Wenda Zonnefeld: Director, music composer and screenwriter in Kirkland, Washington.

If I'm in town I'll definitely be there. I may have to go to Wenatchee to watch over my Dad while my mother is on a trip, not sure of the date yet.

Okay, everyone! I just posted the official Seattle Meetup announcement for Thursday, August 20. Please go to the Meetups section where you can comment and RSVP. I hope to see you there! https://www.stage32.com/meetups/294

Thats Great

Who's this Rob you speak of? And you're welcome!

Thank you RB, they were a couple of nice vids.

Glad you enjoyed them, Wenda! Thanks for the post!

You did not specifically say you wanted to create film music, if that is your goal, there is something of extreme importance that no one commented on. SYNC. Even the great Sony Rollins had trouble with this when he scored Alfie - and he never scored another film even after his awards. (Because it nearly killed him). The human brain processes sound faster than sight. Because of our natural instinct to recognize rhythm we are lured into thinking it is easy. For our brains to be fooled that many pictures going by quickly is actual movement; results from seeing frames move at around 1/23rd of a second (frame rate) for our brains to be fools that audio is happening along with the picture (Synchronization) the sound matching the picture needs to be within one MILLISECOND! It takes an amazing amount of work and study to accomplish this needed math joined at the hip with music. It's why the Auricle time processor recieved an academy award back in the '70's, and before that huge set of gold guided books full of formulas were used. No matter what your goal - music lessons benefit you on many levels. Those who studied a wind instrument when they were around the age of ten increased their I.Q's by ten points higher than those who didn't. Stroke victims recover better if they already knew how to play a musical instrument. It is the constancy of chipping away each day that is key (consistent practice) There are a lot of software out there that can be a lot of fun, and it can bring you joy. Today's culture is all about praising. I would rather find out from a teacher if I am on the right track. Your Mom and friends will always thinK you are wonderful. If you have the talent and want to get the songs out of your head - a good teacher will put you on a real path and not a platitude. I Agee with Joel, there are many genres and and degrees of sophistication in music that are all legitimate. What I'm trying to say is - the hard work is totally worth it! Becoming musically "literate" (knowing how to read and write) is totally worth it! If you have an iPad "Notateme" it is a great way to hear what you have written, and perhaps a great way to get you started.

And there is nothing like professional feedback. I have now been going to Houston Community College for 12 years now (that's a 2 year college :) ). Obviously not for a degree. I am being mentored by not only arguably the top jazz pianist in Houston but he is a wonderful and very talented orchestral and chamber composer. In composition class he will review my works artistically, not just my jazz and classical pieces but also all my film scores. This past Monday I brought the popcorn (last class of the spring semester) and we watched the whole 35 minute film I just finished scoring (about 30 minutes of cues). I came with 27 pages of scores for 14 cues covering 584 bars of multi-instrument music (slow music or it would have been more bars :) ) - and all of it was reviewed and critiqued. Sometimes I had really great suggestions for improvement and others times, he just liked what he heard.

Yes agreed with everything Joel said. If you haven't yet, start listening to NPR and baroque/classical/romantic composers and find somebody that inspires you. Start listening to the chord progressions of the greatest composers and figure out the small bits that they have in common.

I just realized this was a year ago and I missed this meet up. Hopefully you'll have another in Seattle at some point for those of us like myself who have relocated here within the last year

South Sound Actors and Filmmakers Fall schedule beginning 9/17th & 18th 6pm to 9pm. Plenty of Parking and no meter costs. Hosted by Me. Pizza and Beer. Alcohol BYOB. Pot Luck! Classes for " Summer Camp " Readers Theater for Indie Film 2017. You can go To Indiegogo or Stage 32 log line to read. Pick your own part and let's have some!

James...Anyone can start a Stage 32 Meetup! Just click on Meetups on the top menu bar.

:-)

hi! You can add me on facebook as well- Imant Berts-Romanof. thank You! Imant

What I am understanding; I need topics about proper audio set up, and topics for testing if that set up will work. Unfortunately I am unable to make any suggestions without listening to your audio and/ or viewing it through a spectral-graph. Our brains process audio much more accurately than our brains process video; Because of this audio needs to be more precise and handled as more precise than the visual side of things. Kudos to you for hearing that something needs to be done. Unfortunately it is one of those "An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure" scenarios. "Clean" for you may mean there were no other sounds, but to the audio professional it means there isn't what you are describing. I just gave a rather lengthy explanation to someone on LinkedIn with a similar situation. You may want to get help from a professional, it could save you a lot of money. The professional will have a plethora of equipment and software to help you AND will be handling it in a room or studio that has been acoustical designed for the job with proper monitors that don't "excite" or change the true recording. There has been a lot of wonderful inventions to help audio, but the best scenarios are a recording that starts "dry" or "dead" so that acoustic enhancement can then added. It's likely your audio will need a careful balancing act of removing the extra re-verb from the room without making the voices sound like robots. Thank you, your question has given me ideas for several topic. If you want to send me a snippet of your audio - I'll take a look at it.

Hi. Here is a link to a clip that has the reverb problem. Any comments are welcome. Thx. http://youtu.be/BVIYMMCE00w

Just found a great piece of software - SPL Deverb - cleans up echo wonderfully

Thanks, man! Appreciate the feedback/reaction!

"And Hollywood is right over here - you see where I marked it with this number?" ;-)

"Me and My Shadow!" ;-) Good project!

The whole issue of immersion has been addressed in different ways at different times. Movies started out small and got big. 'You are there.' Added sound. 'You are there.' Then the huge screens, Cinemascope, Panavision. 'You are there.' I've seen Lawrence of Arabia on the big screen. It's a whole different world.

Douglas, I think the trend you describe of more "You are there" will collapse from getting much bigger to going really small, in virtual reality technology. Ironic because the viewer's perception of "being there" will be that there is more "there." Now, I would think this would make it more likely that a viewer would experience "being in the scene," but it could also be more like being a fly on the wall, or in the middle of the room, watching and listening as invisible to the characters. I suppose this is why I don't think viewers typically have the experience of being in a scene like being in a dream that is so vivid it seems real. But I could be wrong.

I am hoping that the most common thread between people /mankind is goodness. Outside of that it is my belief that we are as individual as snowflakes and our individuality is what pushes us to find others like ourselves. If my premise is true, it would be difficult to trigger the same wanted/controlled response from everyone. I don't think this makes anyone wrong - but I do think my comment has come full circle; It's common to think our personal experience is familiar or typical for the majority. Anyone want to open up the can of worms discussion about aroma triggered responses? LOL

Thanks for the encouraging comments !

You don't have to choose, but if you are of the kind of person who is good / great at many things- you do have to simplify your "presentation" for those who can't comprehend people who are good /great at many things. I find that people who are much younger than me underestimate my abilities. With age comes experience and if you are an "over achiever" that brings along many skills. The greatest tragedy that can occur is underestimating yourself because others forced you / you allowed yourself to feel that way. Go where God leads you, not man - but have a simple explanation of three things for when people ask what you do since that is all most people comprehend because of their own limitations. Do not allow other people's jealousy to limit who you can become. Doing excellent work is truly about love, not competition.

Thanks Wenda, and don't worry, I know that I can achieve great things, the best is to come. Without being pretentious, I think that I still have a lot of abilities to develop and others to improve, my limits are far, hoping that it will take me a lifetime to reach those limits !

Sometimes it appears that we are not in control of the moment. RIP

As an actor and PA in Atlanta, I could not agree more with Shaun. Safety is implied at my level and not something with which I should be concerned with or risk my reputation by questioning those above me. This tragedy has struck so close to home that I am rattled by what has happened. I will remember Sarah and thank the Oscar's organization for recognizing her.

I am very sorry about this loss. I cannot help but think of how the industry has changed and how we all need to look out for each other. If you see a danger, whether it's on set or even an actor that doesn't know his own strength- speak up. Only the immature will be angry. Trust me you didn't want to work with that type anyway. My prayers go to the family.