The Digital One Blog

And for theatre too

2012-01-12T15:18:00.000-08:00

So, you know, we spend most of our time around here making fun sounds and mixes for all sorts of broadcast places. Web, TV, Film, Radio, and on and on, but every so often we get to break out and have some fun on things that will play back in interesting places. There's been plenty of crazy museums and even a traveling bus of shoe oddities, and now one such project had us making sounds of unknown demon type things for a local play by Sean McGrath. Rumor has it we scared the audience pretty good. Thanks Sean.

NIGHTFALL from Sean McGrath on Vimeo.

U2 360: I bought a ticket...

2011-06-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

And was really expecting some form of a retirement tour. One last go around the park. High-fives, and some reminiscing about the good ol' times. That may be true, this might be their last tour. Honestly though, I felt great about paying the money to see the Irish blokes one last time. They are sort of a national treasure of rock music, and I jumped at the opportunity to go, fearing it may be my last. About a month before the date, news came that the show was postponed indefinitely on account that the lead singer hurt his back. "Of course", I thought. I should of went last tour, they have gotten old and too banged up. Thats that. Now, fast forward a whole year. The show was back on!

I hadn't done any research, nor read any reviews. I barely skipped over the greatest hits on the drive up. Even if I had, nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to experience. I took my seat and immediately thought two things. First, "Right this is a stadium tour". The second, "WTF is this alien looking stage in the middle of the stadium?" I'm old enough now that a fair amount of skepticism accompanies me wherever I go. Unfortunately, even on a beautiful Saturday evening about to hear some great music with a cold beer in my hand. By the bottom of that beer, the stress of getting there, and the claustrophobia of the droves of people sitting around me had wore off. Twilight had set in over the stadium and the band took the stage. I honestly felt relieved when I saw that Bono wasn't rolled out in a wheel-chair. Quite the contrary.

Over the next three hours, the spectacle before me reached out, grabbed my hand and pulled me through an experience like no other. The U2 360 tour isn't just the marque summer rock show of our time, its an experience that compresses the last quarter century of your life into one evening. As with their music, the live show has the ability of connecting to its audience on a person by person basis, even in a stadium packed to capacity. The technology you experience has no reference. Even Steve Jobs would say, "Whoa, did u see that?!". The music was performed flawlessly, with vigor and undulating passion. It felt as if they were a budding garage band trying to fight for the audience's heart one song at a time. And as always with U2, the message is positive and profound. It may have been the massive laser beam that shot out from the middle of the stage straight up into the night sky during "Where the Streets Have no Name", or the masses, all singing in unison and channeling some positive memory to that place at that time, but the vibe is inexplicably exalting. You feel awake, alive and connected. The U2 360 tour has an almost medicinal quality where you're soul feels heeled and restored. This was apparent as me and over sixty four thousand smiling people calmly and cooperatively left a single location that night to return to our families, homes, and lives… Ya, I think Bono's sunglasses are lame too, but you know, U2 are trying to make a difference and for that I say, "Good on ya."

Here Comes Joey!

2011-04-26T12:55:00.000-07:00

Had the pleasure of working with the very talented Jelly Helm Studio on the "Here Comes Joey" video earlier this month. The Timbers asked Mr. Helm and co. to help create an opening video that would kick off their inaugural game at the newly renovated Jeldwin Park in downtown Portland on April 14th. With the help of Reed Harkness and Sarah Marcus from Grow Film Company, music by Mathew Carey and sound design help from yours truly, the video helped motivate the crowd and inspire the Timbers to a 4-2 win over the Chicago Fire! All in a torrential down pour, the entire game… My voice hasn't come back and my socks haven't dried yet! This is just another highlight from a stunning campaign for the Timbers and an all around great thing for the Rose City.

Portland Timbers - Here Comes Joey from Grow Film Company on Vimeo.

Clouds Over America

2011-04-19T16:12:00.000-07:00

And, its about time! This month's unavailing of Amazon's "cloud-drive" is um, like kind of ah big deal. I for one am intrigued by the idea of keeping all of my media on one centralized server, that I can accessed from any device. Neat idea, however will all of America feel the same way? Americans like to own their media. They like to hold it, covet it, hang it up on their walls, facebook walls that is. This will again, be asking a lot of the boys and girls of America. However, when the fine people at Apple, Amazon, Target, etc. asked America, "hey, we'd like to sell you the same music you already own, at a much lower fidelity but you can have it really fast and on a different device. What say you?" America said, "duh, of course". So, who knows maybe this will take…

The boys and girls of Europe have embraced the cloud for a while now. Spotify has seen some use while progressive, dubious, self-promoting artist like Ash have even used the service for exclusive releases… Nothing new really. I guess I'm curious as to how Amazon beat Apple to the punch. Apple has acquired music streaming service Lala, as of early Dec 2010, so maybe they do have something up their sleeve after all. Apple with something up their sleeve!? Shocking (sarcasm). I guess I just want someone to figure all this out, make it easy for me. And when they say, "hey, we made it easier for you to get the music you already own. Its slightly less fidelity and it will cost you even more cheddar". I'll probably say, "duh, its about time".

Mmmmm the smell of solder...

2011-04-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

Know that if you bad mouth our talkback mics we'll, well, upgrade them. Yup, the beloved D-104s have all been fancied up. Now the talent will clearly hear that joy in your voice as you ask for take 74 and you'll have a new fancy LED letting you know that you still have the button pushed while you wonder aloud if maybe you should have cast a woman rather than this man.

Long live the D-104.

More work done on The Regular Show

2011-04-06T14:17:00.000-07:00

We had the pleasure of working on a couple of episodes of The Regular Show for J.G.Quintel and Cartoon Network, including this episode "Benson be gone". After one calamity too many at the park, Benson is demoted to work alongside Mordecai and Rigby. After he gets a taste of the duo's lifestyle, he too becomes a slacker and promptly gets fired. But when his substitute (Susan) turns out to be a demonic harridan Monster on making perfect duplicates of the other workers, it's up to Benson to save the day.

Mustafa impressed with our phones

2011-02-07T17:26:00.000-08:00

Last week, Old Spice spokesbeef Isaiah Mustafa announced that a super fan, chosen presumably for his or her social media influence and/or flair, would gain exclusive access to the new Old Spice ad ahead of its public launch. On Thursday, Old Spice and the Wieden team selected Chris Gatewood, aka @chrisscross as super fan.

Gatewood received this phone call from Mustafa.

Gatewood has already released a sneak peekand is expected to release the full spot... soon.

2011-01-04T16:03:00.000-08:00

Production Stills from "Stella's Flight" from Tom Hassler on Vimeo.

Gas! And the land we live on

2010-12-20T14:25:00.000-08:00

Choosing to watch the documentary GASLAND so close to the holiday’s probably wasn’t my best move. But I did, and it educated me to the horrors of fracking (pumping toxic chemicals into the ground) and good old fashion corporation greed. The film is solid, and non preachy. GASLAND is a great "public awareness film", where real people talk about their stories and history, then they light their tap water on fire. Yup. Imagine going to your kitchen sink, putting a lit match close to the water flowing down and creating a mini explosion right there in your sink! Cool. (but not really)

Gasland is available on DVD and you can learn more here: http://www.gaslandthemovie.com

The Krill is Gone

2010-09-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

Jeffrey Bost's film "The Krill is Gone" recently screened at the GLOBIANS film festival in Berlin, during Burning Man on August 31st and at Laemmie's Sunset 5 in Los Angeles. To find out more about this film, go to thekrillisgone.com. This film was originally created by Bent Image Lab for the documentary "Deep Green", but became a stand alone piece that now shows before the feature.

Summer Sanpshot makes Bend Film Festival

2010-09-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

Summer Snapshot will be shown at a very fun festival in a very fun town! Oct 8, Friday 3pm. (McMenamins) Oct 9, Saturday 10:30 am (Regal Theatre)

For more on the film, check out Facebook

Lo-Fi is Fun-Fi

2010-08-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

Who says Bilbo isn't cool? Such good fun working with such good characters. The DNA is live...

The Deed

2010-08-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

A limited production + short film engagement
Directed by: MontBlond
Enjoy your Friday the 13th with a short creepy lullaby.

The DEED from N. Montgomery on Vimeo.

'nuff said

2009-11-24T17:44:00.000-08:00

Digital One works with world famous Foley Fartist to create sounds for latest video game

2009-08-26T10:46:00.000-07:00

Meet Myron Lefkowitz, the man who makes sound effects using his own personal wind instrument. He is a fartist, a farteur, a flatulist, but above all he is a professional. Take a peek behind the scenes as Myron enlists his amazing talent to record the sounds for MySims Racing.

Let there be Sims!

2009-06-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

This is one in a series of HD spots done for the much anticipated release of the Sims3. We had to finish this one in time to get it on air for the season final of One Tree Hill. This clip is only the stereo version, though it's a perfect fold-down of the 5.1 mix, which was pretty fun to make. Lots going on.

Our producer at W+K was Fran O'Connor, creatives were Jed Alger, Aaron Allen, Matt Carey and our favorite philanthropist, Ben Carter (just ask any Grundelbruiser about the Ben and Susan Carter Foundation). We can't forget our pal Charlie Keating, who did the sound design.

Look close for the see-through underwear...

Pure running

2009-06-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

I always like doing the foley work, but somehow on this project I had more fun than usual. I like running. Well, as long as I'm only doing it for 30 feet or less. Let me revise that, I like that people like running and I like doing their foley.

Is Federer the greatest?

2009-06-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Here's the math behind his achievement. With his 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4 win over Robin Soderling at last Sundays French Open final, Roger Federer is now tied with Pete Sampras for the most-ever Grand Slam titles at 14. Roger busted his butt and won on Sunday morning, Manny busted his butt all day and we had this spot ready for air (internet air that is) by Sunday evening. The spot starts running in HD on the Tennis Channel this Wednesday.

"Dear Nana" wins the Grand Prize of the Drive Less Save More Video Challenge!

2009-06-04T13:26:00.000-07:00

We are proud to announce that “Dear Nana” won the Grand Prize at the Drive Less Video Challenge last Thursday. The spot stars Pearl and Guy Baker with Jan Dunn. The :30 TV commercial was a completely volunteer, labor of love, team effort brought to life by our bike crazed staff here at Digital One.

Sure, making a TV spot to help further a good cause is its own reward. But winning the Big Kahuna also doesn’t suck.

This was a new adventure for Digital One. Of course, we’ve been working our audio-voodoo on award-winning TV spots for many moons now. But this was our first time putting it all together from scratch.

This spot was conceived, written, directed, edited, mixed and scored by wunderkind Guy Baker. The producer was Cameron Shaw, the line producer was Lisa Baggetta, the stylists were Lisa Baggetta and Stephanie Fajardo, and visual effects were done by Mike Quinn of Mission Control. The spot would never have made it to the small screen without the generosity and attention of director of photography, editor and friend Rob Tyler of VCR100. We were sincerely touched by each member’s eagerness to donate time and creativity to this project.

Starting in June '09, Dear Nana will become the Drive Less/Save More Campaign’s next TV commercial, airing on all four Portland area TV stations. The team won $3,000, which was in turn donated directly to the Portland Community Cycling Center, an organization that broadens access to bicycling and its benefits through hands-on programs, volunteer projects, and a neighborhood bike shop.

Competition in the Drive Less Video Challenge was close all around, starting with 77 excellent entries received from across Oregon and SW Washington. The judging panel had the difficult decision of determining the top five videos in the General and Youth Categories, and the point spread between the finalist videos was close! More than 5,000 people then weighed in casting votes for their favorite spot.

“Drive Less. Save More.” is an awareness campaign sponsored by dozens of regional businesses and organizations whose collective goal is to reduce car trips in Oregon and Southwest Washington. The program provides the public with information about driving costs, transportation options, delivery services, and more.

The Vendor Client relationship - in real world situations

2009-05-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

We didn't make this video, but a (very lovely) client pointed it out. I'm curious if this hits home with anyone else as much as it did with me. Ouch...

Coors Light 4:53

2009-05-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

From the mind of Tim Sproul. Check out this internet app we helped produce with Razorfish and Varitalk. The Coors 4:53 alerts are designed to help you get your friend(s) out of work.

http://www.coorslight.com/453/default.aspx

It was a lot of work drafting the sentences to sound real once compiled and it was a bitch recording all the names, but we think this site turned out pretty swell.

Town Hall Meeting for SB621

2009-05-08T11:47:00.000-07:00

This just came in from OMPA:

Town Hall Meeting with Senators Burdick and Rosenbaum

Two senators who are in key positions to move SB 621 (which increases funding to the Oregon Production Investment Fund) are generously holding a town hall in Portland tomorrow. A friendly showing of support to increase OPIF is critical at this point. Please let the Governor's Office of Film and TV know if you can attend: VincePorter@OregonFilm.org

What: Town Hall Meeting with Senator Ginny Burdick and Senator Diane Rosenbaum

Where: CubeSpace, 622 SE Grand Ave., Portland

When: Saturday, May 9, 10-11:30 a.m.

Senator Ginny Burdick ( District 18) chairs the Finance and Revenue Committee, and Senator Dianne Rosenbaum ( District 21) is on that committee.

A key issue in front of these senators is their ability to move SB 621 forward to the Senate for a vote!!

As we have mentioned, SB 621 will die in committee unless the Finance and Revenue committee chooses to send it to the Senate for a vote – and with it, our chances of earning 3 more months a year of medium to large budget projects.

If you live in the Portland area, chances are either Sen. Rosenbaum or Burdick represents you. (You can check for yourself here: http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/)

A flyer which underscores our industry's support of SB 863 and SB 621, a copy of which lives here: http://ompa.org/reference/sb621_863.pdf

Talking points on SB 621 and SB 863 follow.

Call to Action: Support SB621

Senate Bill 621, which increases the Oregon Production Investment Fund, is currently stalled in committee in the Oregon Senate and requires firm support. Please take a moment to find your senator, and call or email them today.

What to say: I live in your district. Please support SB 621. This bill increases Oregon's ability to attract medium and large budget projects to this state with a no-risk job creation program. Would you be willing to support this bill in the Democratic Caucus and make sure it gets to the floor for a vote?

Why it deserves support: Unlike other Oregon economic incentive programs, this program doesn't spend a dime of the state's money until after the company makes its investment in Oregon wages, goods and services. OPIF is a no-risk economic stimulus program that 1) creates jobs immediately, 2) gives the state of Oregon back more money in taxes than it puts into the fund, and 3) creates the type of jobs to help Oregon grow in the 21st century economy.

If your Senator is supportive and says they will champion this effort for us, please talk immediately with Vince Porter at the Governor's Office of Film and TV, whose office is coordinating the effort to lobby passage of the bill: VincePorter@OregonFilm.org, 503-229-5832.

Please take an action today to show your support of Oregon's media production industry and creative economy.

Key talking points from the Film Office:

Our biggest challenge right now is proving that this tax credit program is more worthy than other tax credits currently in place. Based on what I've heard in the halls of the Capitol, we will have to persuade the legislature to eliminate enough tax credits to make room for this bill. There are a few key points we think we need to make in the coming weeks:

#1: We must not use the word "Hollywood". It immediately sours the bill and the effort. To that point – 6 of the 18 "OPIF" projects were in fact Oregon based productions. Of the other 12 projects, 10 were independently financed. We do not get the traditionally "Hollywood" projects and we will likely never get those projects. We get the independents which is in line with the "Oregon way".

#2: OPIF is a successful program. So much so that there is not enough money left in the fund to attract any significant production for at least a year. In the last three weeks, the office has received three inquiries which were ready to come and scout Oregon but without the sufficient money in the fund, the projects have gone elsewhere. The projects would have had an Oregon spend of $8-$17 million.

#3: Oregon's Film and Video industry is one sector that is doing well in these tough times. Passage of SB 621 will mean this industry can keep working and bring revenue to Oregon.

#4: Not one penny of OPIF's tax credit money leaves the state until the investment has been made. We only rebate expenses once a production has proven that the money has been spent. Essentially tax revenue has been paid PRIOR to the tax credit money leaving the state. According to the ECONorthwest reports estimates on tax revenue from participating OPIF projects, $11,353,217 of tax revenue was raised which is more than the $10,000,000 in tax credits. WE ARE MAKING THE STATE MONEY AND THERE IS NO RISK!

OMPA has prepared this flyer to underscore our industry's support of SB 863 and SB 621, a copy of which lives here: http://ompa.org/reference/sb621_863.pdf

A copy of a letter sent to the House Revenue Committee lives here: http://ompa.org/reference/sb621_follow_up_letter.pdf

Drive Less Save More

2009-05-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

There was a cool post by JR on bikeportland.org this week. For those of you who didn't see it, this is what JR had to say:

The campaign’s latest promotion, the Drive Less. Save More. Video Challenge, solicited video entries for use as the campaign’s next television advertisement. Seventy-seven entries were submitted in two categories and the field has been narrowed by campaign judges to the five best in both General and Youth (under 17) categories.

Now it’s up to the public to decide the winners. Check out the ten contenders and vote on the ones you think do the best job of getting across the Drive Less message.

Winners will be run on the air as advertisements, and will be unveiled at a film festival at the Hollywood Theatre in N.E. Portland on May 28.

Caves

2009-05-07T10:53:00.000-07:00

As I sit here slapping sweet sounding reverbs on things I'm remembering something I've been meaning to shout from atop my high horse...

Okay, so I take a wicked fun trip to Belize, if you've worked with me in the last few months you've heard all about it. It was a good time. As usual, I was obsessed with geeky sound stuff for a lot of the time. Howler monkeys make one wicked crazy sound at night, 'nuff said. But one thing I learned was about caves and reverb.

So, for a long time people have said "echo" when they mean reverb, no biggie. But when one says "make it sound like a cave" they usually mean all full of reverb right? Well, in Belize, as I wandered through extensive cave networks I found that I was shocked by how these caves sounded. I mean sure, to generalize caves into like sounding places is likely a mistake, but being the self-centered sort of guy I am, I'm gonna. These caves did not sound like caves. In fact, they were quite the opposite. All the crazy features really killed all sorts of reflections, they ended up sounding quite dead. Even in giant chambers, really not much reverb at all. I think everyone I was with likely tired of my hand clapping to test it, but really, dead.

So there you go. Caves don't sound like caves and when you say echo you mean delay right?

Shut your eyes and just listen.

2009-05-07T10:41:00.000-07:00

Today I'm doing somethin' for the film "Little Ashes" starring Rob Pattinson. The funny thing is that I don't have a copy of the visuals and am just listening to the audio as I load it in. Must say, it is still very compelling even without reference picture. And oddly enough, the story line is clear and engaging, the characters resonate and keep my attention. Hmmm, I wonder if it would be the same if it were the other way around, if I could only see the picture and not hear anything? Would it still be compelling? My guess would be no. I love what I do for a living.

Chip is driving!

2009-05-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

As I drove into our parking garage this very wet morning, I came across a sight you just never encounter here at Digone. Chip's white van. I have to admit, my first reaction was: "Good for you Chip". Why? I don't know, I just instantly felt like him driving today was a good idea.
Anyway, the best part was that after I came in and I gave him my cheery "Good Morning!' he quickly followed me into the kitchen and proceeded to tell me why he drove. No prompting from me. Whatever Chip, I know your bike is in the back of that van (blah blah blah) I'm just proud of you.

2009-04-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

We had chocolate chip and white chocolate-chip-macadamia-nut cookies today. They were gooey and delicious. Happy birthday Ginger!

Bee Log and the real world

2009-04-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

Alright, so really today it's all about my over-achieving as usual. To have the Dig 1 blog go live without being the first to chime in, well, unacceptable. So here it is, likely one of my only forays into online thought sharing here at Digital One that won't contain any ranting about the state of audio. I'm sure I'll spend plenty of time whining about dialog levels and how they should be used in broadcast, or why people really ought not listen to their stereos in 7 channel stereo mode, but for today, none of that. Simply a blatant attempt to be the first post. Yup, done. Now on to mixing, with appropriate dialnorm values.