with how you were delegating songwriting to other people, but still being involved in sequencing and arranging. Are other people only writing the lyrics, or writing lyrics and a basic chord progression and then you play with what they produce to make your own arrangements and final mix etc? If that even makes sense :lol:

BTW, is Antihero available to watch anywhere? I've been intrigued since seeing the trailer.
 
Amen to all that :) A lot of artistry is chutzpah and front, and you are evidently good at that :)



I should probably have been clearer with my question, as I know what sequencing and arrangements etc. are (any music I produce these days is electronically with sequencer software!)

My question was more concerned with how you were delegating songwriting to other people, but still being involved in sequencing and arranging. Are other people only writing the lyrics, or writing lyrics and a basic chord progression and then you play with what they produce to make your own arrangements and final mix etc? If that even makes sense :lol:

BTW, is Antihero available to watch anywhere? I've been intrigued since seeing the trailer.

Oh, cool, thanks for the interest! Yeah, I can totally make it available for you. Or you can watch it with Nick. It's currently not available for sale, but I do have a vimeo link that I'd be willing to share with you on the downlow, if you'd like. PM me if you'd like the link.

Sorry, I didn't realize that you're a musician. That being the case, you probably know the definitions of those words better than I do.

To answer your question, I'm planning on using a few different methods for songwriting. I'd like to do some originals. For one, I've got a close friend who is a fantastic songwriter and so I'm going to reach out to him to ask if he'll write on. He has a perspective on life that would be particularly fitting for one of the songs I'd like to include (the climactic finale, actually). What I plan to ask him for is chord progressions and melody.

Everything else I'd like to arrange myself because of the specific nature of the music that we'll be making for this movie. I don't recall if I've mentioned it here and I'm too lazy to read back in this thread, but this movie is intended to be a tribute to the music of Bob Marley. That's both because I love the music of Bob Marley, and so it'll be fun for me to make. But also, and perhaps more importantly, I'm targeting a very specific niche audience -- the people of Saipan, and Pacific Islanders in general. I'm also targeting lesbians and Seattleites.

To the best of my knowledge, the indigenous people of Saipan (Chamorro) have never had a feature film made about them. To the best of my knowledge, there's never been a feature film shot in the Chamorro language. The hero of this story is a young Chamorro woman, attending school at the University of Washington, and she and her friends speak "Chamenglish", a dialect that is exactly what it sounds like.

All of these things are sub-cultures that I am rather knowledgeable about. I grew up (partially) in Saipan. I speak a fair amount of Chamenglish, and have a lot of Chamorro friends (a couple who are filmmakers). Most haolies on Saipan tend to stick to their haolie enclaves. When I was growing up there, I did the opposite. On the island of Saipan, I'm considered local, which is an incredibly rare thing for haolies. I've even had Chamorro friends describe me as an "honorary Chamorro".

I know it sounds like I'm bragging, but that's not my intent. The point I'm trying to make is that the movie is largely autobiographical, and it's going to be fun as shit to make because of how personal it is to me.

Anyway, sorry for rambling, but what I'm getting at is that on the island of Saipan, Marley is king. Everybody loves his music there. All of the locals, anyway. And so, in the story, our hero Rosalyn decides to make an LP that is intended to be a tribute to Marley, in that she is going to do her best to emulate him, right down to the nitty-gritty details. Since you're a musician, I'm guessing that you have probably taken music theory? Well in my story, the same way that if you're taking a music theory class you scientifically deconstruct the music of classical artists like Bach, Rosalyn is going to deconstruct the music of Marley, and then do her best to recreate it.

Which of course means that in real life, I need to do the same. It is going to be methodical, and not an easy task at all, but that's why I personally need to take control of all the arrangements. In the prior example, should my friend agree to writing a song for me, I'm going to do my best to make it sound like that song was made by Marley.

I'd also like to do some covers. For that, I plan to reach out to local musicians and any I can find online. If I find a song that I like, by an up-and-coming artist, I simply plan to tell them about the project and ask permission to do a reggae cover (with proper profit-sharing). And lastly, I've acquired the rights to a fairly famous song by Nat King Cole. I'm kinda shocked at how inexpensive it was (it's one of his lesser-known songs).

I'd also like to do a silent, lip-syncing "cover", haha. I just got the idea for this earlier today and I'm 100% in love with it.

There's no way in hell I'll be able to acquire the rights to any song by Marley. And I've been thinking that it'd be weird to have a movie that is a tribute to his music without including any of his music. It just occurred to me today that the way to get around the copyright issue is to have Rosalyn and Jackie (best friend and guitar player) enjoy a raucous lip-sync session with each other.

In this scene, Rosalyn and Jackie are going to cross paths in the school library. Rosalyn notices that Jackie is rocking the F' out with earbuds in. Rosalyn asks what she's listening to, and so Jackie gives one of her earbuds to Rosalyn. Rosalyn's reaction is pure joy. "Oh, my God, this song is the best!"

They then commence joyously lip-syncing the entire song with each other. Rosalyn takes "lead" vocals, Jackie takes "backup". But because they're in a library, they remain completely silent. Most audience members will probably not know what song they're "singing", but I believe my target audience will get it, and they'll "hear" the song in their head. This might be the most genius idea I've ever had, haha.

To further answer your question, maz, I mostly only plan to use sequencing for the arrangements. As much as possible, I'd like to get live instrumentation, for every instrument except maybe drums. Or maybe I'll experiment with recording cheap home-studio drum sessions, because in their early days, that's what the Wailers did, so maybe it'd be appropriate. :)
 
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