Denton resident Andy LaViolette got into the film production game by a meandering route. Andy LaViolette
It started with music, then went down the aisle to film weddings, and has now blossomed into a bona fide filmmaking venture.
LaViolette came to Denton to study jazz guitar in 1998. He stayed until 2001 and went back to the University of North Texas in 2006 - the same year he bought his first video camera.
"I bought it because I thought there was a small chance I could make some money off of it, but was really just justifying spending a lot of money on a camera so I could make cool videos of my band," LaViolette said.
With a videographer in the band, the musicians wouldn't have to hire a contractor to produce footage. Soon, LaViolette was shooting other bands, his fee ranging from free to $50. It was also 2006 that he and his wife, Christi, started a company they named Mr. Magic Carpet Ride Productions. The goal? To make money duplicating CDs for local indie acts and copying DVDs for clients.
Shortly after the LaViolettes started their duplication business, they learned they had a baby on the way. Andy was spending more time teaching music than making videos. Gradually, Mr. Magic Carpet Ride picked up video jobs, and LaViolette did some work shooting fashion events for the Dallas multimedia firm Bennett-Elia.
On Friday night, LaViolette's short documentary, Bass: Beyond Limitation, premieres at Thin Line Film Fest, the Denton documentary festival. Bass chronicles the life-changing International Double Bass Solo Competition for the participating musicians. Courtesy photo/Andy LaViolette A performer is tucked away in a corner of the Murchison Performing Arts Center in Denton during the double bass competition. View larger More photos Photo store
The competition - which has been called the Van Cliburn contest of the double bass world - was launched at the University of North Texas College of Music in summer 2010 by Jeff Bradetich, who leads the double bass program at UNT.
A friend of LaViolette's had seen the work he'd done shooting the North Texas jazz band Snarky Puppy, and told Bradetich that LaViolette might be the man to document the historic bass competition.
A meeting clinched the job for Mr. Magic Carpet Ride.
Christi shoots still photography for clients and Andy shoots film.
"I was looking at this as a documentary because that's the word Jeff used," LaViolette said. "Then, when I started to get into it, I kicked into my old videographer ways. It was like, how can I make this look cool?"
As he worked during the contest, which took place over the course of about a week, LaViolette noticed some familiar themes: the intensity of musical discipline, the focus and drive. He also noticed something else.
"I wanted to know what was behind this insane, almost obsessive drive to devote their whole lives to something that might not pan out at all," he said.
You could say the same for any serious musician, and yet double bass soloists are up against ingrained biases against their instrument.
It's common for orchestral musicians to joke about the bass never being in tune.
And the concert world hasn't exactly welcomed double bassists as soloists with much fanfare.
A Dallas music critic declared Bradetich as "a pachyderm in a tutu" in a review of the professor's performance.
Among bassists, however, Bradetich is considered something of a visionary in his relentless effort to show what the largest string instrument can do all by itself.
As a musician, Bradetich sometimes seems universally respected among his peers.
LaViolette recalls one of Bradetich's directives clearly.
"He told me, 'You have to film them [the four finalists] before they go onstage and then after they leave.' So I did," he said.
As he described his footage of the tense moments in the wings, LaViolette looks nervous himself.
"Right before they went on, they were so intense. They were back stage, tuning their bass. Fidgeting. One of the finalists was asking a [Murchison Performing Arts Center] staff member what he should do when he walked out and greeted the conductor. He was all, 'Do I shake his hand? Or do I just go take my place? What do I do?' The guy told him to walk out, shake his hand.
"My wife hates classical music. Hates it. She can't stand it. She has Super Tramp on her playlist. But she was watching over my shoulder when I was editing the backstage footage, and she said, 'Oh my God. I have to see how this turns out.'"
As the project came together, LaViolette said, the documentary took on a sure form.
"I knew I wanted to hook up with people who would have a really human story. These are musicians who are absolutely at the top of their game. They are the best bassists in the world. I sought out people who had a story, like the Russian bassist Artem [Chirkov]," he said. "He had to decide whether to bring his wife to Texas or bring his bass. He couldn't afford to bring both. He brought his wife. He had to borrow a bass, and I hear it wasn't a very good one."
LaViolette conducted interviews with jurors, Bradetich and musicians. During the finals, he locked down two cameras on tripods in Winspear Performance Hall, then put another camera on a dolly he built out of plywood, roller skate wheels and filed-down pipes.
He submitted the final documentary to the PBS series POV. It wasn't accepted, and he said he doubted he'd get into Thin Line Film Fest. LaViolette will join a filmmaker panel after his short films block is finished. He'll answer questions from a moderator - possibly questions from festival-goers, as well.
"I'm really happy about it," LaViolette said. "This film thing, I think I have a perspective and framing of ideas. I think this is something I can grow with. It's not like I'm doing this and hoping my music pans out. I really like this work."
LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877. Her e-mail address is cbreeding@dentonrc.com.
IF YOU GO
What: Bass: Beyond Limitation, a 34-minute documentary about the world's first double bass solo contest
When: 8 p.m. Friday during short films Block 8 at the Thin Line Film Fest
Where: the Campus Theatre, 214 W. Hickory St.
How much: $8 for single screening tickets. To buy festival tickets and passes, visit http://thinlinefilmfest.tix.com/Schedule.asp?OrganizationNumber=2897
On the Web: www.mrmagicproductions.com, http://2012.thinlinefilmfest.com
