Love is in the Airwaves: Great Partnerships in Film
Love is in the Airwaves:
Great Partnerships in Film
“Hitchcock only finishes a picture 60 per cent, I have to finish it for him.
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It’s Valentine’s day this week and love is in the airwaves! It got me thinking about the professional relationships that develop between the collaboration between directors and composers.
Times have changed from the days of a clunky cinema organ reciting sketchy mood music, or a small orchestra which was…trying it’s best. In early film, sound tracking was admittedly a bit tumultuous it's early years in film through the 1920’s - 1930’s. Fast forward almost 100 years, and there is a slick, driven and highly competitive industry for scoring. However, the downside with this climate has resulted in an industry that favours the efficiency and effectiveness of a comfortable working relationship, than that of a newly formed one.
Alfred Hitchcock & Bernard Hermann, 1960
The concept of orchestral based soundtracks stems from traditional European composers who immigrated to America during the Golden Age of film. The so-called grand-father of modern film scoring, Max Steiner, pioneered a symphonic style soon to become synonymous with the cinematic soundtrack. From King Kong (1933) to Gone with the Wind (1940) of which he wrote 11 other scores this year). He was one of the first to introduce techniques that would establish connections between musical technique and character narrative. By folding in themes and variation, thematic development or leitmotivs, he gave film scoring the fundamental basis of what it was to go on to become.
“It can be different in different films, but in general the score helps to set the tone, style and period of the story - and when moments become emotional, it allows the audience to feel them as completely as possible.”
One luxury that can’t be afforded however, is time. In our busy, quick turnaround industry, contemporary film composers need be able to work fast. Very fast. Ideally, you would be working alongside a team that would collaborate with. Nowadays, the aged idea of the tortured genius is reserved for anyone looking to explore their own ego and share it online. The film industry is industrious, and there isn’t much of a difference when it boils down to the musical side of production either.
Bearing this in mind, I can’t help but be curious about the working relationships of filmmaking partners like; John Williams and Steven Spielberg, Bernard Hermann and Alfred Hitchcock, Tim Burton and Danny Elfman, Howard Shore and David Cronenberg, Hans Zimmer and Chris Nolan, Paul Thomas Anderson and Jonny Greenwood, David Fincher and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Denis Villeneuve and the late Johan Johansson, Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone, Sergei Prokofiev and Sergei Eisenstein, to name a few.
Historically speaking, it’s not uncommon for a successful partnership to continue a working relationship. It centres around trust, trust that the composer shares the vision, works to the deadline and will still produce and excellent piece of work. When this has been established, the relationship begins to benefit each other and work in their favours.
Danny Elfman & Tim Burton, 2014
One of the most interesting elements of these partnerships is the eventual graduation, of sorts, for the composers to become co-authors of the story or overall narrative. A position reached with only great trust in the other with an opened to explore unchartered territory. Although, there are often so many moving parts to a project that often there will be several people working on and editing the same the piece of music at the same time, even the same extract.
The key relationship for the composer is with the director, and generally speaking should establish the composer as a co-author in the early stages of a project. This osmosis is the important glue that holds the backbone of the film together.
“Scoring for the movies is like getting a passport to freedom. It’s a cooperative effort that counters the self-absorption that can occur when one creates alone.”
Considering the history of film composition, it’s no wonder that film makers generally tend to return to composers they have used before (I mention this disparage in my previous blog, which you can read here). With high stakes, high demand and a tight deadline, it’s much more beneficial for a composer to seek the experience of someone they know can deliver the task on time, semantically speaking.
On a more intimate level, the relationship that is nourished through trust and openness can lead a vastly more mature, creatively explored work. Ultimately, the soundtrack is the sonic story. The sonic story describes the narrative with an extra dimensionality that can’t be replicated in any other aspect of the filmmaking process. It is also vital for the overall importance of the film itself - acting as a sort of auditory glue.
So with such an integral aspect to a film, the relationship that is bridged must be a good one. Where each can trust the other to follow the common pursuit without compromising the artistic vision or creative output. It may not always be the case though, as many relationships either break down, end with a bang or not even formulate at all. For those that don’t though, it will always be an up and down journey, even Spielberg, who upon hearing Williams play piano for the Jaws theme, he laughed in his face. Claiming,
“‘Well, that isn’t going to do it’. ”
I should say that I approach this topic as objectively as I can, but with a smidge of bias towards the composer. That is to say, I believe that all parts of departmental production is just as valid and appropriate as the next. However, the director and composer are in a lot of senses the master of their domains, visual and audio, respectively. It is the importance stressed on these senses that almost forces the growth of communication and collaboration.
It’s more beneficial for a director to hire someone they know can provide a score of high quality, while they can flex their creative muscles in safety. There is a hierarchy of sorts involved, where regardless, when you have a completed score that has been agreed upon, it will be up to the director to decide how to best use it in the film. It’s important to remember as a composer, that it doesn’t require you to be an artist, or creatively thinking _all_ the time. More like a dramatist, using musical tools to emphasise and underscore the narrative.
Elmer Bernstein said that Scorsese was his choice of director stating that, ‘He has respect for other artists’. Maybe that’s all that it boils down to, respecting other artists and their interpretation and influence over a project. A good relationship with a director will allow one to take into consideration expressing themselves as author. John Williams stands as the most typical example of an author when it comes to music writing.
To elevate both the score and the film itself, it’s important to look after your working relationships. It enables each party to see the other’s role, more importantly a good relationship will encourage more freedom of expression and creative flare, perpendicularly elevating the score, tuning into the authorship of the composer in the suturing process.
The composer is usually the closest collaborator, the second voice in the film, along with the actors. It has a similar ability to breathe life into a film, as Tony Scott said,
“Music and image are equally important. If one side fails or one misses, the other side suffers.”
Directors may use a composer’s abilities to highlight particular elements of a film, for example to underscore the mood for the film, or scene. Highlight a specific emotional arc, or character arc, or even just as a tool for pacing or adornment. It is an invisible guider, helping you navigate the emotional landscape of the film.