Monday, July 16, 2007

The Music Man

A dynamic sound track is critical to making a successful film. I argue that good sound design is perhaps more important than good looking pictures. If you have ever seen a film that is "thin" when it comes to sound, you know what I mean. Of course the most obvious part of the sound track is the music and for us it is one stop shopping with Eric Sproull at Earhole Studios. http://www.earholestudios.com/

I have known Eric since college. He played keyboards on a music video I made (I have pictures of him dressed in all sorts of garish costumes that I threaten to give to his kids) and we have been friends since. On more then one (five?) occasion(s) he has given us just the right bit of music to create the mood. Once he gave us some temp music that the client liked so much, we kept it. Other times he has created demo after demo for us looking for the right sound. When not bailing us out he does high end commercial jingles- check out his reel on the Earhole website.

Here are some facts that don't make his professional bio.

1) About 15 years ago he decided to go to law school at night. He did, passed the bar and until recently worked one day a week at the public defender's office in Evanston, IL.

2) He and his wife have two kids of their own and a bevy of foster children and their relatives. At any given time he has at least six people and as many animals living in their house.

3) He is a committed parent and supporter of the Waldorf Schools. http://www.awsna.org/

4) A year ago he moved his family to Ann Arbor, MI. There he has a goats, horses and an in-ground swimming pool. He has created a small recording studio there and comes to Chicago three days a week.

PeterH

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's something we discovered about sound/music...

Take some footage, and put a lighthearted soundtrack under it. Take the same footage, but this time put in some omninous music.

The whole feel of the scene changes. What seems nostalic and romantic in the first, now seems dark and forboding... like something bad is going to happen to these happy people.

denise said...

true indeed-i got into trouble doing the "greeks" in acting class. my scene partner and i walked onstage with a track from david bowie's low album playing. my acting teacher made us turn off the music and try to get the same heavy dark feeling without it.

music is indeed powerful!
d