BEN AND DOPEY: SOUND + MUSIC CONSULTING

Lately I’ve been serving as a sound and music consultant on the feature film “Ben and Dopey” by animator John Akre. It’s a lot of fun listening to the original songs John’s been writing and making arrangement recommendations, plus suggesting areas where his homespun sound effects work might come in handy. I’m enjoying helping an artist realize an aesthetic through sound and music, using his own visual sensibility as a style guide.

The film tells the 1987 story of a Minneapolis street musician and his relationship with an animated duck created by his mother, an underground animator who seems to have disappeared. The movie takes place in the neighborhood that used to be where the Minneapolis Convention Center is now, as well as the original Nicollet Mall.

More work by Mike Hallenbeck for animation

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FIRST INTERNSHIP COMPLETE!

Shout-out to the recently graduated Bryce Foster, aka BDaMan, Junior Birdman Audio’s first-ever intern!

Wielding formidable skills as both an MC and producer, Foster has what it takes to take the audio world by storm, even when he’s had to prove it by editing the sounds of sandpaper friction for our product videos. He’s currently pursuing his masters in the School of Hard Knocks this world has become (even more than usual) in recent days, and I know he’s up to the task. I see a bright future for this young man! Good luck, Bryce. Let’s keep in touch.

"BIRDS OF THE FUTURE" TOP OF SHOW

Some nostalgia here for a both post- and pre-apocalyptic nature: Back when it was still safe for people to congregate, I created the sound design for a performance installation called “Birds of the Future” by Skewed Visions. Here’s the opening of the show, in which two refugee bird people (Megan Mayer and Erika Hansen) set out to find a better life after the collapse of civilization. The soundscape at the top of the show features wind, flapping wings, and plain old birdsong. Believe it or not, things haven’t gotten truly weird yet.