1 00:00:06,319 --> 00:00:08,480 This is the only bit of masterclass 2 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:10,480 that's going to be important coming out 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,559 of my mouth. 4 00:00:12,559 --> 00:00:16,240 When you start on a project, you are 5 00:00:16,240 --> 00:00:19,279 working with the director. Everybody 6 00:00:19,279 --> 00:00:22,080 else is secondary noise. you and the 7 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:24,480 director make a pact that you're going 8 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:26,160 to do this movie together and you're 9 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,960 going to do your utmost and your best to 10 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:31,679 go and make his film great even if it 11 00:00:31,679 --> 00:00:35,760 means you have to kill him sometimes but 12 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:38,480 your allegiance 13 00:00:38,480 --> 00:00:42,640 is with the director and yes what the 14 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:44,640 producers say and what the studio says 15 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:46,879 and and they're great comments they're 16 00:00:46,879 --> 00:00:49,760 amazing comments usually and you have to 17 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:51,440 take them on board and You want to take 18 00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:53,199 them on board, but you have to filter 19 00:00:53,199 --> 00:00:58,800 them and transform them into is this 20 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:00,960 helpful to the film the director is 21 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:04,559 trying to make because 22 00:01:04,559 --> 00:01:07,280 I I don't know how else to do it. It's 23 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,200 films are not made by committee. Um, it 24 00:01:11,200 --> 00:01:15,840 seems like it sometimes, but 25 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:19,159 not really. 26 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,600 If you take Ron Howard, Ridley Scott, 27 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:28,159 Chris Nolan, and Terry Malik, I mean, 28 00:01:28,159 --> 00:01:30,880 there are directors that work in very 29 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:33,520 different styles, but really at the end 30 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:35,759 at the end of the day, we've all come 31 00:01:35,759 --> 00:01:37,680 together at the same sort of place. I 32 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:41,119 have to get into his head and 33 00:01:41,119 --> 00:01:42,479 you know and that's part of the process 34 00:01:42,479 --> 00:01:43,840 because what I want to do is I want to 35 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:45,520 make the movie that he wants to make. 36 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:47,600 That's what what I signed on for you 37 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,000 know I want to have a bit of his vision. 38 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,280 So I work I work really very hard at 39 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:55,040 trying to understand and and have 40 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,119 conversations about 41 00:01:57,119 --> 00:01:59,119 what this movie is about. And the of 42 00:01:59,119 --> 00:02:00,479 course the weird thing is that we don't 43 00:02:00,479 --> 00:02:02,000 really talk about the movie. We talk 44 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:04,159 about everything else. we're trying to 45 00:02:04,159 --> 00:02:07,040 sort of sneak up on the subject because 46 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,160 ultimately he has to hand over the job 47 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,200 of directing in a funny way to me. 48 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:16,000 Um, and 49 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:18,000 the the best directors and you know the 50 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:20,239 the the people I work with time and time 51 00:02:20,239 --> 00:02:24,080 again, I mean, they do it with um 52 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:25,680 they they sort of hand it over with 53 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:27,680 great joy. You know, they get excited 54 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:29,520 about something new coming, you know, 55 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,160 somebody new coming into the party. you 56 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:34,000 know, with Terry Malik. I mean, I spent 57 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,160 a year before Terry went off to shoot 58 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:38,400 Thin Red Line, we were we were we're 59 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:39,760 just talking about art. We were talking 60 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:41,360 about philosophy. We were talking about 61 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,080 paintings. Um, the thing we sort of 62 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:46,319 agreed on really early on, I had read 63 00:02:46,319 --> 00:02:48,800 the script and it was 64 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,599 it was 198 pages, which is a lot of 65 00:02:51,599 --> 00:02:54,400 script. So, so, so I said to him, Terry, 66 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:55,840 you know, might it not be a really good 67 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,000 idea if we never talked about the script 68 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,480 anymore? We just talked about what we 69 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:02,400 want to do with this script. What you 70 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:04,239 know what's the subtext? What are the 71 00:03:04,239 --> 00:03:07,840 other things we want to do? And we we 72 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,000 go we talked a you know it was a 73 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:11,920 year-long conversation. We talked a lot 74 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:15,280 about um 75 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:16,800 church paintings you know the way the 76 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:19,360 light you know in Baroque painting you 77 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:21,680 know hits through the cloud you know 78 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:24,800 that you know that ray of light. I mean, 79 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:26,720 and I I think I think that's really what 80 00:03:26,720 --> 00:03:28,400 those conversations are, and that's what 81 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:30,720 all those directors have in common, that 82 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:32,959 the the conversation is one where we're 83 00:03:32,959 --> 00:03:34,640 trying to learn from each other, and 84 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:36,239 we're trying to learn from the movie. 85 00:03:36,239 --> 00:03:39,760 We're trying to get the movie to tell us 86 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:43,480 how to make it. 87 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:49,200 There are certain questions you don't 88 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:50,560 ask the director and you ask the 89 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:53,599 producer like um so uh we just had this 90 00:03:53,599 --> 00:03:55,760 conversation which involved the largest 91 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:57,920 symphony orchestra and three choirs 92 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:01,120 working for you know 7 weeks um what's 93 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:03,680 our budget on this oh it's only one day 94 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:06,319 of a string quartet okay fine good that 95 00:04:06,319 --> 00:04:08,400 I know that now because you don't want 96 00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:12,000 to go and narrow the director's dreams 97 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:14,080 by asking some of those hardcore 98 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:15,920 questions. Just like he doesn't want to 99 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:18,320 go and stop me by going, you know 100 00:04:18,320 --> 00:04:20,639 something, we're basically some 101 00:04:20,639 --> 00:04:23,120 miserable little lowbudget production 102 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:25,520 with with a lack of imagination. Our 103 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:27,919 producer is terrible. The studio doesn't 104 00:04:27,919 --> 00:04:30,000 care about us, but you know, can you 105 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:32,800 just crank something out? Um, so that's 106 00:04:32,800 --> 00:04:35,199 not the conversation to have. So reality 107 00:04:35,199 --> 00:04:40,720 is um reality is the enemy of um 108 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,000 you know of imagination or of you know 109 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:47,680 the dream we have. I mean here's the 110 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,400 thing nobody sets out to make a bad 111 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,120 movie. You know some movies it doesn't 112 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:54,800 matter how much talent and how many 113 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,840 talented people are involved in it. uh 114 00:04:57,840 --> 00:05:00,080 you know they just derail themselves a 115 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:02,240 bit because once once you're working 116 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:05,680 once the movie is you know what once 117 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:08,080 you're on that first day of shooting it 118 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:10,400 just propels itself forward and you just 119 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:15,160 hang on for dear life most of the time 120 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:20,639 everybody still has this image of the 121 00:05:20,639 --> 00:05:23,120 film composer who's waiting for the film 122 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:25,360 to be shot and then the director invites 123 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:27,440 him into a screening room and shows him 124 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:31,039 his masterpiece and they discuss music. 125 00:05:31,039 --> 00:05:34,160 That was before we got all digital and 126 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:36,560 all fancy and everybody can go and cut a 127 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:40,000 movie basically on an iPhone. Um 128 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:43,120 so the idea that you have a finished 129 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,080 picture that you can work with has gone. 130 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,919 Um and the whole mechanisms of how we 131 00:05:49,919 --> 00:05:52,320 work has been turned around and actually 132 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:54,880 I think to to an advantage where 133 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,840 suddenly you get to collaborate before 134 00:05:57,840 --> 00:06:00,400 the movie is even made. For instance on 135 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:03,199 on both Rush and Frost Nixon with Ron 136 00:06:03,199 --> 00:06:05,919 Howard. I mean, it originally started, 137 00:06:05,919 --> 00:06:07,600 we were supposed to be talking about 138 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:09,440 songs that we might have in the movie 139 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:12,000 before he went to shoot the movie. And 140 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,080 it turned into two weeks of us actually 141 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,800 talking about 142 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,840 what the music can do with some of these 143 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:22,800 shots. And it was actually really 144 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:25,199 exciting 145 00:06:25,199 --> 00:06:27,680 seeing shots come in on dailies that 146 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:29,199 actually were informed by this 147 00:06:29,199 --> 00:06:31,039 conversation about the music. It was on 148 00:06:31,039 --> 00:06:32,639 the one hand it exciting and on the 149 00:06:32,639 --> 00:06:34,160 other hand it was terrifying because now 150 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:36,560 I had to actually deliver on this you 151 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,440 know the grand idea you know oh I can do 152 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,639 this with this shot you know um 153 00:06:42,639 --> 00:06:44,479 so 154 00:06:44,479 --> 00:06:46,800 the the the the whole mechanism of film 155 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:48,720 making and film composing has shifted 156 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:51,840 because of the way we edit things and 157 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:53,759 that the idea of a locked picture and 158 00:06:53,759 --> 00:06:57,120 the 12 you have at the end has changed I 159 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:00,080 mean we we we work hand in hand in tand 160 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:02,639 and they're cutting picture. I'm writing 161 00:07:02,639 --> 00:07:04,960 music. I get to head in in that 162 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:07,120 direction 163 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:09,599 autonomously with an autonomous voice 164 00:07:09,599 --> 00:07:11,280 because otherwise they would be doing it 165 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:13,120 themselves, you know. So, that's the 166 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:14,800 thing that that's that's the thing 167 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:16,720 you're always hoping for. That's the 168 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,400 thing that you're aiming for. Um 169 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:22,080 that you're adding something to the 170 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:26,199 conversation that wasn't there before. 171 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:31,440 You know, I I know a couple of directors 172 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,280 who go, you know, sometimes it's quite 173 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:34,720 nice, you know, after everybody's asked 174 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:36,800 me a thousand questions, I put the 175 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:38,960 headphones on and I get a bit of zmer, 176 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:40,560 you know, it's like I'm not it's not 177 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,199 like I'm answering a question, but I 178 00:07:43,199 --> 00:07:45,680 reset the mood because there's a mood in 179 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:47,919 the piece or there's a mood in the 180 00:07:47,919 --> 00:07:52,639 writing that just informs the way things 181 00:07:52,639 --> 00:07:54,160 can happen, you know? I'm not I'm I'm 182 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,199 I'm not trying to 183 00:07:57,199 --> 00:07:59,440 make more of the contribution than just 184 00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:02,319 it's just a a reflection. It's just a 185 00:08:02,319 --> 00:08:03,919 shadow falling across the light 186 00:08:03,919 --> 00:08:06,160 sometimes that informs things in a 187 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:10,879 certain way. Um I work away from picture 188 00:08:10,879 --> 00:08:13,280 but at the same time I've seen the 189 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:17,360 drawings, I've spoken to the DP, 190 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:19,520 you know, I've by now read the script. 191 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:21,520 And I sort of know where we're heading, 192 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:25,520 but the timeline has shifted of how we 193 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,960 make movies, how the music becomes part 194 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,680 of it. And 195 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:33,440 you know, more than one director I work 196 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:35,039 with, you know, I mean, I I I really 197 00:08:35,039 --> 00:08:37,519 learned this from Peter Wea who told me 198 00:08:37,519 --> 00:08:39,519 that he used to always play music on the 199 00:08:39,519 --> 00:08:42,800 set and always play music to his actors. 200 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,640 It sets the mood into a certain tempo. 201 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,120 Peter sort of got me into this idea that 202 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:50,640 it's actually quite nice to have music 203 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:53,920 early so that he can play it on the set. 204 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:55,839 And for instance, the way I work with 205 00:08:55,839 --> 00:08:58,800 Ron Howard is we, 206 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:00,480 you know, Frost Nixon, for instance, we 207 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:04,399 met for two weeks before he even shot a 208 00:09:04,399 --> 00:09:07,040 single frame. um we're just talking 209 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:08,959 about the music and we were coming up 210 00:09:08,959 --> 00:09:10,800 with things and and and it sort of 211 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,040 informs the way the way he gets to make 212 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,040 the picture even though he's the 213 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:16,480 director and he knows what he wants to 214 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,760 do and it's quite nice sometimes to be 215 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:22,399 able to just put a set of headphones on 216 00:09:22,399 --> 00:09:25,360 and go, "Oh, what was that crazy little 217 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:29,519 thing Hans was trying to work on." Um 218 00:09:29,519 --> 00:09:32,000 it's nice if if a little of that turns 219 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,320 up on the set and it influences things a 220 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:36,880 little bit.