Growing up, I’m sure those of you in the design community (myself included) lived and breathed LEGOs, building blocks, or the various action figure play sets. Sure, they’re toys, but they probably were a catalyst (subconscious, maybe) to get myself and my coworkers into the industry we’re in today. As an Interior Designer, I now deal with actual buildings, materials, and components, but there are creatives who haven’t strayed too far from their childhood toy box. John Lasseter, and Jorge R. Gutierrez come to mind, but I recently spoke with an individual who is still pretty much a kid at heart. Brock Otterbacher is one of the Creative Directors at…
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Interview…Aesop Rock Injects ‘Bushwick’ with Haunting, Gritty and Emotional Hip-Hop
Lakeshore Records recently released the original score to Bushwick, which was scored by underground hip-hop pioneer Aesop Rock. His first ever film score, Bushwick-Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is a mind-bending collection of instrumental tracks providing an exhilarating beat-heavy backdrop to the Cary Murnion and Jonathan Milott directed thriller starring Brittany Snow and Dave Bautista. Building on the rapping style of eccentrics Kool Keith and Del the Funky Homosapien, Aesop Rock (AKA Ian Bavitz) became one of the hottest MCs in the post-millennial underground. With seven albums, five Eps, production credits and appearances in film and television, Aesop has made an indelible cultural impression since the late ‘90’s. Rock is celebrated for his…
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Interview…Production Designer William Eliscu on Art Direction and Graphics for Film and TV
To those of you who may not know this, I am a licensed interior designer and have made a career working for design firms in the hospitality market. As much as I love the site, GoSeeTalk is just a hobby. I’m a designer, and as designers, we create art. More specifically, functional art. We craft experiences for hotel visitors who can interact with a physical environment. In similar respects, production designers, art directors and the like do the same, only they take audiences on a visual journey. Among the many things we have in common, we’re devoted to contrivances like mood and atmosphere which aid in storytelling. Scan through the…
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Interview…Benjamin Wallfisch on the Strength of ‘Hidden Figures’, and the DNA of His Scores
Editor’s Note: This interview was originally published in March of this year. We have posted it again to coincide with the digital/Blu-Ray release of Gore Verbinski’s A Cure For Wellness on June 6. Golden Globe and Emmy nominee Benjamin Wallfisch is recognized as one of the leading film composers of his generation, with a career spanning over a decade and 60 feature films. He has composed music for such legendary film makers as Steven Spielberg, Rupert Wyatt, Gore Verbinksi and Lars von Trier, and has worked on scores that have been recognized with awards and nominations at the Academy Awards, BAFTAs and World Soundtrack Awards. Wallfisch fit us into his extremely…
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Home Grown Texas Talent Interview Series – Writer/Director Derek Presley Discusses ‘Cronus’
Local filmmaker, Derek Presley, is a great friend of the site, and we’re always excited to help spread the word about his latest projects. Filmed here in DFW, and featuring contributions of a number of area trades persons, Cronus was filmed and produced over the course of two years. It’s a film about a genius recluse with amnesia who awakens to find he has built a machine that extracts memories from the dead. He uses those memories to discover who he is and to rebuild a perfect past for himself. The practical effects, the music and the production design (not to mention acting from Joey Folsom and Ted Ferguson) are…
- Composer Series, Dallas International, Features, Interviews/Podcasts, Movies/Entertainment, Video Interviews
[DIFF Video Interview]…Matt Schrader Screens ‘SCORE: A Film Music Documentary’ at the Dallas International Film Festival
The 2017 Dallas International Film Festival brought many amazing films and documentaries to DFW, but few hit as close to home (musically speaking) as Matt Schrader‘s feature, SCORE: A Film Music Documentary. Schrader’s film profiles various personalities and titans in the industry to chronicle the history of film music, reaffirm its importance in our culture, and attempt to explain why certain scores continue to resonate decades later. I can honestly say I’ve been a music fan longer than I’ve been a film fan, and as such, forgive the pun, this doc was music to my ears. We spoke to Schrader in 2015 while he was in the middle of interviewing the composers for…
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Video Interview…Nacho Vigalondo On the Large and Small Themes of ‘Colossal’
For years, Fantastic Fest has been a venue for independent and auteur filmmakers to showcase their latest features. 2016 was no different, as we saw stellar debut efforts from some talented directors (Nicolas Pesce for instance) and welcomed back friends of the Fest. Chief among them is a genre filmmaker so famous and beloved, he has been dubbed the unofficial mascot of Fantastic Fest. I’m not sure that anyone ever sets out to be a “mascot”, but Nacho Vigalondo is happy to oblige…he’s even gotten two themed tattoos while at the Fest if that tells you anything. Vigalondo’s style has endeared himself to many a genre fan, but he’s also…
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Interview…Composer Carl Thiel Delves Into Docu-drama and TV Music
We recently reconnected with composer Carl Thiel, and realized that it’s been three years since we last chatted. At the time, he had completed recording the music for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (with Robert Rodriguez), and was also about to begin work on the From Dusk Til Dawn TV series on the El Rey Network. In that time, Thiel continues to grow as an artist. Born in Mexico City, and after living in Canada for a while, Thiel now calls Austin home. He comes from a family of musicians, and has a lot of music he’s interested to work on away from projects under the Troublemaker Studios banner. As such,…
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Video Interview…Dax Shepard and Michael Peña Breathe New Life Into ‘CHIPS’
Dax Shepard and Michael Peña star in CHIPS, the hilarious new film from Warner Bros. While many TV properties make the jump to the big screen and become a parody of the source material, this film stays a little closer to the serious side. Sure, it’s irreverent and raunchy, but CHIPS also has some pretty spectacular action along with some good character building moments, and the film feels like an old-school, R-rated action/comedy. Earlier this month, we spoke to Shepard and Peña about the film – Shepard (taking on directing and writing duties) talks about the tone of the film as well as his love of motor sports, and Peña (who…
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Interview…Stephen Dorff on the Music & Songs of ‘Wheeler’
Ryan Ross’ Wheeler is a captivating film, one that really shines due to a trifecta of story, acting, and music. The baby of both Ross and Stephen Dorff (Blade, The Power of One, The Gate), this story follows a middle-aged musician trying to make a name for himself in Nashville. Only this isn’t a fictitious endeavor; Dorff becomes his character – the titular Wheeler Bryson – in this documentary style narrative and very few people know what’s happening. Each and every interaction caught on camera is legitimized by Dorff (under impressive prosthesis) as everyone he meets he wins over with his story, his persona, and some truly amazing “outlaw” Western songs. In…
