A scene can change many times from first concept,
and the "boot camp" medley is a great example. Jason
Moore originally pitched the idea but others weren't
all so excited about it. I loved the idea of showing
the Bellas singing a medley of the greatest women's
harmony songs of all time, so I dove in to help
shape it.
Originally, Jason was thinking of
starting with a montage of warmups (which eventually
fell off so we could get right to and spend more
time with these classic songs), then a song from the
30s (Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy or Three Coins in the
Fountain), 40s, 50s (Mr. Sandman), 60s (Supremes),
70s (Carole King), and ending with the 80s (bringing
us back to the Bangles).
I suggested we
start in the 40s (because the Andrew's Sisters "Bugle Boy" is the perfect opener), then Mr. Sandman
for the 50s,, then offered a few up-tempo Supremes
tunes from the 60s (Can't Hurry Love was the
favorite, and works with Fat Amy's story in the
movie), then my favorite from the 70s was and is
Labelle's "Lady Marmalade" (plus it was remade in
Moulon Rouge so a new generation knows it), then for
the 80s maybe Walk Like an Egyptian, then end in the
90s with either Bills Bills Bills (but we already
were looking at Beyonce songs elsewhere in the
movie) or En Vogue's "My Lovin (Never Gonna Get It)"
which has the added bonus of being a downer at the
end of the scene, setting them up for an uplifting
moment around the campfire shortly after.
Then there were some tweaks: The Bangles made sense
since the Bellas sang "Eternal Flame" in PP1, but
their other songs don't really have much harmony, so
Jason suggested the Pointer's Sisters (who have many
great harmony songs), and "I'm So Excited was a
great high energy song late in this medley,
underscoring them working out through an obstacle
course. There was concern the medley spent too much
time in older songs, so Mr. Sandman was pulled out
and we tried adding The Spice Girls "Wannabe", but
Liz wanted to mix it up and add a funny moment, so
she recommended a boy band. I came back with a few
suggestions and was especially excited about
Hanson's "Mmm-bop," (which is fun, high energy, and
could be mistaken for a girl's group, setting up the
laugh) but she said "Nah"... I want a powerful, classic
boyband song here" so we demo'd the Back Street Boys
"Everybody" but it just didn't fit or seem as funny,
so Liz somewhat sheepishly asked "Ok, can we try
Mmm-bop?" which we did, and voila!
The fact
is, lots of songs could have worked in this medley,
but I do feel like we arrived on the best choices
for the film. Starting with the Andrew's Sisters
really sets up the scene (and it starts with the
verse, not the chorus, so it feels like a
beginning). Supremes were a must, Lady Marmalade is
just high-belting-women's-voice-heaven, I'm So
Excited is iconic 80s, Mmm-bop is supremely fun (and
a great joke), and Never Gonna Get It has one of the
greatest pop a cappella passages in recorded
history.
Every music moment is a long,
thoughtful process considering the movie's story
line, our characters, music history, how big a song
was (then and now), if we can get a song, if we can
afford the song (every song needs to be approved by
the publisher, and they name their own price, so we
can't necessarily get or afford any song"... but these
older songs are usually easier than current or
recent hits), and so on.
I'm particularly
happy with this medley in the movie because it gives
us a chance to offset a lot of current/recent pop
music arranged in a very modern style and gives us a
chance to educate young viewers. Some of the greatest music from the
past 100 years has come from women's harmony groups,
and it feels good introducing them to a new
generation.
Liz likes to be extra certain that the songs in the movie are the right ones, so today Ed and I are in a very empty office arranging and demoing songs you'll likely never hear in the movie. There's always a chance a song won't work out (could be for story reasons or sonic reasons), or it won't "clear" (meaning we won't get the rights from the publishers to use it in the movie).
Every movie needs a villain, and Pitch Perfect 2
is no exception. The stakes need to be higher, the
scope greater, now that the Treblemakers have been
vanquished. Cue: Das Sound Machine!
Today the
members of DSM (as we call them) arrived, and
they're great. Full of energy and excitement,
they're gonna be a joy to work with.
In DSM
we have 4 people singing their own parts: The
Kommissar (Brigitte is from Denmark but can speak
and sing in German), Flula (from Germany, our
anchor), Allie (our first Soprano, sang in the
SoCals season 1 of the Sing Off, good friends with
Kelley Jakle), and Fitz (our world-class beatboxer).
The latter 2 are American, but no one will ever
know. The rest? All locally cast dancers, so the
group can be intimidating in their choreography as
well as the vocals, and we'll track the vocals
ourselves.
Much as in PP1, there's a desire
to make DSM likeable and funny as well as an
insurmountable obstacle, so we're treading a fine
line between cold and warm, humorous and dead
serious. Ed's responsible for crafting their sound &
arrangements, which at this point is frustrating, as
we still have to figure out how to make the Bellas
win in the end. We had the same problem in PP1 with
the Treblemakers, who were just better until we'd
assembled the perfect movie finale. I'm all for it:
set the bar impossibly high, then figure out how to
get over it with our Bellas.
I feel like a frog in a boiling pot, as when I
arrived the weather here in Baton Rouge was lovely,
but each day it gets more and more extreme: Hotter &
muggier... with the occasional rain storm so
Biblically violent it's like a car wash with
periodic blasts of electricity. We got to the studio
in the mild sunshine, and at lunch I had to run
through 8 inch high water covering the sidewalk and
street to get the car just 100 yards away. An hour
later, when we returned from lunch the ground was
dry.
And at the end of the month, just when
we start shooting outdoors, we'll be entering what
I've heard referred to by locals as "the season of
mosquitos: our state bird" So, that should be nice.
Anna Kendrick just arrived. I walk in the room:
00:00:01 big smile
00:00:02 "Deke!"
00:00:03
runs over
00:00:05 hug
00:00:06 question
about how challenging the music is
00:00:09 my
apology...
00:00:10 big smile and "Fuck You!"
That's Anna: great sense of humor, not afraid to
drop a well timed F-bomb. Of course later that
morning it took only an hour's worth of rehearsal
before she was able to sing the first 4 arrangements
for me by memory perfectly (she'd been practicing).
Anna's incredibly focused, intelligent, and works
hard, which means she's always reliable. Tomorrow
she'll be in the studio singing all of her parts
(that have been handed out thus far - we're still
tweaking the riff-off and deciding on the finale),
meaning even though she showed up 2 weeks late to
rehearsals, she's caught up within 24 hours. She
could be a diva - she has the resume, the following,
the cred - but instead she's down to earth and
focused. Aspiring actresses: be like Anna!
The Riff Off is about as complex a musical puzzle
as you can assemble: different songs, one after
another, woven together in the most dramatic way
possible. And, as if the challenge isn't great
enough, this year we've added a twist: the beat must
be steady through each round.
In other words,
not only do we need to find a series of great songs
for each theme, but they now need to be performed at
the same BPM (beats per minute). There's some
flexibility, but more than 10 BPM in either
direction - fast or slow - usually renders a song
ridiculous. And remember, we can't just get any
song, as they all have to be "cleared" with the
publishers.
Things don't always go our way.
Example: "I Dated John Meyer" was going to have a
Katy Perry song in it (obviously)... but we couldn't
get the song cleared, which meant the scene had to
be reworked. This happens repeatedly through the
process, and Tom Kitt does a fantastic job drawing
on his musical theater background to shape the flow
of this scene.
The final round was going to
be "Boil a bunny: songs of obsession" (or some such)
but it just wasn't powerful enough for the final
round, so we went with 90's Jamz." (I'm not sure yet
it'll be spelled with a "z" at the end, but
lezbehonest, that's what it should be). We knew we
wanted to end with Emily absent-mindedly singing the
movie's original song (resulting in boos from the
crowd), but before this we need some tension to
build, and the obvious choice is to get Flula and
Fat Amy up in each other's faces, trading insults.
So, working from the songs we had cleared that
worked in the same BPM range, I pulled together the
following sequence/story:
-DSM singing "This
Is How We Do It": get our international superstars
to start off the final round bragging about how
great they are.
-Bellas singing "That Thing":
have Cynthia Rose jump on top of their swagger with
some swag of her own, urging her sisters to "watch
out!" and referring to "some guys" which clearly
refers to DSM and Flula.
-Flula cutting them
off singing "(That girl is) Poison": which has the
epic line "never trust a big butt and a smile", in
reference to Fat Amy
-Fat Amy sings "Scenario":
answering "Here we go," getting up in his face
saying essentially "what's your problem, dude?!?"
-Flula jumping in with "Insane in the Membrane": A
perfect childish retort, Flula gets to call Fat Amy
crazy.
And this quick back and forth in this
final round, a verbal/musical battle that is all on
theme and in time, gives us a reason to have Emily
distracted enough to launch into her own song,
handing DSM the win, and the Bellas another
crushing, embarrassing defeat. We could have had the
Bellas lose many other ways, but it's best to have
them lose big, plus reintroduce her original song to
set it up for the big successful reveal at the end
of the finals.
Then DSM gets to do a victory
lap singing Kris Kross' "Jump," which was another
song we'd considered in the above battle, but we
decided to save it for the end, so we could have the
entire crowd yelling "JUMP, JUMP!" in the background
as the Bellas bemoan their loss.
The studio needs a name for the publicity
materials, movie credits and liner notes. Our
choice? "Neon Hobo Studios." Why?
The "neon"
comes from the fact that we have florescent lights
in the ceiling that buzz annoyingly, which have to
be turned off anytime we're doing any recording.
They especially bother Magee, who gives us a hard
time if they're on when he arrives in the morning.
Sometimes he makes a loud buzzing noise at the exact
pitch of the lights, other times he calls us the
neon boyz, and often he just shakes his head and
switches off the overhead lights. We have a chain of
xmas lights and a couple small lamps, which gives
the whole studio area a cool, relaxed vibe, which is
great... but sometimes we need bright, buzzing
lights.
The "hobo" comes from the fact that
the studio is right next to the train tracks that
lead to a train depot 1 block away, and several
times a day we have to stop recording because a
train rumbles by, shaking the building and blasting
its train whistle. It's frustrating and hilarious
and hard to believe... but it was the best building
available, so we just make the best of it. Who lives
at/in train depot? Why, a hobo, of course.
It's a working weekend, as we have to get parts
tracked in time for filming. First up is a young
beatboxer that Ed has worked with: Julia Ramos.
She's still an undergrad and yet has been a finalist
in the American Beatbox Championship, and she
clearly knows collegiate a cappella, since she's
actively a member of UCLA's "Random Voices."
Julia has great sounds and is the perfect "beat box
double" for Hana Mae, who has been spending the day
following, filming, and learning from Julia. Once
we're done tracking, HM will have to learn every
kick drum and crash cymbal perfectly to represent
them on screen (I'd say "lip sync" but it's about
much more than just lips). And to anyone who thinks
HM should be doing her own beatboxing, I offer this:
she's a young actress who is doing her own singing
and dancing and acting., so expecting her to be one
of the best beatboxers in the world is unrealistic.
To give the role to one of the best beatboxers in
the world (of which there are only a handful) is to
expect and require them to sing, act and dance at
high levels, which is a near impossibility. Time for
a little movie magic!
Since we're on the topic of the Bellas not doing
everything themselves, I should also make it clear
that they don't all do all of their own singing as
well. Don't misunderstand: they're doing all of
their own lead vocals, and harmony parts, but there
are times when the vocals become extremely difficult
or "rangy" (outside of their vocal range, too high
or too low), and it's just unrealistic to expect
professional actresses with very different voices
and styles (which is necessary for their characters)
to form a gorgeous blend with only a few weeks of
rehearsal and recording, especially since they are
working hard through the same days on their
choreography, lines, costume fittings, stunts, and
everything else.
Therefore we have a
fantastic singer - Candice Helfand - who comes in
and creates the "glue" in their sound. Today she
sang bits of several songs - Bellas and DSM -
insanely high notes, gravelly low notes, screaming
loud bits, soft gentle transitions. She's able to
sound like different members of the Bellas in
different ranges, so she can seamlessly create
seamless seams, quickly and efficiently, so she'll
be back at her NYC desk job Monday morning, no one
around her knowing just how important she is to the
movie.
Reading a script on your own is informative, but
if you really want to see how a movie will play out,
how jokes will land, how characters will interact,
you need to get all of your cast in a room and read
through everything, and that's what happened today.
The script changed many times in PP1 from
the first drafts (which featured much more of Beca's
dad), and there are changes here as well. Jokes that
don't land will get replaced, big laughs will be
amplified, and the people who are especially funny
will end up with more lines... and by this I'm
referring to Flula, who read Bumper's lines as well,
and had people in stitches with even the
non-humorous lines. There's something funny about a
German accent, but that's only a small part of his
charm and timing. He has a way of finding humor in
the smallest of lines, which is then amplified by
his enthusiasm. Like a great Sasha Baron Cohen
character with far more heart, I have a feeling
Flula will steal many a scene.