The "Long Tail" and Film

The music industry has been gutted in the last 15 years. Much talk of the "Long Tail" has mostly centered around the music industry.

What's the Long Tail?
Forget squeezing millions from a few megahits at the top of the charts. The future of entertainment is in the millions of niche markets at the shallow end of the bitstream. Read the Wired article that started it all.

So what about film? It seems there is room for a "Long-Tail" approach to indie film. Perhaps with the recent announcements of video content from Google at CES and whatever is being announced this minute in San Francisco by Apple's CEO Steven P. Jobs will show the way. There's an awful lot of expectation from today's keynote presentation at MacWorld. I can't imagine anything can live up to the hype. But we'll see...

Multi-threaded stories

I saw the riveting film "Crash" the other day. Being part of the nominating committee for the Independent Spirit Awards, I'm racing through this years indie nominees. The writing is so well done connecting several threads effortlessly without any feeling of manipulation. The cast is superb and most playing against type. Sandra Bullock is angry the entire film which was for the most part believable. I still had a hard time with Brendan Fraser as the District Attorney. He carries all this character baggage with him and I kept expecting him to say a silly line.

The film is one of these multi-thread stories where everything's related and yet not. I think of it as the film equivalent of magic realism, that literary genre made famous by South Americans Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Isabel Allende, the Italian Italo Calvino and even some of Salman Rushdie. Filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu is famous for this technique best seen in his debut (!) "Amorres Perros" and then the Stateside produced "21 Grams." "9 Lives" by Rodrigo Garcia, (Garcia-Marquez' son), which is also nominated for an award, also plays with this world of magical connections.

Crash's score by Mark Isham feels like cool, papery, texture - like powder under your feet. It's like frost hanging in the air - which actually works well as the storyline involves Los Angeles on a day when it feels like snow. It never really moves much, but is perfect for what's happening on screen. Incidentally, it's all composed, performed and arranged by Isham whose previous work include's "Little Man Tate" and "Point Break."

And then I started to think about this word independent film. With such a mega-cast, special effects which include car chases, explosions and helicopter camera shots, how does the other independent filmmaker compete? Yes I know independent film means independent of the old studio system of Hollywood. But when many or most of these studios are just fully owned subsidiaries of the major studios, or have the same kind of muscle, then what's the difference?

Mozart's Skull

There was some hoopla on television last night with a live unveiling of results of a DNA test on the skull purported to be from that wunderkind. Turns out they were trying to match DNA with bones thought to be from his grandmother and niece. Turns out none of the bones are related in the family grave.

Sundance Grows in Brooklyn

Our home borough of the city of New York is in quite a renaissance period. Not only is there a boom going on in real estate, we've also got the best 5 star restaurants all on our own restaurant row of 5th Avenue. And... the Brooklyn Navy Yard's conversion into Hollywood East is really official now that the Mel Brooks remake of his own "The Producers" is out - having been shot at the new facilities.

And now, Robert Redford has come. Says Redford, "I love Manhattan, but Brooklyn has an edgier image that seemed very right for us in what we were doing and how we were developing." He announced a collaboration between Sundance Institute and the Brooklyn Academy of Music called "The Creative Latitude: Sundance Institute at BAM."
From Variety, Friday January 6, 2005.

None More Black.

"...how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black." - Nigel Tufnel, Spinal Tap

Yes, it has come. The none more black official 300 Monks Black Tee Shirt. Black is the new black and everyone who is powerful wears it. Now...you can too.

Amelie script

Today's Shooting People listed a link to a Amelie site complete with a transcript of the entire film by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

We'll talk specifically about the great music by Yann Tiersen in a future post.

And if you don't know about Shooting People, it's a great networking, information, help site for UK and NY filmmakers and screenwriters.

Analyzing Scores- Sweet Hereafter

I recently watched Atom Egoyan's haunting and achingly beautiful film "The Sweet Hereafter" with music by Mychael Danna.
Ever since becoming a father 3 years ago, I've had a hard time watching films where children get hurt or die. Yet, I still have to say this film is so well done, you must see it - and hear it. The score is great.

As an exercise, I often will analyze the music cues of a film to see the greater structure. Here's the first 12 cues and how I think it's being structured. The DVD is wonderful in that it has a separate music only soundtrack.






# Title/Type Description/Notes
1 Theme Opening titles to car wash
2 Daughter source phone booth urban
3 Theme Back in car wash
4 Daughter source phone booth urban
5 Sarah Polley's song County fair
6 Bus theme Persian, No one at the car wash, the bus Spooky/haunted
7 The town's theme Bear's family flashback Mournful, old World
8 Sarah Polley song 2 Sarah Polley on the bus, father following Youthful, hopeful, optimistic
9 Sarah Polley song 3 Following the bus - almost like it's on the radio
10 Bus Theme Foreshadowing Haunted
11 Town theme Lawyer comes to visit Bear's family Old world- the way it was
12 Bus theme/haunted theme Lawyer gets his way - runs to the car for contract/things are set in motion spooky/haunted

From the above, you start to see that there is a structure. Anytime the bus is shown or memories of the kids on the bus, you hear the haunting persian oboe theme. I feel the townspeople had a sort of theme that was very old world to show the clash of their values with the modern ruthless lawyer(Ian Holm) coming to "save" them. Anyway, if you have the DVD, check it out and let me know if you agree. I returned my Netflix copy before I had a chance to post any musical excerpts. So the music clips are courtesy of allmp3.com. Check out a trailer at FineLine's site.

The Study of Film Music

Peter Kaye, a composer and Phd candidate at Kingston University sent me the above chart.

He has also put together an excellent bibliography of books regarding our secret black art.

Munich

Went and saw Steven Spielberg's Munich last night. What an amazing film. John Williams score is dark, edgy and extremely effective. The masters are at work and deserves to be seen and discussed.

The film tells the story based on the real events of the terrorists kidnapping and killing of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Germany. Avner, the lead character played by Eric Bana is given a mission he cannot refuse even though he seems most unlikely to be successful at it. He's a sentimental family man with a baby on the way. His theme is stated in a solo acoustic guitar.

Throughout the film, Williams' score is poignant, stirring and even features an original arrangement of the Israeli national anthem. He uses some electronic drum loops as well which add dramatically to the tension in a key moment.
There are vocals by Lisbeth Scott which are very haunting, mournful and wailing as if keening.

The entire cast is great. It feels real and Geoffrey Rush is just great (as always) in his role at Bana's superior officer. Spielberg talks about this film as starting a dialog on the war on terror and not necessarily taking sides. There's an electrifying moment in the film where Avner, an Israeli and undercover, is speaking with a Palestinian in a stairwell. It's a private moment that really humanizes both sides of the conflict in the Middle East and perhaps all the conflicts in the world. There's no place like home.

Importance of Music in Film (more)

"I believe that music does more for your experience of the movie than we have any inkling [of]. It creates the atmosphere. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that in a novel, the atmosphere is created by narrative, by the narrative voice, and in film, the music is doing that. The voice of the director or the voice of the filmmakers comes out through the music. The music is telling you whether to find this happy, sad, neutral. The music is telling you what to feel. And if it’s out of sync, if it’s telling you, “Oh, this is a big, emotional moment,” and you’re looking at it and saying, “Yeah, I don’t buy this,” then it’s infuriating, and the audience is removed from the experience of the movie.

It’s such a fine-tuning of playing a dramatic moment. So, yeah, the process is just a lot, a lot of back-and-forth. And that’s an ongoing process—”How much do I leave her alone to come up with her own thing?” Because if I’m right in there in every little phase, then it kind of hampers her creativity. That’s the biggest decision for the director in relation to any other creative person: how much freedom do you give them so that they can really make it theirs? And then how much do you trample all over them?"
Patricia Rozema, Nov 8, 1999.

Sorry for the break

I've had some severe difficulties with my current internet provider (Time Warner Cable) so haven't been able to post lately.
It seems the more we become dependent on broadband for internet, telephone and entertainment, the worse the service.

Argh!

Importance of Music in Film

"Oh, it’s [music is] vital. If it’s right, it can do so many things for a film. And, and if it’s wrong, it can absolutely destroy a film. I’m sure we’ve all seen films where the music just kept you out of the movie, and—or made you feel that you were being manipulated so obviously that you refused to respond. And, and if that happens, you’re dead. Music...it’s a very...there really are no rules, in fact. But—and you can make up your use of music as you go along, or film by film. Even scene by scene, you know. Is the music there to accentuate something that’s already in the scene, or is it there to work in counterpoint against that? Or is it there to suggest something that’s going to happen that you wouldn’t know just from what’s on the screen? I mean, there are many, many things that you can do with music." - David Cronenberg

From a lecture at the Museum of the Moving Image in 1992.

Music Themes: Leitmotifs or One to Rule Them All?

In composing a film score, the composer needs to decide a conceptual and strategic approach. Should there be a musical theme for each main character or one theme for the entire piece?

Opera is the grand art that defined approaches of synchronization of music to image (and text and special effects and so much more). Richard Wagner's massive operatic works are most closely associated with this approach. His friend Hans von Wolzogen coined the phrase "Leitmotiv" (German: leading motive) to describe Wagner's approach.

Leitmotivs can be melodic, harmonic or rhythmic and are an emotional shorthand to the audience to signify or connect various scenes or characters in the picture.

Howard Shore's score to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy follows in this Wagnerian tradition and Shore composed 40-50 themes to be called upon again and again over the course of the 3 films.

Here's three examples of how the Shire theme is used in different ways. Notice how it always evokes the homeyness and longing for the place they call home:
The Shire
Bilbo
Frodo and Gandalf
Eric Rawlins has put together a comprehensive site on the Lord of the Ring's Score.

John William's has also effectively used this Wagnerian approach with the entire Star Wars franchise.

Contrast this approach with Tan Dun's hauntingly beautiful score to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Virtually every cue features the same main theme presented in different clothes depending on the scene. It's incredibly effective and the listener/viewer never seems to tire of it. This can be quite effective in shorts or one hour documentaries and the like where there is just not enough time to support a larger structure of themes.

Last chance to Party on the Cape

Just a reminder that our film "Mrs. Worthington's Party" is in it's final weekend of sneak previews on Cape Cod. It's getting amazing reviews and turnouts. In fact it's grossing higher than any other film in the country right now (if you count it on a per screen basis.) It's definitely family-friendly and a Christmas movie - so very appropriate for the season.

Here's a link to an article.
And to purchase tickets.

The James Bond Theme: Pure Bollywood?

This came from the New Kerala newspaper (yes India!)

James Bond music was originally composed for a Bollywood film
Composer Monty Norman revealed that he had composed the tune for a musical version of VS Naipauls novel ‘A House for Mr. Biswas, but the project fell through and he was hired to compose the music for 1961 bond film Dr. No.

"When I was approached to write the music to DR NO, I split up the notes and the tune took on a more sinister sound. The rest of the melody followed almost naturally,”

Like all artists, Composers borrow from everywhere - influences, temp tracks, rivals and even themselves.

And BTW, Kerala is a lovely place! Mmmm masala dosa...

Technology and Music for Film

Ooh...a sexy box of....software?


The onward march of technology continues with the new release of the Vienna Symphonic Library virtual instrument. One of the best sample libraries for orchestra, they've now made it easier to manage all the thousands of different articulations of each instrument by creating a software plug-in instrument. And it's only $11,000. Who needs an orchestra anymore? Well, not so fast.

For Independent Film, where budgets make an orchestra out of the question, this is wonderful.
Having this wonderful technology does enable a composer to work up excellent, final quality soundtracks.

However this does shift the time spent instead of composing to actually recording and producing these scores.

It's why a lot of the older generation of composers (before sequencers and computers and MIDI) have retained armies of orchestrators AND computer savvy tech guys who actually do the mock-ups before the final recording session with a real orchestra.

My process requires an upfront "creative, go in the cave time" where I spend time researching, wrestling with characters and concepts and strategies and then a demo period of writing quickly. The recording/production/mixing time gets very elongated the more complicated and bigger the sound palette as I have to play each part separately into the machine. However, having these excellent samples make it so much easier to convey to the director/producer what the intent is and whether it will work to picture.

And then we can either polish it for final or take it to the orchestra recording session.

Sound in the Picture - Actual Vs Commentary

The Greek word "Diegesis" means a recounted story. Oxford's English dictionary states "The narrative presented by a cinematographic film or literary work; the fictional time, place, characters, and events which constitute the universe of the narrative."

In other worlds, the world of your film. And in your world there are sounds of two types:

1. Diegetic
2. Non-Diegetic.

Diegetic is the sound that is meant to be from the actual scene happening on screen like character voices, elements in the picture (cars, traffic, birds, etc) and music from instruments played on screen or from a radio or television (also known as "source music"). This diegetic sound can be on or off screen though it is always meant to be actual sound. Of course, nowadays in post-production, most of this is either created entirely by a sound designer and or sweetened by the mixer.

Non-Diegetic is the sound of artistic license. It's the sounds of commentary, narration, sound effects and the music soundtrack. This is where many purists have claimed that the use of such non-diegetic sound is articifial and contrived. Danish filmmakers Lars Von Trier and Thomas Vinterburg's Dogma 95 states "The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being shot). " Of course Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark breaks these rules. Dogma 95 may be more of a publicity stunt like nailing your manifesto to the church doors. There is no question that music can heighten the mood, project emotions and stay ringing in your head as your leave the darkened theater to return to the reel, I mean real world. How effectively you use the music determines the level of "realism" and whether you even remember there was music in the scene.

What's a Cue Sheet?

Definition: Cue Sheet

A cue sheet is basically a list of all the music "cues" in a film along with their timings, their usage as in background, on-camera performance, etc and who are the creators and publishers and their affiliations with performing right organizations(PRO's). See here for more on PRO's.

Why is this so important?
This little piece of paper (or Excel document) basically ensures that the composer and publisher will get their share of royalties if the film is broadcast on television. In the US, it's mainly television. In other countries, composers and publishers do get paid for showings in cinemas as well.

Where does the money come from?
This money has been collected from all the broadcasters usually in the form of a blanket license.

It can be a very crucial income stream for your composer, so please do file these properly and timely if your project ever gets on air. Or ask your composer to do it for you - he or she will be happy to help.

More musicals on screen

Another musical has come to the screen by the hands of Chris Columbus, most known for Harry Potter 1 and 2 and Home Alone. I haven't seen RENT yet though am curious - especially since I hit the streets of New York City in the 80's as a young NYU student and Alphabet City was really scary then. Really! They filmed most of it in the Lower East Side though had to recreate one number in Oakland. Oakland as the East Village? Geez...

The soaring costs of music licensing

From yesterday's Hollywood Reporter.

"Fees for song usage range from $1,500-$15,000, with superstar tracks reaching up to $20,000-$25,000. That amount usually includes master rights for broadcast and most other media rights, with a time frame ranging from three years to perpetuity."

and

"Tracks by the Who and the O'Jays, used in the opening credits of CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and NBC's "The Apprentice," respectively, generate six-figure deals annually."