Brown Girl in the Ring — sizzle reel (2 min. 2015) Lester Alfonso sound designed and edited this sizzle reel to promote the project to bring Nalo Hopkinson’s 1998 Afro-futurist novel to the screen. Director Sharon Lewis and her company Urban Soul Inc. were able to get the financing with the help of this video.
On Day 51 of uploading my archive, I’d like to direct your attention to the art of media composition. Most of what actually happens in the editing room is unknown to most people. Editors have the reputation of being tasked with “taking out the bad bits” and then leaving the rest mostly “as is.” That’s like throwing all the desired elements up in the air and having everything magically land on the ground in an integrated design. A good editor makes the job seem effortless, invisible, and impactful.
I worked with Sharon Lewis on the sizzle reel for Brown Girl in the Ring remotely. She sent me a hard-drive with footage in the mail and we exchanged emails and talked on the phone a couple of times. She was in Toronto, I was in Peterborough but we could have been anywhere in the world.
We’ve been somewhat acquainted from years before through the CBC show ZeD where she was a regular host and I, was a frequent contributor. Through a mutual friend, I found out that Sharon needed a sizzle reel to get her Afro-futurist Nola Hopkinson-inspired project off the ground.
Not a lot of footage of work with but I did my best by putting the emphasis on the sound design. If I had more time, I would have been able to work on better titles. I constructed the sound-effects from horror film soundtrack elements. I took bits here and there for an overall dramatic effect. I’m a firm believer that sound-design is probably 80% of it and I’m really happy with my work here.
If you’ve got a project in mind, don’t hesitate to contact me for a quick consultation. I’m running a promotion on editing right now, help me spread the word if you can. Here is my Editing Showcase. Thanks so much! More soon! — LA!
P.S. If you’re liking these daily posts, perhaps you can consider becoming a monthly donor for a year or making a one-time contribution. It would seriously help a lot. Your money goes directly into supporting an artist committed to continually become the best version of himself. Thank you so much! Much love, LA