Jump to content

Thomas Newman's SPECTRE


Sharkissimo

Recommended Posts

That's a silly thing to think.

Based on most on Hans Zimmer's output since 2009, I don't think it's unreasonable :)

It is.

In what way? I'm genuinely curious to know. Each to their own, but I'm just not a big fan of his any more. I reckon he could write a decent Bond song though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Hans would be perfect for Bond. On that note. I'd like to a quote an old post on a Bond forum written after the release of Inception. The poster was from the academic world so his language unfortunately reflects that, but I thought what he had to say was spot on.

It may be obvious, maybe not, but what Hans Zimmer achieved with Inception's score -- very Nolan, a driving, electronic-symphonic structure that largely complement each other, as well as cues that quite literally recall great Bond tracks in short-hand; the ability, then, to capture tone and thematic arc through setting-as-psychology, the exotic scale and insular, hidden pieces that are underscored by that score's ability to balance intimacy with grandeur -- at times made me think of the best of John Barry, but in a positive rather than negative contrast.

That is, Zimmer, unlike Arnold, managed to create something uniquely befitting the specific material while also being unashamed in its intertextuality, conflated with modern assumptions. Which in its own way circles back around to the film's thematic and psychological scope (centrifugal versus/as centripetal forces and, basically, layering).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can you tell us a bit about the process you go through when writing a film score?

Sure, you can start as early as when you read a script so it is an ongoing process where you can have quite a bit of time to do it. Once you’ve read the script you’ll talk to the Director about their general approach to the film and then you start to look at the early imagery for the film and start to build a picture of what it’s going to look like on screen. For me, it’s very much about how the score works with the images and so this part is really important. It’s very much a collaborative process with the Director, it is all about exploring ideas.

So when was work on the Spectre soundtrack completed?

Whilst the movie is coming out next week, the CD soundtrack is still being finished. It really is down to the last minute, we pretty much finished it yesterday evening, so we do make the most of all the time we have.

And when did you actually start work on the Spectresoundtrack?

We had a big meeting last October, Sam and I. We had some initial ideas and we worked from there. Typically, you use all the time you have and that can be months. The thing is though with a creative process like this it isn’t always a case of the more time you have the better, sometimes more time can have a negative impact on the creativity so shorter periods can work better because there is more pressure and that can be a good thing to get the ideas out.

You sound very enthusiastic about developing ideas, can you tell us more about your creative process?

Yes a film reveals itself in a number of ways. I start with colour, I think about the colours associated with the film and then the harmonic vocabulary so the composition. I don’t have rules in terms of process because you want to keep having ideas and having any kind of rules associated with a creative process is not a good thing. As I say, it is all about how the music fits with the image on screen and I try to write in a passive way. By that, I mean I ask myself does the music work with what I’m seeing, do I like it? If I’m seeing it and the soundtrack is working then I keep going.

What is the best environment for you to get creative in?

I have a room at home with a piano and speakers and I try to by whimsical in my approach. I try to be fluid. I sit at the piano and just see what happens really.

Without giving too much away, can you tell us about one particular Spectre scene and how you wrote for it?

You know what, I don’t know what I can and can’t say! It’s too easy for me to give things away, let me think… ok so there is a chase scene of course, and the thing with chase sequences is they can be very conventional, right? You think they’re all the same, so it would be very easy to just write something conventional to go with the chase. There is one chase sequence in Spectre and I am so pleased with the piece. It would be very easy to overwrite and do this big loud, thumping piece but you’ll have to see what we did.

Aside from Bond, much of your work is critically acclaimed and infamous. The American Beauty theme for example, is very iconic. Did you know it was going to become that way when you wrote it?

I don’t think you ever know if something is going to be iconic, I don’t write with iconography in mind . I think it is associative anyway, so people remember particular scenes from films and that is of course a very memorable scene and so with some of the greatest pieces I’ve written perhaps it is as much about what you are seeing on screen at the time and how memorable those scenes become.

Thinking about the cinema experience, music is so important to the enjoyment of a film and yet in some ways, a viewer isn’t all that conscious about the score. Is that something you bear in mind when you write?

Cinema is certainly an immersive experience and you want the experience to be more about than about the viewer just hearing music and sound. You have to be very careful not to overwrite. You know I see some films and the music is either overly loud in the post production, or the music doesn’t quite work and it can be distracting or irritating or just too much. You have to be really mindful about not overwriting, it’s about complimenting the story not writing music to ensure people are overly conscious of it, you know?

You’ve worked with Sam Mendes on most of his film, what’s he like to work with?

He’s so smart. He is so switched on and has great ideas and most of what he says makes sense! We do have a great working relationship and that means that he is very comfortable telling me if something doesn’t work, he is very much a leader and he does reject ideas as much as he accepts them and I think that is really important.

You have been nominated for Oscars many times but have never won. Who have you upset at the Academy?!

Oh you know what, I have no expectations about Oscars. You can never tell how it is going to go and it is one of those things where of course it would be great to win but equally I don’t judge the quality of my work against an award, you can’t value your work like that.

What’s next for you?

Right now I’m in London for the Spectre premiere, which I am excited for any my wife is coming over here for that so that will be great. Work-wise, at the beginning of November I begin writing the score for the new Finding Nemo film which is called Finding Dory and that will be a very fun and exciting project to work on, and that will keep me busy for a while!

http://www.theversion.co.uk/new-blog/2015/10/16/the-version-interview-thomas-newman-the-man-behind-the-soundtracks-to-spectre-american-beauty-and-more

I like Tom's comment about being 'whimsical' in his approach to writing. That's one thing I thought he brought to Skyfall. A lightness of touch, and an old fashioned pulpiness, even in the most bombastic of moments. Arnold tended to overwhelm the films and turn drama into melodrama (what Newman would call 'overwriting' or working too hard). I was watching Casino Royale on ITV the other day and while admired aspects of the score, I felt it was often dramatically obnoxious. For example when Bond's in the Miami Body Worlds exhibit . An eerie, slowly morphing atmospheric piece would've worked wonders, but instead Arnold bludgeons the mix with fluttertonguing muted trumpets, stopped horns, an interminable harp ostinato, and a powerful but completely OTT aleatoric passage (in the manner of JNH or Don Davis) for when Bond struggles with Dmitrios for the knife.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think Hans would be perfect for Bond. On that note. I'd like to a quote an old post on a Bond forum written after the release of Inception. The poster was from the academic world so his language unfortunately reflects that, but I thought what he had to say was spot on.

It may be obvious, maybe not, but what Hans Zimmer achieved with Inception's score -- very Nolan, a driving, electronic-symphonic structure that largely complement each other, as well as cues that quite literally recall great Bond tracks in short-hand; the ability, then, to capture tone and thematic arc through setting-as-psychology, the exotic scale and insular, hidden pieces that are underscored by that score's ability to balance intimacy with grandeur -- at times made me think of the best of John Barry, but in a positive rather than negative contrast.

That is, Zimmer, unlike Arnold, managed to create something uniquely befitting the specific material while also being unashamed in its intertextuality, conflated with modern assumptions. Which in its own way circles back around to the film's thematic and psychological scope (centrifugal versus/as centripetal forces and, basically, layering).

Preach!

Great interview with Tom too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We'll have to agree to disagree on Hans I think.

I'd be interested to see what Edward Shearmur could come up with, given the great job he did with Johnny English. Arnold would always be first choice for me though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JOHNNY ENGLISH vs. INCEPTION...let's say it's not the world's biggest ideological trench but it's close.

I was talking in the context of spy movies of course!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Inception isn't a spy movie. Its a sci-fi thriller with deep psychological connotations!

Exactly, which is why I wasn't comparing the two. Ah forget it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm still trying to figure out what was happening in the first 10 minutes of the film. It's so dense. Every single frame has so many things going on...

Stop associating good things with bad things. Lucas has a tenth of Nolan's ability.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Click here to listen to the second.

Or try this.

Unsurprisingly uninspired and predictable.

You thought the choir was predictable? I could never have predicted that!

BTW, I like how at the very end of the cue, Newman introduces the eerie bitonal motif he worked into Skyfall (F# over Em, here sounding like Em, D#m and Dm planing down in women's voices).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sounds somewhat more assured tonally in the new one. But that certainly is due to even more tinkering in the mixing booth. Since i like a handful of SKYFALL cues - the least action-y - i remain curious about this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The damp squib Sam Smith vocal and underwhelming production really ruin what is otherwise a good song. I heard a woman cover it the other day, and it highlighted just how much more effective the track would have been had someone like Emeli Sandé been at the mic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD3GTqs-dmg

LOL at this reply.

Thomas Newman is in over his head and is clearly not qualified to score a Bond film. He was given a second chance after his horrendous Skyfall and blew it.

I couldn't help but nearly cry when I heard Backfire, knowing I have to suffer through more godawful music in a Bond film. That track belongs in Men in Black or a Sam Raimi Spiderman, not a freaking Bond film. To make matters worse, he showed his lack of originality by including a snippet from "Grand Bazaar" on the Skyfall ost. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

I can only imagine how atrocious the Mexico City track will be. In addition to the amatuer scores, we can expect the villains to have no themes and only one female character to have a theme (that is only played once in the movie). Additionally, don't expect to hear a rendition of "Writing's on the Wall" much either. I'm also curious to know if we'll hear a snippet of any of David Arnold's old tracks considering they used the intro to "The Name's Bond, James Bond" from the Casino Royale ost in Skyfall since Newman's version 'Breadcrumbs' was a godawful cheap and laughable imitation of it. That's just plain outright sad when they use the previous composer's work instead of the current.

Newman has proven twice he doesn't have what it takes. Seriously, with this film's budget, they could have afforded a halfway decent composer. Newman belongs in the movies that have a budget of 500k (and that's being generous) not 300 million.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The thing with Newman is his action music doesn't stand out enough, it doesn't go for the throat. Bond movies should strive for great set-piece action cues, but Newman doesn't seem to be capable enough. I've heard some decent action writing from him in stuff like 'Eve Retrieve', but that was a long time ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you want that you've got hours of blunt and bloated David Arnold-action cues with blaring orchestrations - though precious few times it resulted in something that could be labelled set piece, i. e. 'African Rundown'.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The laughable choir in Sinking the Devonshire utterly ruins that cue, turning would should be a haunting moment into overwrought melodrama.

I'd go with White Knight, Come in 007 Your Time is Up, African Rundown or Time to Get Out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you want that you've got hours of blunt and bloated David Arnold-action cues with blaring orchestrations - though precious few times it resulted in something that could be labelled set piece, i. e. 'African Rundown'.

The David Arnold scores don't really get me going either. Granted, they're more lively than Newman's efforts, but it's all a bit garish isn't it. Arnold and Newman working together on Bond might have been an ideal happy medium.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.