1 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:14,880 Nothing means anything until you have a 2 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:18,400 tune. And 3 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,279 a tune 4 00:00:21,279 --> 00:00:24,160 that's the job. You sit there in front 5 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,160 of the piano 6 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,160 and 7 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,960 there are 88 notes on that keyboard of 8 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,440 which only 11 9 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:35,440 mean something before they repeat in the 10 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:39,280 octave. And you know everybody else has 11 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,320 played those notes before and somehow 12 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:44,000 you have to figure out how to write 13 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,879 something original with it but at the 14 00:00:46,879 --> 00:00:48,800 same time not too original because it 15 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:50,640 has to be appropriate to the story. I 16 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:52,800 mean it's not I'm not doing concert 17 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:58,239 music. I am trying to be telling the 18 00:00:58,239 --> 00:01:00,320 parallel story that the filmmakers are 19 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:02,480 taking. So there's a there's there 20 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:04,400 restrictions 21 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:06,240 yet you're supposed to be completely 22 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:08,320 free. So they're contradictions in 23 00:01:08,320 --> 00:01:13,680 everything I do. Um a great example of 24 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:15,600 all of that is actually Beethovven's 25 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:17,759 fifth. Not that I'm comparing myself to 26 00:01:17,759 --> 00:01:21,920 Beethovven, but 27 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:23,920 every kid walked up to the piano and 28 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:27,040 gone da da da da. 29 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,799 But he knew somehow that out of those 30 00:01:30,799 --> 00:01:34,240 notes, you could go and build castles in 31 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:36,320 the sky that you could invent something. 32 00:01:36,320 --> 00:01:38,320 You could tell a story with those notes. 33 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:40,720 They're so simple. And that's what you 34 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,600 you you need to figure out how to how to 35 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:47,520 find the simplest thing to set the thing 36 00:01:47,520 --> 00:01:49,680 in motion. But you have to at the same 37 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,000 time and this is this is why I sit there 38 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:54,880 day in day out you know uh driving 39 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,439 myself crazy. You have to know, you have 40 00:01:57,439 --> 00:02:00,719 to make a decision that whatever those 41 00:02:00,719 --> 00:02:03,680 opening notes are, whatever the first 42 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:05,680 thing is that you have to say is 43 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:07,040 actually going to hold water, is 44 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,520 actually going to somehow take you 45 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,680 through this vast arc of a story. And 46 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:15,120 not halfway through the movie, you 47 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:17,760 suddenly go, you know something? 48 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:22,800 I can't I can't make these notes become 49 00:02:22,800 --> 00:02:26,400 mournful, happy, exciting, you know, all 50 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:29,040 the different personalities they need to 51 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:33,040 car uh take on, you know, and sometimes 52 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:34,400 you just have to kill your favorite 53 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:37,400 babies. 54 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:43,680 Even though you're trying to write from 55 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:46,879 inspiration, you're trying to be uh 56 00:02:46,879 --> 00:02:51,120 relatively practical that um 57 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,480 you know, one one of the things I don't 58 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,599 do is I don't use a lot of 59 00:02:57,599 --> 00:03:01,040 exuberant key changes in my music or 60 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,040 even if I do, I try to always come back 61 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,280 to my home key. Part of that is 62 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:11,840 practical. Um I like writing in 63 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,120 I like writing in D 64 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:16,720 and everybody thinks it's because I'm 65 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:19,120 lazy, which is true, but it's not the 66 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:21,680 reason I write in D. I write in D 67 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,680 because 68 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:28,800 in this modern day and age, 69 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,280 the bases can go down to C, which is 70 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:33,200 their open string, but they can't do 71 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,560 vibratto on the open string. So D is 72 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:38,159 actually a good note where they can 73 00:03:38,159 --> 00:03:40,560 still do a little bit of FB and it's 74 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:44,680 nice that if you go from 75 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,080 it's satisfying you know so if I have to 76 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,400 give you an answer if I have to complete 77 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:55,760 a phrase and I have to give you an 78 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:59,519 answer I like when it when it when it 79 00:03:59,519 --> 00:04:03,840 ends on a note that bases and telly and 80 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:06,159 violas us 81 00:04:06,159 --> 00:04:09,200 gay violence is a different matter 82 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:12,000 can land on in a satisfying way. You 83 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,560 know, at at least I set myself up to 84 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:16,799 have that possibility. The whole score 85 00:04:16,799 --> 00:04:18,320 might never do this and it might just 86 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:22,880 be, you know, up here. 87 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:24,800 But I don't know that at the beginning. 88 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,040 So, so if I pick something that gives me 89 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,120 the gives me the most freedom, the most 90 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:30,639 possibilities, 91 00:04:30,639 --> 00:04:32,800 I'm, 92 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,600 you know, I'm at least 93 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:40,040 starting on solid ground. 94 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,520 I think of everything. 95 00:04:49,199 --> 00:04:51,600 I mean look 96 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:53,759 you know let you know wherever my hand 97 00:04:53,759 --> 00:04:56,400 falls you know 98 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:58,479 is a question 99 00:04:58,479 --> 00:05:01,600 is an answer I mean it's just how I you 100 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:05,639 know I can make the question longer. 101 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,000 It's just I I I think there's a there's 102 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,240 a natural 103 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,479 way in music where you where you're 104 00:05:20,479 --> 00:05:23,280 basically having a conversation. Um or 105 00:05:23,280 --> 00:05:24,720 you want to have a conversation. 106 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:28,560 Sometimes you leave it um 107 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:32,000 leave it as a question 108 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:35,360 with another question 109 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:40,000 and then if you really want to 110 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,000 you know and I mean it's just you know 111 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:44,000 I'm I'm not writing anything. I'm just, 112 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,400 you know, it's just it's 113 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:50,560 and I stopped speaking because I feel 114 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,039 I'm having the conversation right now 115 00:05:53,039 --> 00:05:56,280 with you. 116 00:05:56,479 --> 00:05:58,800 Ooh, there's a bit of a dodgy question 117 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,800 here. 118 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,520 I'm being a bit confrontational. 119 00:06:12,479 --> 00:06:16,759 Then I can take the tension out, 120 00:06:17,199 --> 00:06:21,240 get happier about it 121 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:30,080 and kill you. 122 00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:35,520 So it's a language, you know. So, so 123 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:37,520 I don't know. I I just get I just 124 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:39,520 always, you know, I love thin red line 125 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:44,400 because um working with Tik Tok, 126 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:46,720 one of the things 127 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,440 he kept saying is is that the question 128 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:51,759 is more interesting than the answer. And 129 00:06:51,759 --> 00:06:53,840 the whole movie just ask questions. We 130 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:56,000 never answer anything, you know. It's 131 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:58,720 like it's sort of a bit it's a it's a 132 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:00,560 bit boring, you know. Usually the answer 133 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:04,160 is a bit mundane. So So to maintain the 134 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:05,840 tension, 135 00:07:05,840 --> 00:07:07,759 see if you can just raise the stake in 136 00:07:07,759 --> 00:07:09,520 the questions. 137 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:12,479 um 138 00:07:12,479 --> 00:07:14,479 you know if if it's a love story you 139 00:07:14,479 --> 00:07:17,520 know once she say you know once she says 140 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:19,120 yes 141 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:23,240 you know I'll marry you 142 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:26,560 we're done you know and and and and you 143 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:28,880 know yes some movies start at that point 144 00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:31,039 but you know it's it's but but very 145 00:07:31,039 --> 00:07:33,360 often the journey in this case is more 146 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:34,880 interesting the question is more 147 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,599 interesting so yes I do think these 148 00:07:37,599 --> 00:07:40,319 tunes now I don't think them through. I 149 00:07:40,319 --> 00:07:43,599 just naturally gravitate towards things 150 00:07:43,599 --> 00:07:47,840 which um ask questions. I think because 151 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:51,639 I think that's more interesting. 152 00:07:55,520 --> 00:07:59,280 You know, all music is made up out of 153 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:01,280 little fragments of ideas that you're 154 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:03,520 trying to make into a cohesive sentence. 155 00:08:03,520 --> 00:08:06,000 I mean, so I had my first two words, as 156 00:08:06,000 --> 00:08:09,160 it were. 157 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:12,639 And I knew it would work down there. And 158 00:08:12,639 --> 00:08:14,960 you have to sort of you have to test the 159 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,440 DNA very quickly. You know, you know, is 160 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:21,720 it adaptable? Can it become 161 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:28,639 what can it become? You know, and and 162 00:08:28,639 --> 00:08:31,680 and it's it's this thing. I mean, it is 163 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:33,200 actually sort of storytelling. I mean, 164 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:37,719 if you look at it as the 165 00:08:38,159 --> 00:08:41,680 That's the question. And then the 166 00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:45,800 uh what is it? Uh 167 00:08:47,360 --> 00:08:49,440 there's a half an answer which again 168 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:52,399 ends on a question. And so part of what 169 00:08:52,399 --> 00:08:54,320 you want to do, of course, in in all 170 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:57,279 movies is you it's it's it's like, you 171 00:08:57,279 --> 00:09:00,080 know, when you when you work on a love 172 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,839 story um or romantic movie, the the last 173 00:09:03,839 --> 00:09:06,160 thing you want to hear is them saying I 174 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:07,760 love you to each other. You know, that's 175 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:10,080 the part you want to postpone until the 176 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:14,080 very very last frame. Going back to the 177 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:16,000 I mean this you can't get any more 178 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:19,560 benile than 179 00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:23,920 Okay. So, I changed it a bit. I I made 180 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:27,080 it more 181 00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:30,880 just on purpose because it it felt felt 182 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:32,720 mean, you know? I wanted a bit of 183 00:09:32,720 --> 00:09:36,279 meanness in it. 184 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,040 The [ __ ] sort of a question is that, you 185 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:46,040 know? 186 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:48,880 So, so you know and there's a little 187 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,680 twinkle in it and the obstacles we can 188 00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:54,640 put in its way um are more interesting 189 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:57,200 and the you know the the crookedness we 190 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:00,480 can you know I mean so part of part of 191 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:03,040 what the what the tunes are trying to do 192 00:10:03,040 --> 00:10:04,640 what the tunes automatically are trying 193 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:07,600 to do is set up questions which are half 194 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:09,279 answered with another question at the 195 00:10:09,279 --> 00:10:11,440 end so that they can drive forward does 196 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:15,839 that make sense so just have a 197 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,720 little answer. 198 00:10:20,399 --> 00:10:22,399 There's a little flick of a question 199 00:10:22,399 --> 00:10:26,040 again at the end. 200 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:31,720 That's quite a strong answer. 201 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:46,560 This is just me seeing what happens if 202 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:48,560 you have it down an octave so it's a bit 203 00:10:48,560 --> 00:10:52,320 more spooky or or that it sits under 204 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:55,320 dialogue 205 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:08,240 and it's just I mean it's it's not even 206 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:10,079 much of a tune. It's just it's a it's a 207 00:11:10,079 --> 00:11:12,480 very efficient motif because it's short 208 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:15,519 and succinct and says a lot in four 209 00:11:15,519 --> 00:11:18,519 bars. 210 00:11:31,680 --> 00:11:34,640 Chris was being very specific about he 211 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:37,200 was being very unspecific in his 212 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:40,720 specificity by saying, "Hey, look, I'm 213 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:42,000 just going to give you this page, but 214 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:43,279 I'm not going to tell you what the movie 215 00:11:43,279 --> 00:11:49,279 is about." Um and he gave me 216 00:11:49,279 --> 00:11:52,480 this fable about what it means to be a 217 00:11:52,480 --> 00:11:58,160 father and you know um and 218 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:00,560 he cleverly 219 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:02,640 steered it in a way that I thought you 220 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:05,279 know that automatically made me think 221 00:12:05,279 --> 00:12:08,880 about my relationship with my son. Um, 222 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:11,519 so I wrote him this tiny 223 00:12:11,519 --> 00:12:13,519 very personal 224 00:12:13,519 --> 00:12:16,639 theme and then you know he told me you 225 00:12:16,639 --> 00:12:19,200 know the this is a movie about the 226 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,839 vastness of everything you know the 227 00:12:21,839 --> 00:12:24,000 expanse of the universe you know space 228 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,880 and science fiction etc and it's epic 229 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:28,959 and it's all these things but what he 230 00:12:28,959 --> 00:12:32,519 had was 231 00:12:45,519 --> 00:12:48,399 just a very simple, 232 00:12:48,399 --> 00:12:51,920 you know, just it's warm and it's small 233 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:56,800 and it's intimate and it meant 234 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,839 however it's easy to go big. It's easy 235 00:12:59,839 --> 00:13:01,760 to throw the kitchen sink in. It's easy 236 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:04,320 to It's easy to go and get a big church 237 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:08,399 or and make a hell of a racket. But but 238 00:13:08,399 --> 00:13:10,399 we knew we could always return to the 239 00:13:10,399 --> 00:13:12,639 heart of the story. You know, the heart 240 00:13:12,639 --> 00:13:14,959 of the story was I mean this tune 241 00:13:14,959 --> 00:13:17,440 couldn't be any simpler. 242 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:19,519 And the the great thing is if you start 243 00:13:19,519 --> 00:13:21,519 with something which is so simple and so 244 00:13:21,519 --> 00:13:24,880 small and so 245 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,040 you know just just a few notes in the 246 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:30,079 right order. I mean, 247 00:13:30,079 --> 00:13:32,000 I don't think there's this I think there 248 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:34,079 may be one or two tunes I've written 249 00:13:34,079 --> 00:13:36,160 that you can't actually just play with 250 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:39,399 one finger, 251 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:47,519 you know, the 252 00:13:47,519 --> 00:13:51,279 the simplicity of the material lets you 253 00:13:51,279 --> 00:13:54,000 then go and expand outwards, you know. 254 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:56,160 But if if the if the heart of it, if the 255 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:00,079 kernel of it is is intellectually tied, 256 00:14:00,079 --> 00:14:02,959 it's emotionally tied, you got 257 00:14:02,959 --> 00:14:06,399 something, you know, it's like um I mean 258 00:14:06,399 --> 00:14:08,720 I keep go I keep going to this, but you 259 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:10,240 know, 260 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:13,839 Beethoven's fifth, 261 00:14:13,839 --> 00:14:16,240 it's all in those two notes. It's all he 262 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:19,839 needed, you know, to go and then create 263 00:14:19,839 --> 00:14:23,600 a firework of amazing emotions, 264 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,560 orchestration, excitement, you know, 265 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,120 paos, whatever you whatever you want. 266 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:31,199 But, you know, know what you're talking 267 00:14:31,199 --> 00:14:34,079 about in in your theme. Know what you 268 00:14:34,079 --> 00:14:36,399 want to say. You got to be clear about 269 00:14:36,399 --> 00:14:39,519 that. It's very hard to to to write an 270 00:14:39,519 --> 00:14:42,320 instruction manual in music, you know, 271 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:45,680 or a dentistry course in music. It's the 272 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:47,600 It's not the appropriate language, but 273 00:14:47,600 --> 00:14:50,240 it's an appropriate language to express 274 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:54,399 um emotion. And I think that's all 275 00:14:54,399 --> 00:14:57,760 that's happened over the centuries that 276 00:14:57,760 --> 00:15:00,240 we are compelled to tell stories. We're 277 00:15:00,240 --> 00:15:01,839 compelled to make up stories. That's 278 00:15:01,839 --> 00:15:04,079 what film is about. That's, you know, 279 00:15:04,079 --> 00:15:07,519 we're we're compelled to tell the fable 280 00:15:07,519 --> 00:15:11,600 of our existence, of, you know, our 281 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:15,279 human journey or whatever. And I think 282 00:15:15,279 --> 00:15:18,399 when we run out of words and when we run 283 00:15:18,399 --> 00:15:21,199 out of beautiful pictures, 284 00:15:21,199 --> 00:15:24,720 we have to resort to this other language 285 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:26,800 called music. And I'm I'm not trying to 286 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:28,399 be profound and I'm not trying to do 287 00:15:28,399 --> 00:15:32,320 anything significant. But 288 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,199 you when you spend a little bit of time 289 00:15:35,199 --> 00:15:37,120 thinking about it, you can actually 290 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:38,880 express 291 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:42,480 some fairly good things about the human 292 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,519 condition in notes that you might not be 293 00:15:45,519 --> 00:15:49,600 able to express quite as brilliantly in 294 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:52,240 words.