Re: GG: On and Off the Record (long)

["John P. Hill" <jphill@frank.mtsu.edu>]

Re:  ON/OFF the RECORD

AMRourk wrote:
"But I must say that the sound engineer who
growled "Every kid in America plays this thing" was right..."

Actually, this comment was made by the session *producer*
Howard Scott, who produced the first five or six projects
Gould completed under contract with Columbia in the mid
to late 50's.

One wonders why they didn't use some of this footage
verbatim in the 32 Short Films, rather than going to the
trouble of casting actors who physically resembled the
members of the original recording team.

The control room sequences are indeed interesting in
ON THE RECORD.  I was amazed that during the recording of
takes and inserts for the second movement of the Italian
Concerto the control room personel appear to be paying
little or no attention to Gould's lyrical and emotional
playing;  instead they are joking about household gardening,
planting marijuana/opium and the possibilities for advancement
within the corporate structure of Columbia!

This rather odd juxstaposition *could* be the result of creative NFB 
editing, but I kind of doubt it, given the cinema verite nature (low 
budget?) of the documentary.  One has to wonder how Gould would have
felt about this upon seeing this part of the documentary.
Like, maybe it was time to change producers? (which he did shortly
afterward...).

I wonder if anyone who participated in the
making of ON THE RECORD/OFF THE RECORD is on this list and
could give us inside information on the project.  I've
watched this documentary *many* times and still find it
fascinating.

One of the things I liked best about OTR/OTR is that it
*appears* to be less meticulously scripted than Gould's later media
projects, notwithstanding the Lake Simcoe interview segment.

I agree that the narration is truly *bizarre* (whoever made the comment 
about Industrial Accident Prevention/Anti-VD promotion was right on the
money!).

The disconnect of *not* seeing the narrator's face during the interview 
segment lends a truly surreal touch.  Gould clearly had those questions and 
answers *completely* worked out.

Cheers to the collective...

John Hill
recording engineer/producer
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro, TN