All over but the shouting

The rough cut is 40:31. Script is 22 pages, being dissected by Dr. Bailey. Listening to that whole thing at half-speed, I found various bits that needed to be excised, and that will be done after I get the rough script back.

Voiceover will be done by Alex Reed, who has a much better hockey voice than I do.

Notable bit--a week late, but Todd McCormick came across a few episodes of Kicksave. I would like to put this all online, and I think that will be part of it.

Home stretch

I'm halfway through transcribing the rough-cut, which came to 40:31. This will be chopped to 30. It will not air in March as I had hoped, unless I'm able to do the rest of everything in record time (considering the rest of my life that I have to factor in there). But it is almost completely done.

I still exist!

It seems like it's been a lot longer since I've updated this--I've been in the studio. About done with the editing, but have Dr. Haptonstall giving one more interview tomorrow. I plan to have the speech all done by Wednesday night, transcribed before Friday, and music added by Monday.

I seem to update this weekly

Hope that's not too slow for you kids.

Calling Don Hatfield (former Huntington Advertiser hockey writer circa 1956) this afternoon. In the meantime, putting together a first cut of the final product. We're in the home stretch, kiddos...

Had another chat with Ernie

Talked for about an hour at WMUL; was quite a blast.

Tomorrow I will be trying to get a hold of a few people, primarily for the purpose of getting a hold of a few other people to fill in some blanks. I've been chopping up my already-done interviews into smaller bits, and will be arranging those afterward. If I have any interviews during/after that, I will slot it in wherever I can.

Right under my nose

It dawned upon me this afternoon that WMUL archives stuff. Sadly very little of the hockey coverage is still there--I found a reel of On The Corner that used to be an episode of Kicksave--but as I type this there is a Marshall club hockey game vs. Xavier from January 1996 being copied from reel to computer. Hell yes.

And the next round begins

I've taken interviews from everyone thus far and boiled them down to the parts that will, potentially, go into the final product. Thus Round Two begins: I will be doing a couple second-interviews, as well as getting a hold of people who I had either meant to get a hold of earlier and couldn't, or had not thought to get a hold of until more recently. While this is going on, I will be putting together a rough first cut with the interviews that I have.

I need to remind myself that it's the end of February already. Not that I'm worried about my time--I reckon I'm moving along rather well--but time has a tendency to sneak up on me.

Next stages

I have Jared Bednar lined up Monday. That will be the end of what I'm calling "round 1" of interviews. I will be sifting through the interviews I've done thus far and
--pulling out notable quotes
and
--finding namedrops. These namedrops will be the basis of any further interviews.

Round two will also involve getting play by play clips--I had sent out some emails, but I should know by now that email doesn't seem to be very effective.

I've also been thinking about how to continue this beyond the mandated 30-minute documentary. I've already decided that there will be either a "director's cut" edition and/or some mini-segments on specific topics. I had thought of doing a video piece; however, I really don't know how this would be improved upon in video, and at this point I don't know if it would be for much more than embellishment. However, this morning the idea came to mind to perhaps do a larger work--say a book--on hockey in either:
--the Rust Belt (include some of the other ECHL towns--Johnstown, Wheeling, Toledo, as well as places like Erie and Pittsburgh);
--Appalachia (get into Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia some); or
--the South. This would probably have the best potential, as the level of hockey played in the Southern states is so varied, and the concept itself is somewhat contentious. I already have a name thought up if I go this route: Stars and Crossbars (a reference to the "stars and bars" Confederate flag).

Actually, that'll probably be the route I go.

Had to put this here

The last post was crossposted at my LiveJournal page; I got this response from one friend:

"i think it'd sound a lot better if they opened the ice rink back up."

A reminder that I need to find someone(s) on the Tri-State Ice Arena end of things.

Updates

Ernie fell through last week, but I have him lined up tomorrow afternoon.

I'm realizing that the month is going by a bit quickly--I need to get these interviews wrapped up. Which they are, really--I have no more than a few people I still need/want to get a hold of.

Also, I've decided on a tentative title for the finished project:

Freezing Over: The Past Lives, Present Purgatory, and Prospective Reincarnation of Ice Hockey in Huntington

How's that sound kids?