"I Knew Shelbie Rassler Before She Was Famous"

As much hard work as was put into this project, this has definitely not felt like a five-week process. This experience has truly flown by, not necessarily in a bad way, but it does feel strange to say that we have finished our film opening, which I will be posting sometime in the next couple of days alongside the Critical Reflection which I am currently finalizing. 

This blog has been all about documenting my version of the film-making process behind Birdcage, and although I have frequently mentioned and acknowledged her contributions, now is the time to put special emphasis on how pivotal she has been to the success of our project. Shelbie, among other things, has been completely in charge of composing and creating the soundtrack for our film opening. Knowing the extend of her talent and abilities, I chose not to listen to anything she created for our project until she was completely done; I had absolutely no doubt that it would be a perfectly fitting soundtrack for the opening, and wanted to experience the final product at its most polished.  On top of this, Shelbie recorded the voice over for our film with the help of her fabulous mother, Karen Rassler, and also single-handedly went through the process of sound mixing and editing these various elements with the foley sounds used in the opening. 

I finally was able to see the final product of our film yesterday, and I am truly blown away by Shelbie's talent. Her score is a perfect fit for the opening; it's not overwhelming, instead allowing the narration and visuals to take the forefront in order to give clarity to the plot. Simultaneously, it is gorgeously atmospheric, opening up an entirely new dimension of intrigue and tension which stirs up the viewer's curiosity to watch the rest of the film. Combined with Karen Rassler's voice, which has a very powerful presence that commands the narrative of the story, the score is instrumental (no pun intended) in evoking the dark mythical energy which connects the story of the Japanese zodiac with the tragedy of the World War II Japanese internment camps in the United States. 

I feel so lucky to have collaborated with such a skilled individual for my AICE Media Studies Portfolio project, and cannot wait until I can post our final product so that you too can get a taste of her talent. I highly recommend that anyone interested in the process of creating this film visit Shelbie's blog, http://shelbiemediastudies.blogspot.com/ , to get special insight on her process of creating the soundtrack for our opening.