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Sometimes the Dream is Real
{a micro-opera in three acts} A new musical project conceived & performed by David Driver, now airing online at the Sundance Channel. |
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This summer the talented David Driver came to me with a project commissioned by the Sundance Channel–his idea of a three act political micro-opera, telling the story of person dreaming his way through a what-if world. David originally intended to shoot the whole thing, using a closeup face experiencing the dream, with a little added animation. It turned out not feasible to do a full shoot, so he asked me to take on the visuals entirely animated, while he and Chris Anderson wrote the lyrics and created the music. I took David's idea of a face in a box, and used that as a starting point for telling the story with animation. We went into the studio and shot digital stills of David's face, looking around, making expressions, going through the story emotionally. The stills are used like stop motion as the character is reacting to the animated world around him. I also recruited friends who were willing to smile and grimace for the camera. As each act developed musically, I incorporated the faces and built the animated worlds visualizing the opera's story. We had a hilarious time shooting the lip-sync, as friends would carefully mouth out each syllable in the words sung by someone else.
A very fun project on a tight schedule here at studio. Many thanks to all the smiling faces, to Dana for a little creative animation, and to David and Chris for writing and performing such fantastic music. We hope someday to stage the project as a live opera with animation, projections, sets and giant head costumes... |