Ryan's Recordings & Audition Success!

Hi folks,

Just got home from a surprisingly successful audition and a fantastic recording session with Music Director Ryan O'Connell. That's right, music director -- not composer. Ryan explained that since I wrote the melodies for the songs, he's technically not the "composer." So his new title, reflecting his incredible talent & skill, is Music Director. You'll understand the superlatives when you hear tonight's piano recordings.


But back to the audition -- I called it surprisingly successful. This is because I didn't have an audition space until 11 this morning, at which time I scrambled to email the actors. Sitting in an empty audition room from 5-7 this evening, Ryan and I quickly realized that 6 hours notice is simply not enough. But amazingly, two actors did show up, and both nailed their auditions. Against all odds, I believe we have found a great voice for every part. Tomorrow I will notify the actors.

I am finally getting back on schedule. And now, without further ado, here are tonight's recordings. (The musical interlude you'll hear is the runaway tap-dance routine! I wish you could see the visuals!! Coming next week!)

Auditions, Story, and Set Design

Hi folks,

We held the first round of auditions Friday night! By we, I mean myself, my composer, and  Tom, who was immensely helpfully setting up/crowd managing/critiquing auditions. There wasn't a lot of crowd managing to do, since only 5 of our 14 invited performers showed up, so we are holding another audition tonight. (Hopefully the actors will find Monday night auditions more appealing than Friday night.)

I am crossing my fingers that we will find a great performer for all 5 speaking roles tonight. So far, we've found a Princess who we really like and a Dragon who is fantastic. We are still waiting on the other roles, and there is a possibility I will perform the Singing Sword myself if we can't find someone we like better.

After auditions tonight, I will record the composer's piano sketches to bring into class tomorrow.

This week I will lay out a story sequence for each song. (So far the tap-dance number is the only fleshed-out story sequence.) By story sequence, I mean story sketches. Right now we just need to lock timing; composition will come later. We hope to lock the timing of the songs next Monday, so that we can start voice recording.

Also this week I'll revise the script.

In other news, last week I met with Matt Galuppo, that famous jack-of-all-trades, to discuss set design in Ladies Knight. He gave me great ideas to work with, like playing up the relationship between each set and the character who lives there, and using "exploded feature" designs (which apparently I already use to an extent). We also brainstormed some great gags for the Dragon's castle during "Kissin' Spree."

And of course, what is a blog post without a picture? A blog post with no viewers. Here's a model of Doofus. This model was surprisingly difficult to get right, in spite of Doofus being mostly hidden under a shapeless frock. Like most of the characters, Doofus looks best in the three-quarters angle ("quarter-angle" in the drawing).

Casting & More

POST-5PM UPDATE: Just met with my composer & he played the first "piano sketches" of the songs. It sounded incredible!! He transformed my little tunes into full-on Broadway production numbers! Today was a blast and I'm incredibly lucky to be working with this guy. Most of the songs are developing rapidly, with the exception of "Dragon Song" which needs to be reworked in the tin pan alley style of the other songs.

Hi folks!

This week I created some new models, worked on the script, and started rough storyboarding.

Today I sent out my casting call, and the response is already overwhelming! So far, 10 Sir Knightlys, 12 Dragons, 12 Singing Swords, 4 Wizards, and 42 Princesses. Auditions will be held Friday!

Also today, I met with Brenda Goodman and Kenny Hall, who gave me much-needed insight into the world of creating animated musicals.

I'm about to go meet with my composer. There's been a mixup -- I thought the composer/director event was tomorrow; my composer thinks it's today -- so either we'll go to the event or meet about the score.

I'd better get going. In the meantime, here's those new models! Any thoughts or comments?

Sir Knightly Model Sheet

Here's the first Sir Knightly model sheet. It's more than just a model sheet -- these are the actual puppets I'll use in animation. The pose on the right is just a modified version of the quarter-angle puppet. Working from the puppet, the poses come quickly and are always on model.

What do you think? Does the puppet system work, or does it look too rigid?

Here's Knightly's silhouettes to test if his poses read. (Note: still need to make front, back and back-quarter-angle puppets for Sir Knightly.)

Meetings and Models

Hi folks,

This week I met with my composer. By next Monday he'll have a rough piano version of the score!

I also met with Elizabeth Brauer to help me punch up the script between songs. She helped me flesh out the characters and discover their motives. I'll revise the script this week and hopefully lock script by the end of the week.

I've found someone to consult with me on set design, and I'll meet with him later this week.

I'm also searching for a choreographer to help me visualize what the characters will be doing during the songs. I haven't found one yet, so let me know if you know anyone...

Tonight I'll be creating model sheets for Sir Knightly, Doofus and Tap-Dancing Doofus. The model sheets will not just be guides, but the actual puppets I'll be using in animation. Check out my cartoon "Unusual Business" to see an example of this approach (ignore the ridiculous introduction).

In Unusual Business, I drew assets for Frank and Mr. Bossman from five different angles, then reused those assets in nearly every shot. I'll be using a more fluid version of this for "Ladies Knight." (More drawings, less reliance on assets.)

I'm falling slightly behind my schedule, so I've arranged to take a short hiatus with my job while I get "Ladies Knight" back on track. Work will be over in a few weeks anyway but I don't want to take any chances on my thesis.

Composer Quest

Hi folks,

This past week I've been interviewing composers. Two interviews down, two more today. My leads are promising -- the Thornton school of Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television is overflowing with talent! I should have my final choice by class tomorrow.

I also attended the SAG casting seminar last week. This week I'll write up a casting call and start the casting quest! Also this week, the composer and I will get to work on the score...it'll be an exciting week!