Local Color Soundtrack: An Introduction by Composer Chris Boardman
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Soundtrack Geeks and Soundtrack Geekettes, I have something special for you all. I recently spoke to composer Chris Boardman about a very personal project between him and his friend director George Gallo. A movie was written and directed by George Gallo called “Local Color”. It’s about George’s 18th summer wanting to learn how to pain and discovering what life and art is really about. Today I will give you the introduction written by Chris Boardman himself which is a truly fascinating read and the beginning of a great story and tomorrow I will give you my review of “Local Color”. Also watch the trailer at the bottom.
The History of the Local Color soundtrack.
By Chris Boardman
I met George Gallo at an interview to score “Double Take”. We had a nice meeting but I didn’t get hired and we parted ways.
Two years later I was working Howard Deutch on “Gleason”, a TV movie for CBS. Howie’s scheduled overlapped with the start of “The Whole Ten Yards” which Gallo wrote. George and I ran into each other at Howie’s place one day and we reconnected. George invited me to play golf with him and a good friendship ensued.
When we would get together for golf I would meet him at his house. He kept his golf clubs in the garage where he painted. I had no idea his prowess and talent as a painter. As our friendship developed I gravitated naturally to hang with him in his garage while he painted. We would have long talks about art, the artistic process and life in general. It was a relationship that I had longed for. In Hollywood art and the pursuit thereof has a tendency to get lost in the commerce aspect of the business and with very few exceptions the artistic lifestyle is all but ignored. But not with George.
George was working on a script and I asked to read it. Without any of the backstory I began. About 20 pages in it called for the actor to sing a song. I burst out laughing and called him immediately. “George-this script is about you isn’t it!” Thus was my introduction to “Local Color”. Local Color is a coming of age story based on George as an 18 year old wanting to learn how to paint, finding a Russian master in his neighborhood to learn from, spending the summer with him in the woods and ultimately coming of age and learning from a master what art and life are really all about.
Without being able to find studio support George and his partner mortgaged their homes and made the movie. The shoot is an entire story on its own which I don’t need to go into here.
Needless to say when it came time to score the picture money was tight…and it was George’s money to boot! We originally talked about doing it electronically but after many conversations George agreed that the machines would never deliver the emotionality that the movie required.
I began writing and doing demos. It was slow going. Then one day George suggested something akin to Appalachian Spring. I was at the piano while on the phone and I said: “you mean something like this?” I played a theme and his voiced boomed through the small speaker- “Why have you been holding out on me? Why don’t you share the good stuff?” At that moment the seeds of the score were born.
I jokingly tell people that I am paid to be vulnerable but I always keep one foot behind the line to dodge incoming shrapnel. While that may be amusing the fact is that I have always held back on what has been true to my heart for fear of being abused, ridiculed, etc. With George it was different. I trusted George with my musical soul because he was a “brother from a different mother”.
We then proceeded to find the voice of the film. More than any other movie I have done this film demanded integrity and a precise execution matching the purity of the story. No bullshit. Just honesty. The film would not tolerate anything less. Revisions were the order of the day. But I didn’t care. I knew that these types of projects only come rarely in a career.
With all the demos being done and approved it came time to record with an orchestra.
I hired the great Fox mixer Armin Steiner and 74 of the magnificent LA studio musicians to record at Sony Studios in Culver City. Armin is an old school guy who knows how to get a great sound on the fly. At the end of a 6 hour session we had easily recorded 30 minutes of music on Protools with 5.1 surround stems a stereo foldback. All on one 200gig hard drive ready to dub. No mixing. No rescores. Nada. Out the door with a completed score.
I like to share with the orchestra a general idea of what the film is about and as much backstory as I can given the limited amount of time.
“Today we are making a movie about art. It is about that moment when you picked up your instrument and instinctively knew what your life’s work was going to be”. I had asked George to bring a couple of paintings to the stage…a highly unusual thing to do. “So, if you ever forget why we are here, just look at these paintings.”
It was a magical day.
George and I were so filled with emotion that we could not make eye contact in fear of completely coming apart. While I was conducting, George was in the control room signing a 2nd mortgage on his house to pay for the session.
At the end of the day I collapsed into the chair beyond the console and buried my head in my hands. “What I have I done?” I had waited my entire career to due this kind of score. Emotionally and physically spent the Local Color score was complete.
I have been in this business more than 30 years. I’ve worked on The Wiz, The Color Purple, Silverado, Lethal Weapons, Diehards, Swing Kids, Meet Joe Black etc. Without question Local Color is my personal favorite due in large part because I worked with a director/friend to whom I entrusted my heart to without reservation.
I hope you find it as rewarding as I have.
CB
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Wow what a great read!
I’ve never heard of the film, but now i really want to see it. Sounds like a lot of passion went into both the film making and sound production, which seems to be lacking from a lot of the things Hollywood churns out these days.
Anderss last blog post..How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (Review)
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Jorn Tillnes Reply:
November 12th, 2008 at 6:40 am
It’s definitely a great film, and when the people involved get so personal it really shows.
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