Coming Up for Air, Part 2

"So, besides that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

After a day where I was sick and tired--not in the "very frustrated" sense but in the "food poisoning"-sick and "got home late, slept for four hours, then had to get up early to euthanize my cat"-tired--Walaka and I made it to The Crest Theater for the 7:00pm showing of "Star Wars" as de-constructed and re-post-produced by Steve M.'s "Post" class (MT 248) at Shoreline Community College. I had co-taught with him a couple years ago (which I found entirely rewarding--here's a story about it). This year he asked me to talk to the class about "foley," which I did in an amiable, rambling kind of way. Steve had called me last Friday to say that I HAD to come to the screening. He was very excited, so that meant his students had done a really good job. I couldn't refuse. First, Steve's a very good friend, and when he's excited about something you want to share in his joy, and second, this was "Star Wars" and I was more than interested in seeing what they had come up with. "Star Wars" is something of a "Holy Grail" film in sound design--but it was done 30 years ago* What you could do with it--the possibilities, the directions, well, you could make a very different "Star Wars"

When I talked to the class, I told them what a touch-stone "Star Wars" was for movie sound. Not so much in technique--certain producers and directors had been paying attention to the importance of sound for some time. But it was the first time audiences noticed and appreciated the sound of a film--the most imaginative sound work had been up to this time for sci-fi, fantasy and animation films because....the sounds weren't there on the set...never were...they had to be created out of whole cloth...frequently WITH whole cloth, substituting for clothes rustle. And folks like Jack Foley (a sound-man at Universal Pictures who thought it would be easier to perform effects on a sound-stage as they did in radio dramas, rather than cut it optically into the picture...and yes, that's where the term "foley" comes from) and the other pioneers who sonically imagined these worlds, and completed them in the dubbing rooms were miles ahead of the studio-norm, like replacing the half-hearted sound blank cartridges make with dubbed in gun-shots. But "Star Wars" raised the bar of audience expectations....for effects, both visual and sonic. To take on "Star Wars" was to take on a "Big Gun."

And what they did was amazing--so much so, that it pointed out lots of flaws with the film's pacing, which is so dependent on John Williams' music,** that, with another approach to the score in place, shows how draggy the film, in and of itself, is. Was the student score bad? No, not at all. In fact, it was superb in places, and overall, gave the film a darker tone than Williams' major key swash-buckler. The dubbing was nearly flawless. A couple of Imperial lackeys had less-than-inspired performances, but they were in the minority. The guy who did Darth Vader was bang-on good, convincingly matching James Earl Jones in brio (YOU try to do that!) and particularly good at lip-syncing (...that's a joke, son!). The guy who dubbed Luke Skywalker was BETTER than Mark Hamill-more mature and earnest...and I don't think he called Leia "Carrie."*** A particularly good bunch of work was done by the ESL students playing the Jawa's...one can only imagine what they were really saying. There were so many great performances in that (as well as in the second feature, "Spaceballs") that, after awhile, you just stopped noticing the difference and settled into the drama. That is a triumph.

The sound effects work was VERY good--not going the same direction as the original, but deliberately trying new things--although they did fall back on the same light-saber sounds (if they weren't the same, it was a damned impressive mimicry), and their placement of the "Wilhelm" was in the exact same place as the original. Yes, there were missed things, and some things didn't jibe--teams of people did different sections of the show, so there was some difference in how things sounded from section to section, but for the most part it was a triumph. Consider this: these students had less than three months to pull together the script, re-voice it entirely, do the score, and all the effects and mix it. Ben Burtt and his team had more than two years to just do the sound design. John Williams did his score in six months. Did I mention that R2-D2, the toughest job in the show, was entirely original, performed on a synthesizer? That, alone, is a major accomplishment.

If I had any qualms, it was in the mix, which favored the voices over music and effects...sometimes the foley was just lost in the shuffle. But, even there, the work was sometimes exemplary--in the final Death Star Battle, there wasn't a single flaw in transitions from radio chatter to live sound. Amazing, in and of itself. The mix for "Spaceballs" was much ballsier and more effective. That was a terrific mix throughout...well, what I stayed for. I stumbled out of there at 10:40pm, without saying good-bye to Steve (We had talked extensively through the evening--he was beaming, he was proud, justifiably, it was his night and I didn't want to interrupt it) hoping against hope to make the 11:00pm boat. I did, and I got home and collapsed on the couch at midnight, totally exhausted, stomach empty and hurting, and feeling very sick.

K. took care of me with some soup, which I couldn't finish, a vitamin-cocktail with I downed with some Emergen-C, mixed with three kinds of fruit juice. It was good to be home with my family, though, now, we were minus one member. The three survivors, man, woman, and dog, went to bed (Smokey hadn't slept on our bed for a couple weeks--a tale for another time) sad for our loss, wounded by our exertions, and unsure what tomorrow would bring. We vowed to sleep in late the next day...hell, maybe we'd stay there through the weekend. We all needed some down-time to heal.

We did sleep in. Katheryn got up and tended to the dog, then came back to bed to read. I stayed unconscious until 2pm. And I awoke feeling much better. Checking my e-mail, I found an ecstatic note from the client about the video I'd worked on this week. Icing on the cake.

Quite a lot happened. But if I were to sum it all up, I'd just say "Homework sucks, and I slept until 2 today."**** Heh.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, some additional thoughts on "Star Wars," prompted by the first words out of Walaka's mouth post-screening. "Man, I forgot what a cheese-fest that movie is!" Yes, one has to get past Luke's Leif Garrett hair-cut, the dialogue that goes from arch ("Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've created...") to camp ("Mos Eisley Space-port. You will never find a more retched hive of scum and villainy.") The bickering-bantering of the leads in the Death Star.

As Walaka said, it is a cheese-fest. But in the same way that "The Wizard of Oz" is a cheese-fest (and that's appropriate as I think I still have the "Psychology Today" article drawing parallels between "Wars" and "Oz," the most telling being that Darth Vader is "some sort of threatening father-figure." Yeah, Scientology's right! Those shrinks don't know nuthin'!). It was, after all, Lucas' attempt to make a newer version of those D-level Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon serials. But, (and this is probably more appropriate to the Lucas "Now I've Seen Everything" article) the best thing that happened to "Star Wars" (its popularity) is what ultimately destroyed that goofy Saturday-matinee concept. People...and by that, I don't mean Lucas, started to take the things seriously...not the enjoyable lark they were supposed to be--a strange amalgam of sci-fi/fantasy/samurai/western genres.

The same thing happened with the "Star Trek" movies. It didn't seem to bother folks that the movies in no way resembled the series. They instead became a protracted story-line featuring the crew-characters as the prominent feature--as opposed to some esoteric "what if" concept that would drive the story-arc. Like most series, both became so popular that folks were only satisfied if the elements of the first one were re-juggled to form the second and third ones, compounded with the difficulties of finding ways of enticing franchise-actors back (and the failure of THAT concept is more than evident with this Summer of the Killer-Three's).

Then, while the happy glow of "Star Wars" slowly turned into a calcified false-memory (isn't that what's happening in the "Lucasfilm, Ltd" logo?), Lucas decided he was going to make "Star Wars" the way he wanted it--with all the drama-sensibilities of bad movies, but delivered with the techniques that ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD COULD BUY.

But, the fact that the original, original "Star Wars" felt like it had been cooked up in somebody's garage was one of the appeals of it. That he had a limited budget meant he had to concentrate on getting it right the first time, as opposed to constantly tinkering the digital life out of it and getting everything he so badly wanted...no matter how badly it turned out.

Which is sad. There are LOTS of good ideas in those prequels if they weren't treated like the Second Coming of Christ (which I think the prequels are a sort of topsy-turvy version of...). The actors in the original didn't know they were making The Next Big Thing. They thought they were knee-deep in a cheese-fest*****, and they treated it as such--a bit loosely--a bit arch (What was Harrison Ford's line? "George, you can't say this shit, you can only type it!"). The poor actors in the prequels had to toe the line with Emperor George and his Pot of Gold. And that's a shame. Cheese is not paté, no matter what the critics, or the bought-and-sold masses say.

Speaking of the enjoyability of cheese-fests, that point is particularly well-served by one that is clever and reverential to both it's sources--Walaka and I were chortling about it post-screening. Here is: "Steam Trek: The Moving Picture"

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, thank you all for your kind thoughts on Fu's passing. FarmerScott phoned condolences. Walaka, a pat on the back. The two Dan's ("The Man" and "Burnished Oak") shared their thoughts and memories of her, while Kath-11(who may be the voice of your voice-mail!) had this to say: "...congratulations to Mrs. Fu for a long, successful life of self-interest." Perfectly said. Steve M. expressed concern that I attended his event after such trauma, but he knows why I did it. As for the notice, Willow on Vashon formally asked me to write her eulogy, which was a sweet thing to say, and I made my sister cry at her desk at work. Sorry, sis. Vinnie of C&D, Inc. offered his condolences, but also congratulations to Smokey. Indeed, he moved up one rung in the pack order, and is eyeing my spot. Actually, he's a bit intimidated with the responsibility of being "the only pet." We're trying very hard to not express our grief by smothering him with affection, which is our impulse. If we did, we know we'd create a needy little monster. But, we are all doing fine knowing the support that we have. Thank you.

Other counties heard from: SteveBwas the first to offer condolences up on the blog, and Otis chimed in, as well. Two sisters-in-law (Sherry and Jane) had differing views on Fu: one remembered her fondly, the other—well, there was never a lot of love there, though she did offer a grudging “miss her” after-thought. Room-mate Randy reminisced that “she warmed my feet on many a night” and Jeannie, though having never met the animal was happy with the stories.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
* I'm reminded of it every time I mail a bloody letter

** A little known characteristic of Williams' craft is that his music can be so dominant that it focus your attention (some would say distract) and thus, cover all sorts of film-making sins, somethingthat makes Williams' work so technically brilliant--he's not just a "March King")

* * * One of the more famous flubs from the movie. At my lecture, I told the class that if Luke was properly "whiney" on the line "But I was going to Tashi Station to pick up some power converters," that that was half the battle, which got a knowing laugh...and at the screening last night the line got big laughs from the students. It wasn't whiney...which was a big improvement. One of the many joys. Bravo on that.

**** It's kind of an "inside" running joke.

***** In fact, the trash compactor scene probably enhanced that feeling.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming up: I HAD planned to do another week of song-lyrics, but stuff just keeps HAPPENING!! So there will be a book review, a movie review (maybe two), another True-Life Adventure on "The Rock" (one that really sucks!), and (coincidentally), if there's time and/or I finish writing it, I'll share some thoughts about Paris Hilton...because, like it or not, we'll always have Paris.