1 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,080 First of all, you go and look at the 2 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,640 whole, you know, what is the whole 3 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:18,320 movie? What are we trying to say here? 4 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:20,240 What and and what is the style that 5 00:00:20,240 --> 00:00:22,560 seems appropriate to tell this story? 6 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:24,160 And what are the instruments that are 7 00:00:24,160 --> 00:00:26,000 appropriate to tell this story? Okay, 8 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,800 now we got this big arc. Okay, now we're 9 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:30,560 starting to move in, you know, is there 10 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:32,719 something between act one, two, and 11 00:00:32,719 --> 00:00:34,239 three. Is there something we want to do 12 00:00:34,239 --> 00:00:36,480 different in act three? I mean, I I have 13 00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:39,680 this habit of setting up all these 14 00:00:39,680 --> 00:00:41,520 themes that you think are going to pay 15 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:43,280 off in act three. And then I always 16 00:00:43,280 --> 00:00:45,280 think there's a moment that triggers act 17 00:00:45,280 --> 00:00:47,840 three, but where where the thing happens 18 00:00:47,840 --> 00:00:53,760 that um you know, gladiator um Cometus 19 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:55,520 finds out that his sister has been 20 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,160 betraying him, you know. Um, so rather 21 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,640 than going and now all these themes are 22 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:02,640 going to pay off nicely, I just go and 23 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:04,799 whack in something a completely new 24 00:01:04,799 --> 00:01:07,520 theme because it's like, 25 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:09,280 you know, all bets are off. Everything 26 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:11,280 has shifted. The relationship between 27 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:13,119 the characters have shifted. So I just 28 00:01:13,119 --> 00:01:15,360 go 29 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,720 out of nearly nowhere, you know, unleash 30 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:21,200 something completely completely new and 31 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,560 completely fresh. But it's you start you 32 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:27,040 start and you start going down, you 33 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:29,119 know, into the scene, into the dialogue, 34 00:01:29,119 --> 00:01:32,560 into the uh into the color 35 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:34,479 that you want to use you, you know, 36 00:01:34,479 --> 00:01:37,439 because here's the thing. 37 00:01:37,439 --> 00:01:40,880 If you suddenly stop forward momentum 38 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:43,360 because there's a dialogue scene, how 39 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:45,280 does it affect the rhythm of the whole 40 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:47,200 movie? If you're doing these, you know, 41 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:48,960 it's like being a bad driver who's 42 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:50,880 forever like on the gas and then coming 43 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:53,439 off the gas. I'm sure you've driven with 44 00:01:53,439 --> 00:01:55,200 people like this. You want to smack 45 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,320 them, right? Um, so don't be that 46 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,960 driver. Figure out how to how to keep 47 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:05,079 the forward momentum going. 48 00:02:09,039 --> 00:02:11,680 Making a movie is a 49 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:14,560 complicated human exercise because 50 00:02:14,560 --> 00:02:17,200 basically what you're dealing with is 51 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:19,520 you're dealing 52 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:23,040 with only insecure people at their most 53 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:24,720 insecure. 54 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:26,400 Um, 55 00:02:26,400 --> 00:02:28,319 everybody's 56 00:02:28,319 --> 00:02:31,280 worried that what they're doing isn't 57 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:34,000 the greatest thing in the world. And 58 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:36,160 quite honestly, it never is. you know, 59 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:37,680 otherwise we wouldn't need to make 60 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:39,599 another movie if the perfect movie had 61 00:02:39,599 --> 00:02:42,800 already been made. So, in this 62 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:45,760 environment of total insecurity, 63 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,080 sometimes it's really hard to say, you 64 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:49,760 know something, we don't need music 65 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:51,920 here. This scene is perfectly fine. You 66 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:54,400 know, the dialogue is sparkling because 67 00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:57,760 the this the writer is going to think, 68 00:02:57,760 --> 00:02:59,760 well, if I could have only had another 69 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:01,519 seven years, I could have written this 70 00:03:01,519 --> 00:03:04,239 line better. The director is thinking, 71 00:03:04,239 --> 00:03:06,640 "If I had had a better actor, it could 72 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:08,400 have been delivered better." And the 73 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:10,000 actor, of course, is thinking, "If I had 74 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:12,560 had a decent director, you know, I could 75 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:14,080 have done a better performance." And 76 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,080 then the, you know, and everybody is 77 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:17,840 blaming the cameraman and the sound 78 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,200 recorders because it's too dark. Um, and 79 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:22,720 because they're feeling insecure about 80 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,120 the scene, they're turning to the last 81 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,200 man standing, that's the composer, and 82 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:29,040 they're going, "You know, this scene 83 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:30,879 needs a bit of help. Can we can you go 84 00:03:30,879 --> 00:03:33,519 and put some music underneath it to make 85 00:03:33,519 --> 00:03:36,239 it at least entertaining or something or 86 00:03:36,239 --> 00:03:37,760 the other or we need more attention or 87 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,400 we didn't quite get the we didn't get 88 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:42,080 the passion or we didn't get the 89 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:44,080 whatever it is that they feel they 90 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:46,400 didn't get. And part of your job is to 91 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,280 say, you know something, it's all there. 92 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:51,519 It's right there on the screen. It's 93 00:03:51,519 --> 00:03:53,440 beautifully shot, beautifully acted, and 94 00:03:53,440 --> 00:03:55,519 I've never heard sound recorded in this 95 00:03:55,519 --> 00:03:58,560 way and as as beautiful and and make 96 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:00,959 everybody feel secure enough to say, 97 00:04:00,959 --> 00:04:06,200 "Okay, good idea. No music." 98 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:12,720 One of the first things I learned is 99 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:15,920 just because you can hit the cut doesn't 100 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:19,600 mean you should. Um, 101 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,800 for instance, the 102 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:25,600 the the ear sort of ahead of the eye in 103 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:27,040 a funny way, especially if you're on a 104 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:29,040 big screen and you're looking, it takes 105 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:31,600 your eye a long time to travel across a 106 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:33,199 screen to see everything and take 107 00:04:33,199 --> 00:04:36,479 everything in. So, it's quite nice 108 00:04:36,479 --> 00:04:39,199 usually to be a little after the cut or 109 00:04:39,199 --> 00:04:42,080 after the event or then depending on how 110 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:46,000 much you want to give the audience an 111 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:47,840 emotional breathing room, you know, you 112 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:50,320 can be later and later and and make a 113 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,000 reaction. But what's fun in when I get 114 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:57,759 naughty and I do really hardcore action 115 00:04:57,759 --> 00:05:00,479 stuff, I actually make the event happen 116 00:05:00,479 --> 00:05:04,800 one frame ahead of you seeing it. And it 117 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:07,600 really you don't you don't quite know 118 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:10,320 what I'm doing but it certainly scares 119 00:05:10,320 --> 00:05:11,840 the be Jesus out of you. I mean 120 00:05:11,840 --> 00:05:13,759 Blackhawk Down is all done like that 121 00:05:13,759 --> 00:05:16,240 where you know because I come from a 122 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:18,479 super pacifist family so I had no 123 00:05:18,479 --> 00:05:21,039 experience of what soldiers go through. 124 00:05:21,039 --> 00:05:24,160 So to figure out whenever I got lost 125 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,840 because I could I got the real rangers, 126 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:29,440 the real soldiers from this battle in 127 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:31,520 Madishu to come in and start talking to 128 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:33,440 me about what their experiences were 129 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,520 like. And this whole idea that a bullet 130 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,400 just comes out of no, an event comes out 131 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:42,720 of nowhere and there's nothing that 132 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:48,639 prepares you for it. Um, so rather than 133 00:05:48,639 --> 00:05:50,880 me knowing it's going to happen and 134 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:53,039 notating it on paper and therefore the 135 00:05:53,039 --> 00:05:55,600 musicians looking ahead and knowing, oh, 136 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:57,680 at this point they're going to go and 137 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:00,880 make a big bang. I would constantly 138 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:02,720 write these scenes which would sort of 139 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:04,720 be an overlap into the next thing and 140 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:06,720 then I would make the event a separate 141 00:06:06,720 --> 00:06:10,560 recording and just cut it hard because I 142 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,520 think we are so the the ear is so 143 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:16,080 sensitive that you can you can tell the 144 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:18,160 shift in attitude of the musicians of 145 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,000 just getting ready that they have to 146 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:24,240 play a loud note and by taking that out 147 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:26,960 of the composition literally 148 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:29,600 um things come as a surprise. eyes to 149 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,600 you. 150 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,199 This is at least how I see it. And 151 00:06:39,199 --> 00:06:41,280 maybe I'm completely wrong, but I keep 152 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:43,120 thinking 153 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,479 the purpose of film music 154 00:06:46,479 --> 00:06:49,520 is very simple. 155 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,880 You invite the audience in and you say 156 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:55,360 to them, I give you the opportunity to 157 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:57,360 feel something. I'm not going to tell 158 00:06:57,360 --> 00:06:59,039 you what to feel. That would be 159 00:06:59,039 --> 00:07:02,240 patronizing and horrible. But just the 160 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,160 simple fact that there's a single note 161 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:06,400 going on 162 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:09,280 should just open a little door that lets 163 00:07:09,280 --> 00:07:11,919 you in and you get to complete the tune 164 00:07:11,919 --> 00:07:14,160 in a funny way. You as the audience get 165 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:16,080 to complete the emotion. You get to go 166 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:20,160 and complete the journey. And so yeah, 167 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:21,919 it's about, you know, very often it's 168 00:07:21,919 --> 00:07:25,199 about getting rid of things. It's it's 169 00:07:25,199 --> 00:07:29,120 um that idea of Mickey mousing of of 170 00:07:29,120 --> 00:07:31,840 imitating action which happens easily. 171 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:33,199 You know, sometimes it's a good thing to 172 00:07:33,199 --> 00:07:36,639 do, but knowing when not to do it. Um 173 00:07:36,639 --> 00:07:38,720 knowing how to react to something. 174 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:40,560 Sometimes it takes the audience a moment 175 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:44,080 or two to catch up with what's going on. 176 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:47,360 You know, give them that moment. Let 177 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,520 them figure it out. You know, don't dot 178 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:53,919 all the eyes and cross all the tees. 179 00:07:53,919 --> 00:07:56,240 Leave some of it 180 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:58,879 open. 181 00:07:58,879 --> 00:08:02,080 Treat your audience as intelligent human 182 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:04,720 beings that have their autonomous 183 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:08,000 emotions and just for a moment provide 184 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:12,199 the opportunity to feel something. 185 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:18,240 Inception was a sort of a a a different 186 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:21,639 problem whereby 187 00:08:23,440 --> 00:08:26,400 it was potentially a complicated story 188 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:28,319 and it was potentially a story where the 189 00:08:28,319 --> 00:08:29,919 audience would go, "Go, I don't get 190 00:08:29,919 --> 00:08:32,479 this. I'm I'm out of here." You know? 191 00:08:32,479 --> 00:08:36,560 Um, and I thought if we just set this up 192 00:08:36,560 --> 00:08:38,240 right from the beginning that the music 193 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,680 is interesting and a little provocative 194 00:08:41,680 --> 00:08:44,399 and a little different, but it's like a 195 00:08:44,399 --> 00:08:45,760 it's like, you know, I kept saying to 196 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:47,200 Chris, it's it's it's just going to be 197 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:49,279 like a river. I'm not going to hit all 198 00:08:49,279 --> 00:08:52,000 those cuts and everything like this. Uh, 199 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:53,839 and I'm not going to be quiet under 200 00:08:53,839 --> 00:08:57,519 dialogue either, but it's like if right 201 00:08:57,519 --> 00:08:59,680 away we say to the audience, this is 202 00:08:59,680 --> 00:09:01,680 going to be different, but come along on 203 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:04,480 this journey, you know, and pretend the 204 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:06,399 music is this river and you guys are in 205 00:09:06,399 --> 00:09:08,720 this boat, little boat, and you're 206 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:10,320 boopping down the river. And sometimes 207 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:11,760 it's going to get a little quiet, and 208 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:13,120 maybe it's going to get even a little 209 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:14,720 boring, and then sometimes it's going to 210 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:16,800 get a little exciting, but just trust 211 00:09:16,800 --> 00:09:18,320 the river is going to take you to the 212 00:09:18,320 --> 00:09:19,839 end of it, and it's going to be an 213 00:09:19,839 --> 00:09:22,560 interesting journey. You know, the the 214 00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:24,959 the most I can promise you is that it's 215 00:09:24,959 --> 00:09:26,560 going to be an interesting journey. I'm 216 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:28,720 not going to go and promise you anything 217 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,760 else, but I'm going to carry you along. 218 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:34,000 And if you don't understand everything, 219 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:35,839 that's okay, too. At least it was an 220 00:09:35,839 --> 00:09:37,279 interesting journey. You don't have to, 221 00:09:37,279 --> 00:09:40,000 you know, um, you know, when when you go 222 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:41,600 to foreign places where you don't speak 223 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:43,360 the language, it's all right if you 224 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,360 don't understand the words. It can still 225 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,959 be interesting and entertaining and an 226 00:09:48,959 --> 00:09:51,200 experience.