Dedication
To Chris Young for his enthusiasm d love for film music and life. He is my inspiration. Without his insight, guidance, talent, and passion, my journey with this book would not have been.
I also want to dedicate this journey to my cousin Canaan. He is a warrior in heart and soul, fighting with the United States Special Forces with pride and glory. From the time we grew up together through today, he shows me the way. As my best friend and mentor, this is for you.
Foreword
Film music is an amazing thing. We are told that it was born out of necessity more than a hundred years ago to cover the racket of exposed projectors. And then, almost by accident, it was discovered that having music accompanying moving pictures made the audience connect emotionally to the images in ways they never had before. That’s when all the magic began. I do believe there’s nothing more rewarding for a film composer than watching someone cry to a scene that’s scored by his/her own music. Or laugh harder, or scream louder…
A film composer is no different from any other artist. In the final analysis, we all do it for love. We present our music to millions of viewers/listeners hoping desperately for a positive response. Unfortunately, all composers have to face the age-old dilemma of film music: At best, it plays third fiddle in the audio-visual experience. The picture comes first, the dialogue is second, and the perpetual battle between music and sound effects sits in the third position. But no one really listens, do they? Isn’t the best score one that goes by unrecognized? God forbid, no!
I think you will find Christian’s book is both as informative and, more importantly, as passionate as we film composers are ourselves about what we do. What makes this book unique is that it is written by someone who truly is madly in love with everything that pertains to music written for movies. This book is a testament of that affection, and its primary goal is to educate those who previously had no idea of what really goes on behind the scenes. He once told me that he lost his naïveté about film music while researching this book. I know now that he’s taken the journey, and he can never go back.
So, beware! You will never think of film music the same way again.
Your Friend,
Christopher Young
Preface
For as long as I can remember, music has been an integral part of my life. My enthusiasm for film music, however, did not begin until I encountered the film “The Prince of Tides”, with its score by James Newton Howard. Prior to this movie, I recall hearing John Williams’s music to “Indiana Jones” and “Star Wars” and humming his themes from them, as I did with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. But it took the strongly emotional score to “The Prince of Tides” to bring me to a true understanding of the marriage of music and film. This was a turning point in my musical life, and the music of James Newton Howard and Thomas Newman soon consumed my CD shelves, which Wagner and Berlioz had dominated before.
My passion for larger-than-life, richly-emotional film music, which has grown to be a major part of my life, drove me to develop this book with the hope that, through it, I might kindle a similar passion for this music in others. I hope that through my writing readers will discover a greater appreciation for film music when viewing movies or simply listening to the scores by themselves.
Too many filmgoers overlook the talent and craft involved in writing music for film. Too often, we fail to think about the emotions we experience when watching a movie – laughter, tears, and so on. Would our experience of films be the same without music? What role does music pay in the highly-collaborative filmmaking process?
Answers to these questions can be found in this book’s interviews, in which each interviewee shares stories and experiences and the crucial role music plays in a finished film. Through these stories, I hope that readers find the personalities behind the names we see credited on the screen and develop an understanding of these composers as important artists working within the excitingly collaborative medium of film.
With Inside Film Music, I also hope to build a stronger awareness in film-music fans of what actually goes on when a film is scored. Not too long ago, I visited websites and conversed with film music fans around the world about aspects of film music that I knew very little about. But I soon realized that, to evaluate a film score properly, one must try to learn all one can about the whole collaborative process from which it grew.
I am – and will always remain – a film music enthusiast and a loyal listener to the many composers who inspire me, but I don’t hear their music quite the same as I did before I undertook the writing of this book. And I hope that after reading it you will hear film music in a new way too.
I hope that this book also fills a need for those musicians who dream of making film music a career. Although the feature-film scoring environment is an extremely competitive and grueling one, as you will hear from the many professionals who discuss it in this book, I believe that if you have the desire and the willingness to pursue your dream (and a bit of talent certainly doesn’t hurt), you can do it. Learn what these masters of their art have done and follow in their footsteps.
Acknowledgements
My warmest thanks to Jeff Atmajian, Samantha Barker, Marilee Bradford, Cat Celebreeze, Holly Church, Ray Costa, Mychael Danna, Brad Dechter, Robert Elhia, Robert Folk, Alan Frey, Neil Kohan, Richard Kraft, Robin Phillips, Jeff Rona, Jeff Sanderson, Dawna Shinkle, Ryan Shore, Brian Tyler, Monique Ward, and Christopher Young, all of whom went well beyond the call of duty to help me. I’m deeply indebted to everyone interviewed in this book for freely giving me their time and insights. I also extend my thanks to the many wonderful composers whose schedules did not allow them to contribute to this book, which I might not be writing were it not for the inspiration of their scores. Thanks to Jim Fox and Gwen Feldman for helping my dream become a reality, and to Michael Schelle, whose book The Score truly inspired me.
I thank my dear friend Tom Kiefner who has been my strength. I owe so much to him for always listening, sharing music, and – most of all – being a true friend. And I thank everyone in my family: They stood by me, offering their own great excitement, through the completion of this project. I can’t thank them enough. Most of all, I thank my father, who is an artist, and who taught me to appreciate the finer aspects of life; to live with my heart and soul; and notice of the often-unnoticed inner beauty of life and music. I love you all for showing me the way. Last, but certainly not least, I thank my loving wife, who has in all ways contributed selflessly to the dream that this book has been for me.