Directors Blog

Editing: We Love Chris Walla! (Death Cab for Cutie)

Opening Credits Sequence.

Steve Albini & John Cotton

Hello again!

The picture above was taken in January during our interview with Steve Albini in Chicago. In January John and I flew to Chicago for the day to interview Steve about analog recording and his take on the recording methods of today. He was a super nice guy because he let us tour his studio and take up an hour or two of his time.

We are continuing to ask the question of “What matters?” in the context of music and personal investment. What drives the modern day musician and what is his or hers passion? Is it legacy or is it immediacy?  What does music mean to the soul and what about it matters?

As of right now John and I are going through all of our interviews and compiling lists, story boarding and editing footage of what is to be included in our documentary, Reel Old School. We are expected to have our first official trailer done for the documentary by the beginning of September. So be on the look out for that! But until then continue to look for posts with pictures and video updates. You can check out the video update with Steve Albini Here

The Associate Director,

Brady. 

We interviewed Derrick Webb today. Look forward to seeing him soon in our documentary.

Greetings from the desk of Brady Effler, associate director of Reel Old School.

Read more

This is how we map story.

It is independence day, and today I have been sitting at my mothers house in GA playing catch up on some of the logistics of this project.

I feel that I have not taken this blog as seriously as I should have, since it is my most powerful tool to keep those who are interested in this project up to date with what is going on.

One of the reasons I have been so distracted is that a group of friends and I decided to enter in the film racing 24 hour film race. Our short film has since won a handful of awards in ATLANTA, as well as making it into the top 24 NATIONALLY and the final round of judging.

Therefore I will once more share my production schedule with you guys as well as list off some of the milestones that we have reached in the past month.

July 5th: Start Post Production of completed interviews.

July 6th-13th: Finishing up regional interviews (Chatt/ATL)

July 14th-17th: Traveling to NYC for the final round of film racing.

July 18th-20th: Final Nashville Interviews. I.E. Claire Lynch, Derek Webb, Owner of Grimeys Record Store, and more.

July 6th-31st: Finishing up logistics of L.A. Interviews I.E. Phil Driscoll, Ray Kurzweil, and Rupert Neve. (Potentially, John Vanderslice)

My goal is to have an edit finished by August 31st!

This will be my first cut of the documentary, and after a few revisions, I will spend the rest of the year doing translations of subtitles into Spanish, French, and German as well as submitting my film into every possible film festival.

Milestones of this year:

Interviewing Steve Albini in Chicago IL.

Interviewing Chris Walla of Death Cab For Cutie in Minneapolis MN.

Filming Max and The Wild Things record their album at Welcome To 1979 Studio.

Roadtripping like a mad man. And meeting some of the greatest people in the world while learning how beautiful America really is.

Thanks for following, I appreciate you all more than you can ever know.

John Cotton.

fumigantnoise:

It was glorious. (AND I WAS THERE!)

Hello, supporters, gear heads, friends, family, which all of you really are.

This weekend has marked one of the greatest journeys of my life. Driving about 1050 miles over-night, following this documentary where it has taken me. I feel that I have literally been pulled all around the country by this project of mine.

The north is beautiful. Especially in May, when it feels as much like the south as it ever has. Quite literally I am about as far in the north as I have ever been (minus a random flight path that took me over Maine). There really is a starbucks on every street corner. And well, at least in Minnesota, (skipping Illinois) the angry northern stereotype has been disproved.

I’m about ten minutes out from meeting Chris Walla from Death Cab For Cutie. His Interview will mark the much anticipated halfway mark of this documentary project. Video updates coming soon.

Thanks for all of your support.

John Cotton

Director,

Reel Old School, 2011

I have now set my goals for this documentary project.

I am wanting to be finished by the end of the summer.

The plan: Done with artist/studio interviews by May 31st.

               Done with academic/university/writer interviews by June 30th.

               Man on street interviews done by July 15th

               First edit ready by August 1st. Final edit ready by August 31st.

Definitely possible.

Love, John