School of (live) Rock?

Cafe Society
1

I’m always impressed by movies where actors play their own instruments, and even more impressed when they do it live. For instance, in A Mighty Wind, nothing was lip-sync’d, or finger-sync’d. When we heard Catherine O’Hara playing her autoharp, that was actually Catherine O’Hara playing her autoharp in real time.

So what about School of Rock? How much of it was live? It seemed pretty apparent to me that when the kids played during the closing title, it was really them. In the opening scene with Jack Black, that all looked pretty fake.

So was it some of each? What about both bands in Battle of the? Was it live, or was it memorex?

2

I looked up a few of the actors on IMDB. At least two of those kids have been playing those instruments since they were 3. I know that kid on drums wasn’t just hitting the drumheads randomly. And Jack Black is one half of Tenacious D, so I doubt he was faking it.

3

IIRC all the kids in that movie played their own music.

During the battle of the bands I’ll bet that they recorded the song and then acted like they were playing in the vein of American Bandstand.

4

Oh, I’m quite sure that Black is an accomplished guitarist. But in the opening scene his fingers don’t quite match the sound.

And the bass player (Katie?), in an interview, states that she had never played bass or cello before the movie, but was a decent guitarist for some years.

Watch the last scene – it’s apparent that they play their own instruments, mistakes and all. What I’m wondering is whether they do so in the other scenes as well.

5

I remember reading that the kid actors were chosen for the musical abilities before their acting experience. The kids and I liked the movie enough to buy, I just wish I could get one of them to actually take an interest in an instrument!

I say the best thing about his movie is that it has gotten my 9 yr old daughter away from Good Charlotte and into Led Zeppelin. That alone makes this movie a success, both to myself …and to Jack Black if he knew about it:)

6

Don’t have a cite handy for this, but in one of those TV specials before the movie’s release, they said that all the kids were cast for musical ability rather than acting skills.

Jack Black’s a decent guitarist, but he’s not THAT good. He couldn’t really play guitar before Tenacious D, and Kyle taught him most of what he knows.