So here I sit at my desk on my new leather chair wondering if it might be better to lay down for a bit. It is Sunday after all! Don't be thinking it because I'm lazy though, well...maybe a little, but it's more to do with the pain running through my neck and back. It was on Saturday morning that the incident occured and it wasn't the first time either. I'm sure we have all been there. It usually happens on colder nights when you're lying in bed and decide to turn over. For some unknown reason you stretch while turning or you move in an odd way and SNAP!! There is a sudden shooting pain in your neck and back and you know what has just happened! You also know what is to come over the next few days. On the first day you can barely hold your head up without braving the pain. The second day is slightly better because even though you still walk like a robot and can turn your head only a little more you continue to get sudden pain when attempting to sit. The third and fourth days are much better and you are wondering if it is the Radox baths and heated massage pads are working or if it is just the passing of time that is the great healer we all believe it to be. Does paracetamol really do what they say or is it just the power of the brain that makes you think they're working? Does the fridge light really switch off when you close the door? Do you think that's air you're breathing now?...sorry drifted a bit there!
I decided to relax for the day and watch a film or two. I went to Tesco on Friday night with my parents and bought a few DVD's. I know it isn't the most fun you can have on a Friday night but I live in a village where destroying phone boxes is considered a night out and you have to bring your own drinks to the local pub, I shit you not! Anyway, I saw the newest re-release of the Back to the Future Trilogy boxset for £7 and decided to buy it. I do already have the trilogy on DVD but there are a few reasons I want to get it again. I bought the original boxset before it was released in the UK from the good guys at the Cinema Store in Nottingham and it's one of those trilogies people have been waiting for since DVD was first introduced. Since then the trilogy has been re-released several times because fans complained about the faulty framing transfer and various other faults. Also, these studios like to milk these franchises for ever drop they can get from the screaming wallets of the consumer! You know of what I speak. How many different releases of these films have you seen? - Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, Superman, 007, etc. Just when you think you've bought the best version of your favorite blockbusting film on DVD a newer improved version is release a month later making you want to destroy the likes of Universal and Paramount. Then there's Blu-ray of course! This happen to me with Back to the Future trilogy...twice! The one I have just bought has one more extra disc than my original purchase and I wouldn't really have bought it but my original disc one doesn't play properly. I think that justifies my actions but then Universal strikes back with, 'oh so you think you have the definative release now do you?' and decide to release a steel book boxset 20 days from now!
Watching DVD extras about sound design and music really get me in the mood for working. I've just watched The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers features on these subjects and still find them fascinating! The problem with my job, and I've had this problem since the analytical days of film studies in college, is that I can no longer watch a film or TV drama without constantly being aware of the design of the sound and the musical composition. It's all to easy to critisize everything especially with Doctor Who where I have had problems enjoying an episode of the recent series because of the way the sound and music is mixed or how much the music is dominating the scene when it should be more subtle. It's nothing personal against the artists of the audio world it's just how I feel about the way things are done these days as a media educated individual. We all have our opinions.
Back to work on Monday though. I am ploughing through the Doctor Who Unbound story Masters of War because I only have a month until the delivery date. I thought I had time on this one, which was good for a 120 scene story with 400 sound effects to design, but it's amazing how things can change so quickly! I really wanted to make this story the best release ever and unfortunatly the universe was against me. Oh well. I should be happy I've made it this far so early in my career but those of you that know me well enough will understand that I need more! I need to show the world what I can really do...and I will...in time!
