Recording the Orchestra with the BSO - 12th July 2007
Thursday July 12th had arrived - the day that Hawk boldly went to Slovakia on the first leg of recording for the film's original music score. The Hawk boys had taken the plunge (in terms of putting their faith in me as a composer and in terms of finding the budget) and had secured the services of the strings and horns of the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra, 40 of Slovakia 's finest musicians, under the baton of manager/conductor David Hernando.
We set out from north London at something like 4.30am; Matt and Mac had been working round the clock (as had I getting all the music in print for the orchestra), and with James Carter (Editor) in tow we burned up the M11 - not in the least bit narcoleptic - to Stansted in a clapped-out Fiesta with the wing-mirrors not quite attached enjoying a rather fabulous sunrise.
Having got cameras and hard-disks through security, we touched down mid-morning in Bratislava , Slovakia 's capital, just over the border from Vienna . A cab took us to the Slovak National Radio building, a rather surreal-looking building like no other we'd ever seen - like an enormous upside-down concrete pyramid, straight out of the communist era, in stark contrast to the glossy brand new office block on the opposite side of the street.
After a good breakfast, at noon we met up with David - the “Hernandinator”, as we affectionately referred to him - a very cool, un-showy guy who took us through the massive, largely deserted corridors into Studio 2 of the Slovak National Radio in the bowels of the pyramid, where everything was set up and ready to go.
The studio was vast and looked the business, with a fully equipped control room at the back looking down on the stage from on high. It was clear we were in good hands!
With my preparatory files all loaded into the Protools system, the string players (18 violins, 8 violas, 6 cellos and 4 double basses) arrived ready for the 1pm session start time, and David launched them into take 1 of Hawk's opening title music. As the violins soared through the opening phrases, I'm not ashamed to say that I was deeply moved - the moment you realise that your music suddenly has life and substance and emotion in the hands of an orchestra of seasoned professionals and that the score is finally going to play its part beautifully within the mini-epic that is Hawk.
As we worked our way through the score, David on the conductor's podium maintained a cool and measured control over proceedings, flexible enough to take my input and the occasional note-change, but calmly keeping the session progressing to stay on track to finish within our allotted time. Things fell nicely into place within the score - the microphones captured several more goose-bump moments from these fine musicians - and it was comforting to know that I'd soon be able to ditch my sampled sounds!
By 6pm, we had the strings in the bag, and, after a swift Protools edit of their best takes, it was the turn of the section of four French horns to play their part. With such talented players, we cruised through this in about two hours, with several moments thrilling the ears in the way that I knew a great horn section could deliver.
Once we were all safely backed up to disk, we said our thanks and good-byes to David and his team and went and downed the beers we'd been gasping for. We boarded our 10.30pm flight back to Stansted tired but happy that we'd had a fabulous memorable day in Bratislava, laying the groundwork for a fine Hawk score.
It had been a step somewhat into the unknown, but an exciting one and a treat and privilege for us all to work with David and the BSO. As a composer of music to film, this has to rank as pretty much the coolest thing I've ever done, and I hope to return to Bratislava for future projects.
Next stop.... Cardiff for our choir....!
Stuart Hancock
Composer
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One Fat Weekend - 13th March 2007
Working on Hawk has always been stop and start from the beginning. This is largely due to the fact that most people are working for absolutely nothing and are fitting in their time on Hawk on weekends and after work, anytime they can. So to get two straight days of hard work in is quite rare, simply because it's not always possible.
So on two fronts this weekend we launched into some of the final bits and pieces that go towards finishing our little film. Neil Copland – our documentary / making-of all-in one-production-studio was down directing the interviews with key cast members.
In fact this is the perfect opportunity to welcome Ben Dawson into the Hawk team – a close friend of the production, Ben is an exciting and opinionated young filmmaker who was in shooting both days as documentary lightning cameraman and set up the studio space for the ‘Making Of' interviews with the principal cast members. We shot them on a Sony Z1 HDV camera using a wide-angle lense and shooting 1080 / 50i. Ben's subtle, moody lighting gave the interviews an intimate, high class feel. Look out for them when the DVD is available later in the year.
We had 3 actors coming from South Wales and another from outside the edge of London, and had to co-ordinate their time to encompass both the ‘Making Of' interviews and their ADR sessions. This meant Paddington Station pick ups and train tickets aplenty, all scheduled precisely so we could use the time in the studios to full advantage. It was good to see Steffan Thomas our lead young actor. He looks so different with his natural blonde hair when you have been staring at rushes of him with dark brown locks for so long, He seems to have shot up too since we last saw him, he's almost as tall as me now!
There were some snags – Philip Madoc's DVD of the final cut had not worked in his player, which meant he hadn't seen the film, so we had to screen it for him before we could start the recording, which added an hour or so to our Sunday schedule.
Obviously without seeing the film the ADR list had made no sense to Philip, but once he'd seen the final cut when asked – is that clearer? He replied “Yes yes yes 500%!” in that deep welsh accent that only Mr. Madoc can pull off.
Mac (Director) worked two long shifts on Saturday and Sunday going through 4 different character ADR sessions and voice over recording. We also recorded some additional exclusive material that will be moulded into our new flash site which will be coming out when the film is finished. We were recording onto Pro Tools under the trusty fingertips of Nigel Squibbs our Sound Re-Recordist. He was fantastic, quick and efficient with knowledgeable suggestions and helpful insights, and we ploughed through each character ensuring that their performance matched the final cut we were syncing too.
Another few pieces of this enormous jigsaw have been put in place.
Matt Jones
Producer
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