The Life and Times of Ray.
Again, spoiler alert, if you haven't watched Dirge yet. Go do that real quick. It'll take 15 mins. Less even if you're someone who doesn't enjoy watching/hearing the credits go by.
I promised to bring you the story of the 5 people (not counting myself) who brought Ray to life.
I'm going to do this in order of contribution, more or less...
First, Josh and Alison Brown. They are responsible for the design and the building of Ray. When I tossed the idea out about this short, Josh was first in my mind when it came to coming up with Ray. Mostly because he can kind of do everything. You think I'm kidding? (Professional dog groomer, professional pastry chef, plays several instruments well, fixes cars, electronics, knows his way around guns, computers and all aspects of music production). Well, he and his bride are both very capable and creative in many ways and have done all of the music for both Dirge and Proxy and have really been a part of our core creative team from day one. In fact, Alison is really the one that had the original idea for what Proxy's concept would be.
It got a little stressful and down to the wire before shooting was to commence (mostly because I don't always communicate as well as I think I do) but what they came up with did not disappoint. I asked for a computer that was portable, had a handle and looked like something out of sci-fi film and TV from the 50's-70's. especially something you'd see on The Twilight Zone or some good 70's sci-fi and that's exactly what I got. They deserve every bit of praise anyone can throw at them.
Cilton Beard. Cilton of course acting "opposite" Ray in Dirge and in my mind, that is half of his contribution. His dedication to treating Ray as his living, breathing best friend at the end of the world went a long way towards giving Ray a soul. His other contribution is no less great: He recommended his friend and production partner, Matthew Bramlett for the voice of Ray.
That brings us to Matt. Matt is a funny dude. And he is game. For anything. So far. He hung out all day each day and worked on the crew as well as voicing Ray off screen so Cilton had someone to act off of. We later re-recorded his voice all in one sitting. As the production progressed, Ray's voice developed little by little. I didn't want Matt to try and speak in a "robo" voice or whatever but I also didn't want him to do much with his voice as far as emoting. But, if he could do both and still sound sincere and not completely devoid of emotion, then, he'd be perfect. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the only guidance I gave him was try to be somewhere between the two extreme ends of cinematic robotic emotion: The coldest fish of them all, Hal 9000 and the all time great drama king/queen of androids, THIS GUY.
And he did it. I gotta tell ya, I love that I miss Ray the moment he's gone - And I Wrote The Dang Movie. And I think that Matt is a big, big reason for that. When he sings...God bless him. I also love that Ray speaks with a twang.
Last but not least, Joe Mendoza. Joe is the one who designed our sound effects, including the sounds of Ray. Not just the "digital" voice he now has but all the little hums and whirrs and pops that Ray makes during his living and dying. Joe worked on Night Job. For free. And fixed all sorts of audio problems not to mention adding sound effects. He's a super hero. And as long as I'm making movies, guys like him deserve a lot of credit for making things sound/look/feel like I heard/saw/felt in my head.
I think I should add John Mark Clawson to the list. Both because he was my DP and because his editing of the death scene was masterful and choked me up a little.
And with that, we end. Everyone loves Ray and I'll take credit where it's due, I made him up. I wrote his lines. I directed. I did all that. But man, Ray has a lot of parents and they all deserve a cigar, a slap on the back, and a hug.
So who else things we need some "God Bless Ray" bumper stickers?
I promised to bring you the story of the 5 people (not counting myself) who brought Ray to life.
I'm going to do this in order of contribution, more or less...
First, Josh and Alison Brown. They are responsible for the design and the building of Ray. When I tossed the idea out about this short, Josh was first in my mind when it came to coming up with Ray. Mostly because he can kind of do everything. You think I'm kidding? (Professional dog groomer, professional pastry chef, plays several instruments well, fixes cars, electronics, knows his way around guns, computers and all aspects of music production). Well, he and his bride are both very capable and creative in many ways and have done all of the music for both Dirge and Proxy and have really been a part of our core creative team from day one. In fact, Alison is really the one that had the original idea for what Proxy's concept would be.
It got a little stressful and down to the wire before shooting was to commence (mostly because I don't always communicate as well as I think I do) but what they came up with did not disappoint. I asked for a computer that was portable, had a handle and looked like something out of sci-fi film and TV from the 50's-70's. especially something you'd see on The Twilight Zone or some good 70's sci-fi and that's exactly what I got. They deserve every bit of praise anyone can throw at them.
Cilton Beard. Cilton of course acting "opposite" Ray in Dirge and in my mind, that is half of his contribution. His dedication to treating Ray as his living, breathing best friend at the end of the world went a long way towards giving Ray a soul. His other contribution is no less great: He recommended his friend and production partner, Matthew Bramlett for the voice of Ray.
That brings us to Matt. Matt is a funny dude. And he is game. For anything. So far. He hung out all day each day and worked on the crew as well as voicing Ray off screen so Cilton had someone to act off of. We later re-recorded his voice all in one sitting. As the production progressed, Ray's voice developed little by little. I didn't want Matt to try and speak in a "robo" voice or whatever but I also didn't want him to do much with his voice as far as emoting. But, if he could do both and still sound sincere and not completely devoid of emotion, then, he'd be perfect. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the only guidance I gave him was try to be somewhere between the two extreme ends of cinematic robotic emotion: The coldest fish of them all, Hal 9000 and the all time great drama king/queen of androids, THIS GUY.
And he did it. I gotta tell ya, I love that I miss Ray the moment he's gone - And I Wrote The Dang Movie. And I think that Matt is a big, big reason for that. When he sings...God bless him. I also love that Ray speaks with a twang.
Last but not least, Joe Mendoza. Joe is the one who designed our sound effects, including the sounds of Ray. Not just the "digital" voice he now has but all the little hums and whirrs and pops that Ray makes during his living and dying. Joe worked on Night Job. For free. And fixed all sorts of audio problems not to mention adding sound effects. He's a super hero. And as long as I'm making movies, guys like him deserve a lot of credit for making things sound/look/feel like I heard/saw/felt in my head.
I think I should add John Mark Clawson to the list. Both because he was my DP and because his editing of the death scene was masterful and choked me up a little.
And with that, we end. Everyone loves Ray and I'll take credit where it's due, I made him up. I wrote his lines. I directed. I did all that. But man, Ray has a lot of parents and they all deserve a cigar, a slap on the back, and a hug.
So who else things we need some "God Bless Ray" bumper stickers?
