Setting a precedent at Cannes this year, festival organizers awarded a first ever “Green Lion”–a Lion statuette dipped in green paint–to former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, who was the featured speaker at a Y&R-sponsored session discussing what the advertising/marketing sector can do to raise awareness of global warming.
Little did Gore realize at the time how many companies had already rallied to the cause via their contributions to Live Earth, a 24-hour global music event that took place on July 7, a couple of weeks after Cannes, and brought together hundreds of millions of people to combat the climate crisis. Live Earth, which consisted of eight concerts across seven continents, was the brainchild of Gore and Emmy Award-winning producer Kevin Wall. Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign helmed by The Alliance for Climate Protection, also led by Gore, to move individuals, corporations and governments to take action.
The U.S. concert, which took place at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., included performances by Kanye West, Roger Waters, the Police and New Jersey’s own Bon Jovi. Even with some of the most famous musicians donating their time to the global event, it was music/sound design house Barton:Holt, Los Angeles, that was tapped to create the theme music for Live Earth. Andre Mika, executive in charge of production of Live Earth, was a former college classmate of Barton: Holt composer Michael “Smidi” Smith.
Mika came up with the idea of using the morse code message SOS as the building block for the piece. Smidi and Barton: Holt partner/creative director Sean Holt decided to speed up the tempo of the dots and dashes, then slightly alter the rhythm. What they ended up with was a composition that lent itself to a world flavor that would represent the global impact of the climate crisis.
Inspired by Mika’s drive, the team pulled off a tall order in terms of production. All of the composing, editing and mixing was done in just four days. A 40-piece orchestra conducted by Bill Meyers, whose credits include Earth Wind & Fire and Madonna, was recorded at the Eastwood Scoring Stage at Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank. The following day a live rhythm section was recorded at Barton:Holt’s studio. Vocals were procured by Mika and were incorporated into the mixes.
“We thought it best to deliver a music toolbox to the show’s producers. The toolbox includes one main theme in various lengths, more than 30 alternate mixes (such as vocals only, rhythm section only, etc.) and bumpers in various musical styles. This way the producers had the option to present fresh music during the 24 hours of broadcast,” said Barton: Holt Partner/Executive Producer Hugh Barton.
Holt noted that he was glad this opportunity came at this point in his career. “I think if it had happened five or 10 years ago, our infrastructure would have been such that we couldn’t support such an undertaking,” he said.
In the week they were delivering this, they had about 17 other :30s of different forms across a few different campaigns that had to be finished around the same time. Three other composers and two sound designers continued production for those clients.
“I think it spoke highly of the quality and competence of our staff and composers. Smidi is one of the most talented people I have ever worked with. I think Andre had that instinct when he was looking for Smidi. He knew wherever Smidi landed, he would be in a capable company,” said Holt.
Answering the call
Assorted filmmakers also contributed to Live Earth, including directors from Independent Media, Santa Monica, who turned out more than 40 star-studded, awareness-boosting PSAs (as covered earlier this month online by SHOOT.)
Additionally, Hornet, NY, directors Jason Archer and Paul Beck completed a surreal short film that aired during Live Earth. In the film, which they also wrote the script for, a boy falls asleep in his bed and dreams about a character–Earth–who has the body of a man and the planet Earth for a head. The dream turns to a nightmare as the he takes a beating from various environmental threats: His head catches on fire; a car’s exhaust sends him into a coughing fit; he gets attacked by a swarm of mosquitoes and a flood sends him climbing up a tree.
The directors organized the live-action shoots with an actor in the role of Earth and then digitally painted over the live-action footage to achieve the surreal quality they’re known for. In the past, they relied on actors to serve as primary guides for the rotoscoped animation, but this time they scripted the Earth character’s actions in advance and then directed the actor to perform specific movements.
Live Earth audiences also met Dave, a quirky Los Angeleno who cares deeply about the environment. Dave starred in a documentary created by director Mac Carter of Anonymous Content, Culver City, Calif., producer Sean Welch (Spellbound, Rocket Science) and editor Karen Knowles Zuniga of rival editorial, Santa Monica.
The film follows Dave and his dogs as they tour Los Angeles Asian food restaurants in search of waste vegetable oil to turn into biodiesel. People can also connect with Dave via his MySpace page: www.myspace.com/veggydiesel.
“At the center of the story is how an average person can make a difference in the global warming of our planet by making informed environmental choices,” related Zuniga. “Who Dave is and what he is doing are completely inspiring and refreshing and, at the same time, this is a fun little film that takes you on a humorous ride through Los Angeles’ Thai town. While working on the project, I was continuously entertained by the footage of Dave, his dogs and his biodiesel sedan–which ultimately became the fourth character in the film. Between them, I was drawn into their world, and came out the other side smiling and wanting to make a difference.”
And that’s just what Mr. Gore was hoping for.
Meet Larry Saltzman, The Musician Who Taught Timothée Chalamet To Play Guitar Like Bob Dylan For “A Complete Unknown”
He's not a movie buff, so New York musician Larry Saltzman doesn't always watch the Oscars. This year, however, he's got a rooting interest.
Saltzman taught actor Timothée Chalamet how to play guitar for the role of Bob Dylan in "A Complete Unknown." In turn, Chalamet earned a best actor nomination and the film is also up for best picture at the Academy Awards on Sunday.
A guitarist who's performed with Simon & Garfunkel, Bette Midler and David Johansen, as well as in the pit at Broadway productions "Hairspray" and "Ain't Too Proud to Beg," Saltzman has developed a specialty in teaching actors how to play music for their roles. Besides Chalamet, recent pupils have included Adam Driver and Sadie Sink of "Stranger Things."
On a fellow musician's recommendation, Saltzman first got a call from a movie studio about a decade ago. He admits to being cranky as discussions dragged on. "I almost did everything to talk them out of hiring me," he said.
Not until the fifth phone call did the studio identify the client: Meryl Streep.
She needed to learn the electric guitar for her starring role in the 2015 film "Ricki and the Flash," where she portrayed an aging rocker trying to keep her career and life together in the wake of a series of disappointments.
Working with Streep is a little like a political consultant's first client being elected president. If she likes you and word gets around, other students will follow. Teaching actors now represents about 40% of his business, the 69-year-old said.
"My time spent with her was excellent," he said of Streep. "She's smart. She knows how to learn things. There was a steady progress over three or four months. She did very well."
Faking it just won't do for serious actors... Read More