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Bark House, The Right Approach to Business

Imagine you’re in a window seat during final approach to Asheville, NC. The mountains, covered in lush blankets of leafy green forest most of the year, provide a pure surface to air uplift. Would it raise the sensitive eyebrow to hear North Carolina retains practically no remnant of a virgin forest? Nearly two-thirds of the NC land area is filled with commercial forests, most of it harvested twice already, leaving this – mostly a third crop. Thanks to Marty and Chris McCurry, Highland Craftsmen was created in 1990 as a recycler of wood waste materials, principally for Poplar bark. They reclaim bark from harvested trees and as Bark House – handcraft wall coverings for interior and exterior design solutions.

The Bark House and 2BruceStudio fun began with a search for local voice talent. A distinctive announcer was essential for the video Marty and Chris McCurry titled “A Product of Human-Nature Transcends the Nature of Human Products”. The video would announce Bark House winning the Architectural Record Product of the Year, the only PLATINUM Cradle to Cradle® Certification, and ten B Corp Best for the World awards. Marisa Blake has a captivating voice, rich in smiles and milk chocolate. Thanks to Marisa, the recording went smoothly, surprising everyone how much fun they could have with an important session. It isn’t often a new client immediately trusts me to edit voice with music, mix, and create the master while they’re slipping out for lunch at a well known Asheville restaurant. They also requested animating the logo and providing visual special effects. Hats off to Marty and Chris of Bark House for taking the right approach to business and becoming a 2BruceStudio favorite post production collaborator.

Please, take a look at the finished product: https://youtu.be/Fu8HNFP4GrI

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Climate Resilience Toolkit Intro

The Climate Resilience Toolkit is an extensive internet resource for community planners across the United States. For coastal planners, critical decisions must be made as oceans rise. For inland cities, how can planners adapt to more frequent droughts, floods, and/or hurricanes?

The CRT was built after a directive by president Barack Obama’s white house. Since 2012, I’ve had the honor of providing post production services for many NOAA videos. The CRT introduction video proved the most challenging, and most fun. I composed and recorded one continuous piece of original music which changes during different scenes, but unites ideas and images throughout the three minute video. 2BruceStudio recorded and edited the announcer, created sound design, and mixed everything together for the final audio. 2BruceStudio provided the final video edits, along with adding b-roll and animations, color grading and all exports for final deliverables.

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One Essential Element: From Powwow to Post Production in Asheville (Part One in a Series)

Toward the end of last summer Jack Becker and Matt Levin, creative directors at Element Advertising, opened a large orange door looking for help. It’s a double-sized door the color of a fruit from Florida. While walking a few blocks to 2BruceStudio, what willpower it must have taken – bypassing coffee and pastries from Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe, avoiding delights from The Chocolate Fetish, resisting an urgent text message while crossing the street? Jack and Matt needed help with plans for The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians package of fifteen videos. Raven’s Eye Productions would shoot and edit the videos. 2BruceStudio would supply post production services and one element missing from each of the videos – sound.

Jack Becker’s history of award winning work with 2BruceStudio began in 2007. The fun often begins with a pow-wow about the message. Jack and Matt already had a creative direction for music and sound design, but they were eager to hear my ideas. We agreed to music and sound ideas for each video so quickly, we were still fresh enough to rough out a timetable and budget. Element approved my post production budget within two weeks. It was the last good luck sign we needed before the Visit Cherokee project kickoff.

Before the first video arrived I had a good chance to learn more about Cherokee history, culture and music. The Cherokee people remain, after their first contact with European settlers in the 16th century, one of the most socially and culturally advanced of all Native American tribes. Sequoyah’s invention of the Cherokee syllabary in 1821 made it possible to read and write in the Cherokee language. The Cherokee published newspapers and built over one hundred schools while neighboring settlers, for the most part, eked out an illiterate existence. The Eastern Band of Cherokee are mainly descendants of 800 non-participants in the troubled Trail of Tears to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Read “Jacksonland: President Andrew Jackson, Cherokee Chief John Ross, and a Great American Land Grab” by Steve Inskeep for more.

Our first video “Itinerary Builder” instructed site users on using tools in the web site for building a visitor itinerary. After the animation was finished, original music was scored and the ubiquitous voice of Sharon Feingold was recorded and mixed at 2BruceStudio.

 

“Greatest Hits” is a bouncy music track with frequent cutaways for sound design. Cherokee has much more to do and see than could possibly fit in a video, but somehow the team at Element Advertising makes it work. The original music by Bruce Sales is woven together with the sound effects, one might say, as nicely as any basket for sale in the Qualla Arts and Crafts. Listen and notice the choice of native instruments including drums, shakers, and flute.

 

In the first frames of “Skate Park” one hears tinkling piano, triangles and bells begin a surprising transformation from star dust magic to real world rhythms. Cherokee Action Sports Park isn’t just for skate boarders preparing to “soar with the eagles”. The park is for anyone, regardless of skill level, willing to bring a deck and an attitude. As the story unfolds via on-screen text, the music moves from orchestral percussion, sustaining strings and brass, and breaks down to dub-step until a visual misstep. It lands with one skater in the bowl, music stomping, live drums and hand claps keeping the pulse.

 

Tags | asheville video post production, audio post, audio post production, composer, composing, original music, post production facility, recording studio, sound recording, video post production