Composer Jeff Danna (The Good Dinosaur, The Boondock Saints) joins me on The Film Scorer podcast just before we wrap up season 5! Oddly enough, I've listened to quite a bit of music from the Silent Hill franchise over the last 15 months or so, and it turns out that Jeff "scored" the two film adaptations from earlier in the 2000s (I used "scored" in quotes because the real story is a bit more complicated than that). So of course, I used our conversation as an excuse to ask all about Silent Hill, including why the first film never got a proper score release, and he tells me about having to re-record and re-create every single musical sound from Akira Yamaoka's game scores for the films. Quite a feat.
Of course, Jeff didn't come on the show to talk about Silent Hill movies from 15-20 years ago. Instead, we spend most of our time talking about his score for the hit Netflix series The Hunting Wives. The conversation goes from creating a unique palette for east Texas (particularly through the Croatian prim), scoring sexiness (the key is not aiming for sexy music), and plenty more. Along the way, we get pretty in-depth about what makes for a good theme, when you need to cast one aside and start over, and how thematic music requires a commitment from the composer and the director; after all, the latter has to be comfortable with a a musical commitment to their characters, as character and theme become intertwined.
Jeff's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms while The Hunting Wives is currently streaming on Netflix. You can find out more about Jeff on his website.
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Daniel Pemberton
In a Film Scorer first, a repeat guest joins the show! Daniel Pemberton (the Spider-Verse films, King Arthur) comes onto the show for a second time, after chatting with me back in 2023 about his score for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. Even though we're just over halfway through the year, Daniel's already scored about a half dozen projects, so we had plenty of things to talk about. With so much to pick from, we primarily talk about his recent work on the Black Mirror episode USS Callister: Into Infinity and Eddington - two extremely different projects with very different scores. Of course, even though our chat clocks in at just under half an hour we cover plenty of other ground too, including trends in modern film scoring and a big detour into Anton Karas's score for The Third Man.
Daniel's score for Eddington and Callister, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. Eddington is still playing in select theaters and is available on demand while Callister is available on Netflix.
And if you haven't yet, be sure to check out our prior conversation here: https://thefilmscorer.com/an-interview-with-daniel-pemberton/
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Electric Youth
Today I'm joined by Electric Youth! Well, one half of the electronic/synth pop duo - Austin Garrick - without his co-member Bronwyn Griffin. Their latest project is the score for North of Normal, a true coming-of-age drama that jumps between timelines in a forest commune in the 70s and city life in the 80s. Some of you may think that the band's sound would be anachronistic for a film with this setting, and while that may be true, their score still fits right in. Unsurprisingly, Austin and I spend most of our conversation talking about North of Normal, but we also touch on topics like Tangerine Dream and the joy of still getting "new" score releases from them, the importance of a well-curated score release album (learned from becoming fans of the medium at a young age), avoiding being pigeonholed in film and music genres, and plenty more!
Electric Youth's score, and much of their other music, is available on all major platforms. North of Normal is currently available on demand or on Paramount+.
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Carlos Rafael Rivera
Carlos Rafael Rivera (The Queen's Gambit, Hacks) is one of the few composers my mom has asked me about, so I'm extra excited to have him join the show! Carlos's latest project is Department Q, his fourth series with writer-director Scott Frank (joining Godless, The Queen's Gambit, and Monsieur Spade, as well as the film A Walk Among The Tombstones). Normally this is where I'd say something like "unsurprisingly, we spend most of our time talking about that score", but that's not the case here. Instead, we spend most of the interview dancing around Department Q, whether it be talking about his career working with Scott Frank (going back to when he taught Scott guitar in the early 2000s), the changing nature of friendships as you age, or 80s thrash. Ultimately everything goes back to Department Q, but not everything is about Department Q.
Carlos's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms. Department Q is currently on Netflix. You can find out more about Carlos on his website.
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Thomas Newman and Julia Newman
What a surreal moment - getting to chat with Thomas Newman and Julia Newman! Whether you're a big film music fan or a casual film goer, I'll guess that you're familiar with Tom, having been nominated for fifteen Academy Awards (I accidentally say fourteen...) and scoring projects like The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, Finding Nemo & Finding Dory, 1917, and loads more. Now, Julia is picking up the family's film and tv scoring mantle, and the two of them recently co-scored Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, a dramatization of the Menendez brothers crimes. We use the series as a jumping off point for the conversation, regularly referring to and discussing it while also pivoting into broader conversations about collaboration, improvisation and working quickly, the use of theme and repetition, and plenty more.
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story is currently on Netflix, and Tom and Julia's score (as well as much of their other work) is available on all major platforms.
The Film Scorer Podcast features a wide array of long-form interviews with film composers, including up-and-comers, established veterans, and everybody in between.
Hear first-hand from masters of the craft about the film scoring process, see behind-the-scenes, and learn all about the art of film and film music.
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