Show Stuff and Thrice

I suppose it's been a little while since my last entry - but rest assured, the time has been spent productively.

Earlier this week, I sat down and crunched some numbers for production. It's going to cost me about $20, 000 to build the sets for Episode 1 and store them for a month. Three weeks will probably be dedicated towards construction alone, so I'll probably need the studio space for two months which brings it up to $25, 000.

I feel its a rather liberal number, but I researched market trends to give myself a fairly accurate estimate. To be honest that number also doesn't worry me. If I can pace prouction accordingly, I can budget costs based on when grants become available. The pilot has to be finished for June 2010 and I think that's absolutely doable at this point.

I was talking to a friend with a business degree, M.B., who's starting his own financial company in the next few weeks. We're going to talk later about how he can go about helping me start the production company - so I've found the only 'business consultant' I can afford. As boring as that paragraph sounds, it's actually very, very good news because I was admittedlty intimdated by this process as a whole. I realize that although I understand basic aspects of business, economics, etc., I am definitely not prepared to proceed into this alone. It pays to have good friends.

E.B. is writing Episode 4. He'll possibly be contributing a writing commentary when he's finished his work on the script. I hope it's going well for him, but there's not much more I can speak on about Episode 4, so you'll have to wait for E.B. on that one.

Meanwhile, I've also been writing Episode 5 - 'In Media Res'. This is perhaps going to be the funnest episode for me to write, because I haven't worked out a lot of the minutia of the plot so far. But I do find what I've already written has worked out very well and I'm happy with the spontaneity that I seem to be demonstrating in this particular script.

I'm by no means winging it - this has been the most important episode in the back of my head. This is the reveal of Lidless' intentions. Somewhat. I came up with my McGuffins today (a term referring to a plot piece created specifically to drive the plot forward), and I think it ties in perfectly with the world I've set up so far. I had never had a specific motivation for Lidless kidnapping Davis besides the obvious uses of his intellect - but a specific reason came into my head today that doesn't necessarily need to be revealed in the miniseries to still be satisfying.

This episode takes place almost entirely from the perspective of Eve's kidnappers and the people responsible for orhcestrating it. We see the levels of power that Lidless has influence in. We see the both the tenacity and consciences of her associates. Furthermore, the episode foreshadows a weakness in her precognitive abilities that won't be revealed until Episode 6's conclusion.

Though I try and keep the content Canadian on this blog, I'd like to talk about the latest Thrice album for a number of reasons.

Thrice is a foursome band from Irvine, California and broke onto the scene in 2001 with their debut album, Identity Crisis. They've managed to evolve their style from hard-rock to experimental and still maintain a devoted following. Their latest album, Beggars (2009) was recently leaked through a mishap over at Vagrant Records. The album leaked nearly three months early, and I'm sure was a devasting blow to not only the band, but the production team behind the album.

I'll be honest - I downloaded it and I'd like to give it a short review at the end, so if you're looking for that, scroll down.

Free downloading (I won't call it illegal because it is simply - not) has had a devasting impact on the CD industry. I say specifically the CD industry because I do believe the music industry as a whole is doing fine (recession considered). The point is, owning a CD has absolutely no physical value anymore. If I were to buy a CD, I'd only want it for the sentimental value it holds. I want 'that' CD. Adding incentives to purchase the CD that can't be provided through the internet is what will revive the recording industry - which is exactly what Thrice will be doing with their latest album.

The album will see a digital release on August 11th through iTunes, shifting from its original release date of October 13th. Their statement was somewhere along the lines of 'releasing a CD earlier than planned is easy, changing a marketing strategy isn't'. Thus the band is going to release the album with bonus extras that would not be available through the promotional leak on its intended release date.

I was going to buy the album anyway. Thrice is one of those bands that I liked to own the CD, I don't have many of those but I definitely have a sentimental attachment with actually owning those albums. Seeing it on a computer screen isn't enough for me. I probably won't even listen to the CD itself, but I just like to have it. The record industry will survive on that alone - it will just reform into a smaller market. Movies hated TV, Radio had cassettes - media changes - get over it. Go make money off your Blu-Ray concerts, Rock-Bands and Ring-Tunes - all products established well after the internet caused damage to falling record sales. Thank you for waiting until your money was at risk to get innovative.

The fact is, and I could expand on this for far too long, so I'll keep it short; the increasing availability of affordable recording equipment is ending the record industry - not the internet. Thrice recorded this album in the basement recording studio of guitarist, Teppei Teranishi, largely on instruments that they constructed by hand. There is no problem with the music industry, there is only a solution - it's called artist independence and its happening more every day.

But alas, the album - reviewed.

Though its hard to say where Thrice peaked so far, I think the last album I was genuinely enthusiastic about was Artist in the Ambulance (2003). Vhessiu (2004), and The Alchemy Indexes I-IV (2008) were excellent demonstrations of their talent for creating refined music - but it had lost that hard rock feel. They didn't have many 'rocking out' opportunities.

Thrice returns to their hard-rock roots with three albums' worth of melodic experimental music behind them - combining the two for one of the most innovative, yet solid rock albums of the 21st century. The shear talent this band represents is just ridiculous compared to other bands that are gaining exposure these days. This album brings some of the most elegant, industrial notes a guitar can produce and finds them in a home in a rock album that is as bar-setting as it is purely enjoyable.

Of note, the tracks, All the World is Mad, The Weight, Circles, At the Last, In Exile, Talking Through Glass and Beggars are worth checking out even if you're not familiar with the band. So check out Beggars (2009) and hopefully introduce yourself to a band that's continued to impress for nearly a decade.

Hope everyone had a good weekend, and that you enjoyed this monster of a post!

P.S. I met someone this weekend who thought Thrice would be a more appropriate boys name than Thrace. I've been put in a quandry.