Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 10 days, you’ve heard about Inception. Last week I sat in the theater and was blown away by the film but what stuck me the most while watching gorgeous scene after scene was the score. It was alive, it was it’s own character. Track after track of emotions ranging from curiosity to true love – all with an intense undercurrent of maglev train going 90 mph across the Japanese countryside.

I had to talk to an expert about all that I was experiencing, so I looked up Josh Myers. Producer, composer and general brilliant music guy and asked him a little about the process of composing for films.

As a composer, are there any steps you take when you’re starting a project?

That depends entirely on the client and at what stage they bring me onto the project. It rarely happens, but I prefer to be brought on early enough to read the script a few times and take a few weeks to really absorb the story. That way I can create themes and sketches and try to set a musical landscape before seeing a single image. And all that work may very well be thrown out the window in post, but it’s a useful process for me.

What kind of research is involved?

Usually lots of music listening. If the story is set in Greece the director might want music which reflects that. It’s different every time, so I have to do my research. In that case reading about Greek music history and listening to loads of music. And then finding session players that can pull it off authentically.

When do you typically get involved when writing a piece? At picture lock or before?

Totally varies from project to project. I prefer to start scoring after picture lock.

How do you go about crafting a musical pallet to coincide with a visual piece?

It’s just a gut feeling really, and it depends so much on budget. I love using live instruments, but I rarely have the funds to hire an orchestra. So most of the time I’m limited to solo instruments, midi instruments and the instruments I can play myself.

In the recent film, Inception, I found the music just striking in scene after scene – what’s your take?

I loved it. Hans Zimmer is a genius, continually reinventing himself. That last cue of the film is simply mind-blowing. I love it when the guitar comes in. The perfect sound for a perfect ending.

Who are some of your favorite composers and why?

I love Debussy for his textures, Stravinsky for his rhythms, John Williams for his melodies, Danny Elfman, Michael Giacchino, and anyone who can introduce something new to these ears.

Josh Myers is currently working on projects for Discovery Channel, Deidox, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ireland-based radio station, and a feature documentary entitled A Highway Called 301.

Here’s a live performance of Hans Zimmer’s Inception (on Guitar is Johnny Marr of The Smiths)

Today marks the beginning of International Justice Mission’s summer campaign – 5 Weeks for Freedom.

I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of helping getting the word out and stoked to be the first stop on their blog tour, click for the link. That post was the intensely personal side of the issue of human trafficking and how the awareness to such an issue eventually sidetracked my life in a very good way. It’s important to note that I wasn’t paid in any way for my blog services for this cause.

But over here at the Lab, I thought we’d talk about the communication, the website and some of the technology behind www.5weeksforfreedom.org. This site and campaign of IJM will be tracking the movements of a group traveling from Mobile, AL to Buffalo, NY in the next several weeks.

Highlights:

Multiple Touch Points – IJM has done a great job with social media integration and they’re building on their brand by starting another account on Twitter @5WFF There’s also going to be regular updates via their blog on what’s happening on the road and report backs on successes.

Access – The site allows for the viewer to check in with the riders via GPS. And also they’ll being doing uStream video live when they make certain stops.

Options – There are a lot of ways to get involved with what IJM is doing.

Humanity – I love the option to meet the individual riders (Personally my money is on Deborah Go, gotta represent SoCal!) A quick minute on why each rider is there, with so many stories it’ll be a lot easier to catalyze others in involvement and think about what their doing in their communities.

Time Limit – theres an end. So many times NGO’s aren’t thinking about a natural arc. How are your campaigns flowing? They should be like a good story – a beginning, a middle and an end. IJM’s campaign is a quick one and they’ve already set their day of completion of July 30. Having that end date helps communicate a lot to their audience – to the longtime connections, there’s an understanding that their will be a lot of talk about this campaign over the next 5-8 weeks. To the new connections, a time limit allows for a great introduction to what IJM is all about and as they continue to educate these new supporters who are passionate about making modern day slavery a thing of the past.

Over all marks – there’s no guarantee on any campaign but this looks like a fun time. I’m still waiting for some smart app developing company to make the IJM iPhone app.

IJM worked with Grafik for the creative and Capital Idea Ventures for the development of the site.

Today launched the 6th film from the creative team of Brent Gudgel and Dave Mahanes. The latest film, Deidox | Alyssa, gives us the glimpse of a girl in Simi Valley, CA walking us through part of her life. The idea of faith takes on a very real component in this short film and is anything but cheesy. The short clocks in at 4:37 was shot on Canon 5D and 7D.

This is another triumph for the creative team at Chronicle Project. What struck me the most throughout the film is the sound. Josh Myers (Cinecue, Burn the Stereo) has done an incredible job to capture the tone and further story tempo throughout this short.

A portion of the proceeds benefits the Extreme Mobility Camps www.xmocamps.org

Portnoy Media, along with the brilliance from The Out:Think Group, had the fortunate pleasure of working with this team to create a new film page. In the coming weeks we’ll be launching a few other changes on the site as well, for now Check out Deidox | Alyssa.

Please take the 18 minutes and check out this talk:

I’ve never heard of Simon Sinek before but I’ve come to trust the crew picking speakers at TED to be on top of their game. Personally I found the story of Samuel Pierpont Langley to be the largest tragedy in this talk. The guy with the most promise and possibility let the Wright Brothers run away with the technology. Discovery was his primary objective and became blind to seeing any other possibilities, what other markets could he have leveraged his knowledge into and connected to the masses, made money or influenced technology.

How does your company engage it’s clientele? Is your why the inspiration or the response?

Pick up Mr. Sinek’s book Start With Why

This past fall I was invited to the campus of Pepperdine University to talk with students in the PR/Marketing major and those involved in the local PRSSA chapter abut what life after college looks like. After several visits I was struck with a notion.

What if I walked with a class through some real world experiences while still enrolled in school?

Not exactly an internship, something with more of a safety net. A bit of a group think with direct input from a professor as well as a real world coach. The more college students I talk with or have worked with experience a wake up call when they hit the workplace. That seemed like an issue, so I did some thinking and found that there were some resources at my fingertips.

So I pitched an idea to my contact at Pepperdine (Dr. Emily Kinsky) and it looked like this:

The Project

Engage 10,000 college students to move from awareness to volunteers to advocates. Using all forms of PR (new and traditional media tools) to aid in the current campaigns created by URM and it’s partners – The class would work to catalyze the masses to being the solution to homelessness in Los Angeles.

Portnoy Media Group and Union Rescue Mission would work with the team to navigate the waters of Los Angeles non-profit PR and would formulate a feasible, real world plan with the chapter and then put it into action.

How Pepperdine wins:
Hands on creativity and implementation on a real world scenario. It’s a great resume piece for the students and provides instant feedback on success or failure. The students gain access to a client that is involved in every form of media production (print, film, broadcast, radio, web). URM and PMG could also give feedback on the process and the presentation from each team.

How URM wins:
Additional creative minds thinking about the plight of homelessness in Los Angeles. The result would be a microcosm of how URM engages college students and would then have solutions for maximum involvement.

How Portnoy Media Group Wins:
Additional minds creating content/ideas to aid with a current client.
I’d be looking for new ideas to accessibility and with all that brain power helping PMG aid URM in their endeavors of fundraising, awareness, volunteerism and advocacy.
An easy way to work along side and interact with students to identify good intern candidates.

The Final
The final presentations were several weeks ago and URM’s Director of Marketing and Communications, Jacqui Groseth, was on site for the final. All three pitches showed some similarities on how best to reach the students on their campus. Each team had identified a low cost/no cost option that would have maximum effectiveness for talking to college students throughout the Los Angeles area. I couldn’t have been happier with the way the project turned out and look forward to similar collaborations in the future. Big thanks to Dr. Kinsky for her risk taking!

Are you a school looking for a guest lecture? Contact Dan here

Click to check out Union Rescue Mission

Click to check out Pepperdine’s School of Communication