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Archive for the Uncategorized Category

Asian Stories premiere/afterparty

July 30, 2008 by George Shaw.

Last Friday ASIAN STORIES, had it’s theatrical opening. I was at opening night along with other cast/crew. It was really exciting, this is the first film I’ve worked on that has had a theatrical release in North America.

The poster and I just outside the theater.

The screening went well, aside from a technical problem that made the picture look really awful, it was dark, fuzzy, and flickering in some places. Had something to do with an HD camera and only having an S-video cable…but the music sounded great in the theater. The music was even louder in some places than I expected to be…I’ve gotten so used to not hearing music in big Hollywood movies b/c of all the huge sound fx. And the audience was laughing a lot, it’s definitely the kind of movie that’s best to experience with a group of people.

Afterwards, I got to go up for a Q/A with the people that worked on the movie. Ron the director, absolutely praised me in front of everyone, mentioning how I came in just weeks before the release to write half an hour of original music with the deadline ticking down. He claims I did it in 10 days, but it was more like 2 1/2 weeks to write, record, and mix the score. And I couldn’t have done it with out the help of my 2 amazing guitarists: Eugene Huang (http://www.myspace.com/eugenehuang) and Bo Han (http://www.myspace.com/bohanmusic). They recorded all the guitar parts, and sent me the final tracks that I only had to drop into my sequencer and mix with my own drums/synth parts. And fortunately I didn’t have to score the entire film, as they had some really great songs from the band Thomas’ Apartment (http://www.myspace.com/thomasapartment). I really dig their songs, and have been listening to them ever since!

My friend NaRhee Ahn, who directed a Korean American romantic drama that I scored (PURITY), mentioned later that she’s never heard a director ever give so much praise to a composer. On a side note, 2 years ago, PURITY and ASIAN STORIES both premiered at the same time in adjacent theaters at the LA Asian Pacific Film Festival. That’s when I met Katz Ueno, the associate producer on ASIAN STORIES, in the lobby prior to the screenings and handed him a CD of my music, and hence how I became involved with the film.

The funniest behind-the-scenes story of the night, was about how one of the crew members found a book in the director’s car, and it was some type of dummies guide to directing. Apparently Ron (the director) and his producer Kris, learned all about filmmaking by going to Barnes and Noble and hanging out there and reading all the books on filmmaking. There were even moments in the shoot where Ron would open up his directing book and point at a picture and tell the cinematographer he wanted the shot to “look like that.”

Ron is such a funny guy, and I can’t wait to see his next film!

Cast & Crew from L-R: I didn’t catch the name of the first guy…Ronald Oda (short guy in front), behind him is Kirt Kishita, Me, Wendy Ho, Kathy Uyen, James Kyson Lee, & Gabriel Lozano.

The afterparty took place at Blue Dahlia, a really cool wine bar with a chill and relaxing outdoor ambience. Kathy Uyen organized it, and I had a great time hanging out with friends and people who came to see the movie. A lot of people came up to me to tell me what a great job I did with the music, and it was so nice to get wonderful compliments from people in person. I do so much of my work alone in my studio, that it’s wonderful to meet and connect with a real live audience!

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Hear more of my music on reverbnation

July 21, 2008 by George Shaw.

It’s been an exciting few weeks, my new soundtrack album has been released (J-ok’el), and I’ve been hearing so much enthusiasm from fans who’ve bought the CD. I even did a CD signing the week it came out, and it seems weird to me that anyone would want my signature, especially after looking down at the album I just signed and seeing just how terrible and unreadable my handwriting is. Several people have asked me how to pronounce “J-ok’el”. Well, the “J” in spanish sounds like “Y”. So it’s pronounced “Yo-kel”.

I also played a Rockband charity tournament (the rockband videogame…I’m not a good enough performer to join a band), and my band WON! It was amazing, and to play drums in front of a crowd of screaming people was such an adrenaline rush that I haven’t ever experienced in all my years playing in orchestras and concert bands. And all the proceeds go towards Mercy Corps’ COMFORT FOR KIDS, a program helping earthquake survivors in Sichuan, China.

Read more about the rockband charity tournament on my alivenotdead.com blog:

I also put in some long nights to do a last minute score for a really funny comedy called ASIAN STORIES. It stars James Kyson Lee (from NBC’s Heroes), Kathy Uyen, and Kirt Kishita, and is having a one week theatrical release in Los Angeles, beginning July 25th at the ImaginAsian Center in downtown LA. It will be releasing on DVD on September 2nd. This is one of the best films I’ve worked on, and I’ve found myself laughing at scenes even after I’ve seen them multiple times. It’s that funny!

You don’t have to wait for my next release to hear more of my music. I put up some exclusive tracks you can download for free if you sign up for my mailing list on reverbnation.com/georgeshaw. You’ll also get email updates about future releases, upcoming movies, and new tracks you can download for free. You can also grab widgets of my music and share them on your own website or myspace page, they even automatically update when I load new music, so you’ll be the first to hear my latest stuff.

Some of the exclusive tracks you can download now are suites from short films that I’ve done, such as:
*Willie Mays and the Infinite Sadness, an emotional and moving fantasy, that required some really big lush orchestral music (it was temped w/ Horner’s Beautiful Mind, and Elfman’s Big Fish).
*Creswood Hotel, a suspense film done in a very Hitchcockian style, and the score is an homage to Bernard Herrmann.
*The Story of Maureen and Malcolm, a charming romantic fairy tale made by some very talented film students in the UK.
*The Complex, my very first full-length feature film score for a very low budget horror film that will likely never be seen. But I’m very proud of the music, as the director gave me the freedom to do what I want. The suite consists of the main titles and one of the big supernatural finale pieces that allowed me to do something dark but with hints of the magical orchestrations in Williams’ Harry Potter scores.

http://www.reverbnation.com/georgeshaw

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Indiana Jones: Prequel Fan Film

May 25, 2008 by George Shaw.

After you see the end, see the beginning.

The Release of the long-awaited Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull fills a nearly 20-year gap since Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade thrilled audiences in 1989.

In the meantime, the fans grew restless with the wait and grew even more disappointed in Hollywood politics. In that time, many fan films sprang up, trying to fill the gap. But one fan film has stood out above the rest. Dubbed the “True Indy 4” by diehard fans all around the world, Indiana Jones and the Treasure of the Templars was made on a shoestring by an unlikely convergence of pros and non-pros. The feature-length film was shot in three countries over four years, and boasts impressive production values.

A true labor of love, a 12-minute action teaser of the films opening is now available to view online:
High Quality Quicktime version:
http://web.mac.com/directorlawrence/Templar_Updates/Treasure_of_the_Templars.html

Lower Quality Streaming version:
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v12768359fxNNf9ms

It has been an absolute joy to be a part of this film, and to live out my dream of composing music for an Indiana Jones adventure. This film features a “younger” Indiana Jones (in his twenties, I believe), and is a prequel to the original trilogy. The current teaser features my original music starting around 4 minutes in. The first four minutes of the video weren’t even completed in time for me to compose music for, so what you’re seeing is all freshly finished.

The music you hear in the teaser is just synth demos, I am seeking to raise some funds to hire a few live musicians to record the score. Indy would be deeply grateful for your support (he deserves to have his epic adventures accompanied by the lush and exhilarating sound of real musicians, and not some cheesy synthesizer)!

100% of donations will go towards recording studio expenses and hiring live musicians. And in addition to supporting struggling musicians, you can get your hands on some exclusive albums:

Donate $20 or more and receive a Limited-Edition promo CD of my recent score to the film Sailfish, a sports drama which opens theatrically in China this summer during the Beijing Olympics. It features over an hour of a romantic themes and rousing competition music.
Donate $50 or more and receive the Sailfish promo CD and a compilation CD of some of my own favorite pieces from various film scores that I’ve written.
Donate $100 or more and receive a Sailfish promo CD, a compilation CD of my work, and an autographed CD of the final Treasure of the Templars score along with a thank you and your name printed in the CD liner notes.

Submit your donation via Paypal, just click the link below:

or copy and paste this link:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_donations&business=maestrosc%40gmail%2ecom&item_name=Treasure%20of%20the%20Templars%20Music%20Donation&no_shipping=0&tax=0&currency_code=USD&lc=US&bn=PP%2dDonationsBF&charset=UTF%2d8

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Indiana Jones Fans

March 24, 2008 by George Shaw.

For all you Indiana Jones fans, and film score fans, I am seeking donations to help with the recording of the score for Treasure of the Templars, the upcoming feature-length Indiana Jones Fan Film and exciting new prequel to the Raiders of the Lost Ark. The film is a labor of love from dedicated Indy fans, and will be released around the end of May, after Indiana Jones 4 comes out.

As a composer, writing in the style of John Williams is both an honor and a dream come true. I remember the Last Crusade as one of my earliest experiences of seeing a movie on the big screen in a theater; Williams’ bold and iconic theme was etched into my memory. I am hard at work at composing an original score with my own new themes in the stylistic vein of John Williams’ original Indiana Jones scores. Here’s my new love theme to wet your appetite.

http://georgeshawmusic.com/templar/Templar_LoveTheme-Demo.mp3

I am seeking to raise some funds to hire a few live musicians to record the score. Call me an old fashioned musician, but I hate hearing cheap scores that are done with synthesizers, and this style of music just wouldn’t stand up without the contribution of living, breathing musicians. Indy would be deeply grateful for your support (he deserves to have his epic adventures accompanied by the lush and exhilarating sound of real musicians, and not some cheesy synthesizer)!

100% of donations will go towards recording studio expenses and hiring live musicians. And in addition to supporting struggling musicians, you can get your hands on some exclusive albums:

*Donate $20 or more and receive a Limited-Edition promo CD of my recent score to the film Sailfish, a sports drama which opens theatrically in China this summer during the Beijing Olympics. It features over an hour of a romantic themes and rousing competition music.*Donate $50 or more and receive the Sailfish promo CD and a compilation CD of some of my own favorite pieces from various film scores that I’ve written.*Donate $100 or more and receive a Sailfish promo CD, a compilation CD of my work, and an autographed CD of the final Treasure of the Templars score along with a thank you and your name printed in the CD liner notes.

Submit your donation via Paypal (send to george@georgeshawmusic.com or maestrosc@gmail.com)

Many thanks for reading this far, and a special thank you to anyone who donates.

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FISTS OF RIGHTEOUS HARMONY DVD release on Feb. 19th

February 13, 2008 by George Shaw.

FISTS OF RIGHTEOUS HARMONY is being released on DVD on Tuesday, February 19th 2008. It’s an Action/Adventure/Martial Arts film about centuries-old Kung Fu superheroes fighting crime and evil. I composed an original track for the opening title sequence, and a bunch of my other tracks are also featured in the soundtrack.

I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’m eagerly awaiting my copy of it. Based on the trailer, it looks pretty cool for a small indendent film. Some of fight scenes look pretty exciting

The movie is already available online for rental (through Blockbuster and Netflix) and on sale online at every major website that sells DVDs online. You can purchase a copy for around $10 before the release, and then the DVD will be sent to you on February 19 by the respective seller. Take advantage of the cheaper selling price by ordering before the release date.

You can go to the website, http://www.quickjampictures.com/ which will be updated by the February 19 release date with the addition of deleted scenes and other info as well as a sneak preview for the sequel, THE FENG SHUI CURSE.

Watch The Trailer on YouTube (My music is featured in the first and last 3rd of the trailer):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYJ0UmRs0a8

(Rent the DVD):

Netflix:
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Fists_of_Righteous_Harmony/70086388?lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=1420711086_0_0

Blockbuster:
http://www.blockbuster.com/search/movie/mostPopular?keyword=fists+of+righteous+harmony&x=25&y=12

(Purchase the DVD):

MTV:
http://shop.mtv.com/The-FISTS-of-Righteous-Harmony-MTV-Home_stcVVproductId26682985VVcatId420851VVviewprod.htm

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw/002-9359866-3249614?url=search-alias%3Ddvd&field-keywords=fists+of+righteous+harmony&x=0&y=0

Blockbuster:
http://www.blockbuster.com/catalog/movieDetails/383095

Tower Records:
http://www.tower.com/details/details.cfm?wapi=111646681

CD Universe:
http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=7549373