As with most projects I edit, sound effects were added in parallel with the picture cut. Working in the sound from the very beginning allows me the freedom to explore ideas, as well as make sure a robust sound effects track is in place when the music composer begins their work. Some sounds were pulled from libraries or our own collection, while we created the other elements ourselves. This film marked a departure for us in one respect as it was the first time since shooting silent 16mm films in school we ended up with a soundtrack without any production sound.
The picture and sound edit were locked by mid October and delivered to our composer David McRae. For me, a film’s score provides the most surprises as it is the one element I have few set concepts beyond the broadest strokes. This would be our second collaboration with musician David McRae, which benefited greatly with our previous teaming on Ocatilla Flat. From his first pass, David had a firm handle on what the film needed, honing the sound with each successive round of revisions. With the delivery of the finalized music, we mixed and output the competed project in late-November.
One might assume from the subject matter of The Cat Hunter that I don’t care much for cats, but nothing could be further from the truth; I actually like these fuzzy slackers very much, preferring them over most people. Still, I do recognize the extreme polarity of opinion cats instill in people, which I found to be a rich comedic vein to mine for our short film. Since completion it has been invited to screen at the Bare Bones Film Festival in Muskogee, OK and the Santa Cruz Film Festival out here in California. The Cat Hunter was also given a stellar score of 9.6/10 here at MicroFilmmaker Magazine and awarded Best of Show for March 2009.
The making of this short proved to be both rewarding and educational, and it has been very gratifying to receive the notice it has thus far.
