Music

Low in the Theater

Akron Group Scores THX Trailer.

By D.X. Ferris 

Low in the Sky, the Akron-Kent melodic-soundscape group, provides the soundtrack to "Amazing Life," a new THX trailer that demonstrates the capabilities of audio-video systems in top-tier movie theaters. The clip went out to 3,000 state-of-the-art film houses across the country on November 20. The piece was commissioned by California's eyestorm productions, a creative agency and production company that spun off from Lucasfilm after Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. Eyestorm discovered Low in the Sky via its MySpace page, www.myspace.com/lowinthesky.

"We chose to go a very unconventional route by using a band instead of a composer," says eyestorm co-owner Michael Klima. "We felt that Low in the Sky would be perfect for creating a piece that we wanted to be more musically driven than sound-designed for a picture. I really think it was the right choice in the end."

Low in the Sky's multi-instrumentalist team features producer Corey Farrow as well as Joe Minadeo and Pat McNulty, formerly of Poets of Another Breed, which Scene readers voted best band in 2000 and best hip-hop act in 2001.

Eyestorm commissioned pieces from four composers, but opted for Low in the Sky's music, around which animators created a story of noisemaking aliens that band together for a symphony. The finished version takes the music through a 3-D surround-sound mix.

"My parents have been waiting for me to play on Saturday Night Live with one of my projects," says Minadeo. "That was their idea of a musical success. The THX trailer is way cooler."

The clip is online at StarWars.com, but it's accessible only with a subscription fee. Northeast Ohio's only THX-certified theater is Ridge Park Square Cinema (4788 Ridge Road).

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