The Burning Leaves

I was passed some demos by a band called The Burning Leaves about a year ago and after listening once, I knew straight away that they had to play a part in the film in some way. I wrote them a love letter and asked if we could use one of their tracks in the film. They have been a pleasure to work with since.

The Burning Leaves are a young duo from 'The North' of England that are currently building a whole lot of buzz. Their delicate and haunting songs are all recorded on their home 8-track studio. It's this lo-fi approach that helps capture a certain warmth and immediacy in their sound. The kind of quality that gets bled out of the majority of recordings once they enter larger 'professional' studios.

I'm really pleased that these guys are part of the film. They will have an album out soon it seems. I hope it's real soon... I want to be their biggest fan!

SOUND

Right now it's all about sound and music.

Paul Charlier is creating the original soundtrack in Sydney and right now he has his head in a vice trying to squeeze out aural gold! Keep it up Paul!

Final Sound is working on the sound mix in Melbourne and the foley is being created in Quorn, South Australia with John Simpson.

SO the sound elements are currently spread across three states. But I'm glad to be here in Melbourne for this week at least.

I did an ADR session with Tom in Adeliade last week but today I spent time with Tom doing some extra ADR here is Melbourne along with a bunch of lines and some huffing and puffing I tried to get some sounds as if he was drowning without actually drowning him.

Tom chillin at Final Sound like a rock star...

Picture Locked!

This entry is a week late but we LOCKED the picture last Friday.

All the tweaks and final decisions seem to be a bit of blur now, and I know Jack and I will go back in and massage a couple of the edits to add an extra beat here and there. But essentially Last Ride is cut.I'm very happy with the edit and the film we have carved out of all the footage. Jack has done an amazing job. Even though the process has been stressful at times and both Jack and I have had quite a few sleepless nights worrying about the film, I think over all it's been quite an enjoyable experience.

I began reading the Faber and Faber book Minghella On Minghella during the last few weeks of the edit. I'm not a huge fan of his films but his writing and thoughts on the process of making films is a revelation. His approach was so simple, yet it;s really inspired me. A few of the things I read really help me find some clarity and understanding of the process we were deep in the middle of.

One thing I really found helpful was his approach to cutting s

cenes that you are really attached to. I've heard people describe this as 'killing your babies'. But I don't think it's right. The film is the baby, not the individual scenes. jack is quite the butcher, he'll cut anything without hesitation if he thinks it will make the film better. I must say it might take me a little longer but I'm all for getting rid of things if the film might seem stronger without it. Minghella and his editor (the legendary) Walter Murch had a really interesting approach to it...

It's just such a great way of letting stuff go, because essentially it's still there.

And thats kind of where the film is at the moment. The crust is forming.

Now my head spins into sound and music...