THE WINSTON CHURCHILL MEMORIAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA Report by DR MARY FINSTERER 2006 Churchill Fellow THE CHURCHILL FELLOWSHIP FOR THE RESEARCH OF SCREEN COMPOSITION IN THE UNITED STATES. The Churchill Fellowship to learn the most up to date methods of composing music for film and to develop an understanding of the working process between Composer, Director, Music Producers and Music Editors in the industry of feature film in the USA. I understand that the Churchill Trust may publish this Report, either in hard copy or on the internet or both, and consent to such publication. I indemnify the Churchill Trust against any loss, costs or damages it may suffer arising out of any claim or proceedings made against the Trust in respect of or arising out of the publication of any Report submitted to the Trust and which the Trust places on a website for access over the internet. I also warrant that my Final Report is original and does not infringe the copyright of any person, or contain anything which is, or the incorporation of which into the Final Report is, actionable for defamation, a breach of any privacy law or obligation, breach of confidence, contempt of court, passingoff or contravention of any other private right or of any law. Signed Dated 2/08/07
2 INDEX SECTION PAGE 1 INTRODUCTION 3 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 3 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: 4 i. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ii. HIGHLIGHTS iii. CONCLUSIONS 4 PROGRAMME 5 5 THE FELLOWSHIP: STAGES 6 6 THE FELLOWSHIP: OBSERVATIONS 7 7 CONCLUSIONS 8 8 IMPLEMENTATION AND DISSEMINATION 8 9 RECOMMENDATIONS 9
3 INTRODUCTION One of the most important aspects for a composer of screen music is to have insight and experience into how the type of film production can inform the music. In the Hollywood industry, with the long tradition and highly developed techniques of film production coupled with the massive turnover of product, the question of how the creative process of composition plays its part within the whole scheme and according to the vision of the director and producers is a fascinating subject. The Churchill Fellowship enabled me to travel to Los Angeles to undertake a mentorship programme with leading Hollywood composer Marco Beltrami. During this time I was able to research and be involved the making of the about to be released Hollywood movie Die Hard 4. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the Churchill Trust who sponsored this fellowship. Their generosity has provided me with a unique opportunity to investigate an area of music in the film industry that will benefit my development both as a composer and educator. I would also like to acknowledge the support and encouragement that I received from composers Marco Beltrami, Martin Armiger and Brenton Broadstock. My heartfelt thanks also to the generosity of so many people I met during my stay in Los Angeles. Finally I would like to thank my family, especially Monica, Mark and Anni Finsterer, and most importantly my husband Dean Golja who gave me so much support and who looked after our two children with his dear mother Victoria Golja while I was away.
4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Name: Dr. Mary Finsterer Address: 14 Hill Street, Marrickville NSW 2204 Australia Phone: + 61 (0) 2 9591 1951 Occupation: Composer Project Description: The Fellowship was in the form of a mentorship with leading screen composer Marco Beltrami. The purpose of my fellowship was to gain experience and learn about methods of composing music for film in the Hollywood industry and to develop an understanding of the working process between composer, director, music producers, editors and mixers in the industry of feature film in the Los Angeles film industry. Highlights: Attending meetings with composer Marco Beltrami and electronic music producer Buck Sanders. Observing the recording process at the Newman Scoring Stage, Fox Studios, Hollywood Los Angeles. Meeting the score mixer John Kurlander and music editor Alex Gibson. Meeting other composers including Marcus Trumpp, Bill Boston, Dana Niu and Ceiri Torjussen. Observing the work of conductor Pete Anthony. Participating in the recording process by liaising with the Fox Studios orchestra. Conclusions: The process of creating the music score for a big budget action film in Hollywood requires a magnitude of personnel in each department to achieve the end result within extremely rigid time constraints dictated by the release date of the picture. This necessitates a highly organized process reliant on co operation and delegation. The level of collaboration between members of the music scoring team is imperative to the success of the score. This way of working is for the most part highly unusual in the Australian Industry where the composer fulfils many more roles in the creation of the music score due to lower budgets for film production.
5 PROGRAMME The aim of the programme was to facilitate the development of skills and artistry in the following areas: Compositional processes as applied to screen music. Creative collaborations. Music departmental roles and responsibilities breakdown Learning about the various managerial and creative roles on the part of the composer, orchestrator, conductor, music supervisor and other associated professionals. Pre and post production procedures Budgets and Schedules: How budgets and specific time frames can be used to exploit an optimum situation for the creative process. The fellowship was undertaken between 11 th March and 10 th May 2007 in Los Angeles and enabled me to gain first hand experience in working on a high budget Hollywood movie, specifically Die Hard 4. During this 8 week period my programme comprised firstly a series of meetings with key personnel in the screen composing team, most importantly the composer Marco Beltrami and Electronic music producer Buck Sanders. The meetings were followed by a period of developing musical material after which the music was finally prepared in score format and recorded at the Newman Scoring Stage, Fox Studios, Hollywood. During my fellowship I had the chance to meet the following members on the music team: Marco Beltrami Marcus Trumpp John Cacavas Pete Anthony Buck Sanders Denis Amand John Kurlander Edie Lehmann-Boddicker Alex Gibson Jason Ruder Joe E Rand Kevin Globerman Peter Rotter Dave Metzger Jim Schultz Tim Lauber Bill Boston Dana Niu Marcus Trumpp Ceiri Torjussen Original Music Music Conductor - Score Conductor Music Music Arranger Music Conductor - Score Conductor Music - Electronic Score Production Music Engineer - Engineer Score Mixing - Score Mixer Score Recording - Score Recorder Music Producer Music Editor Music Editor Music Editor Music Recording Facilities - Digital Recorder Music Contractor - Score Contractor Music Arranger Music Producer Music Editor Score Recording - Recordist
6 THE FELLOWSHIP: STAGES The fellowship enabled me to be involved in four stages in the music scoring process: 1 Preliminary Meetings These initial discussions with composer Marco Beltrami and the electronic music producer Buck Sanders gave me an insight into how they were thinking about and approaching the music score. During this time discussion was given as to the nature and style of the music and what particular figurative ideas and orchestration might be appropriate. At this time the composer and director had already held discussions to determine where the music would be used in the film. As it happened, most of the film required music. 2 Composition/orchestration of Music. This stage involved the development of music material and organizing it into music cues or small sections that were previously spotted or designated by the composer and director according to where the film needed music. During this time I had the chance to meet other composers working on the film, including Marcus Trumpp. I also had the chance to meet the score mixer, John Kurlander. The very strict time constraints and the largeness of the project necessitated that several composers be engaged under the direction of Marco Beltrami to compose, orchestrate and arrange the music. This was necessary due to the vast amount of music that had to be composed within a very short amount of time. 3 Creation of Mock ups. Once the music cues had been composed mock ups were then prepared for the purpose of showing the director, Len Wiseman, an impression of what the music would sound like. This consisted of building the music synthetically using crafted sampled sounds that were edited and mixed in such a way as to represent the sound of an orchestra. The construction of mock ups was essential before proceeding with the next stage of recording the music. They gave the director a chance to listen the music in context to what was happening with the picture and to make suggestions and amendments to the music that would hopefully enhance the film. 4 Recording of Music The recording was conducted at the Newman Scoring Stage at Fox Studios, Hollywood and preceded over a seven day period with the full orchestra present for six days in total. During this time I was able to participate in the recording sessions in the editing booth as part of the team of composers and observe Pete Anthony and Marco Beltrami conduct the orchestra.
7 THE FELLOWSHIP: OBSERVATIONS It was interesting to learn how Alex Gibson and the rest of the music editing team played such a significant role in the recording of the music. By the time their job commenced after the recording of the music, they had already documented which takes would be useful for the final mix of the music. This would have saved a great deal of time in the music editing and mixing phases that followed directly after the recording stage at which I returned to Australia. Observing the methods by which the music was recorded was of particular interest to me for the reason that I have not been present during the recording of such a big production. The most fascinating aspects included a device used to assist with the synchronization of music with film. A computer system called the Streamline Music Scoring System was used to generate visual cues for the conductor. Another aspect that achieved considerable efficiency of time was to have a copyist on hand should the score require changes. This situation would arise if the composer were not quite happy with the music. At his direction, the copyist would implement the changes to the score via a computer generated software programme. Parts were then generated within seconds for the musicians after which, the recording re commenced. To maximize quality of recording, a technique called stem recording was used to assist with the post production phase. This would enable the music editor and music mixer to treat a nominated group of instruments in a certain way with particular dynamic contouring and effects to build a more full and rich sound. Stem recording entailed the music being separated into layers whereby specific instruments or instrumental combinations are chosen for one recording, with the remaining instruments recorded in subsequent stems. These stems are then collated in the music editing and mixing stages following the recording. It was interesting to observe the decisions being made as to what constituted each stem according to the particular needs of each music cue and what the editing team might be aiming to highlight in the final stages of editing and music mixing. Much attention to detail is needed. An observation worth noting was that even in the situation of a big production as Die Hard 4, the budget was always considered in determining how many stems would be recorded. The music producer was acutely aware of how many stems the budget would allow. In the same way, the composer and conductor observed time allocation in their management how much music should be recorded by the end of each day. This ensured that a schedule was maintained. The hours were long and as time drew closer to the deadline, a certain tension was evident throughout the team. Yet despite these understandable human reactions to a pressured environment, each member of the team knew his or her role and attended to it with absolute commitment and precision.
8 CONCLUSIONS Music in the context of film scoring is specific to the medium and requires a particular technical knowledge. Further more, each production has specific needs according to the budget, time constraints and artistic vision of the director and producers. Most importantly, the preliminary meetings are paramount to the success of the project. From these meetings all aspects of the music scoring process will be determined. It is essential to have a clear picture of what is required of the music before the compositional process begins. In attending meetings and having the opportunity to liaise with professionals including music producers, music editors, orchestrators, musicians and other composers in the industry of filmmaking in Los Angeles has been of immense value to my professional development. Not only will this experience serve me in my endeavors in the film industry as a composer, I have also been able to return to Australia with a wealth of knowledge that I am able to draw upon in my teaching practice. I realise from my fellowship in the Los Angeles, that while Australia has by comparison a small industry in film making, our passion and work ethic makes us highly respected on an international level. IMPLEMENTATION AND DISSEMINATION The skills and experienced I have gained will be documented and presented as a series of seminars at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) and The Australian Institute of Music (AIM) where I have been invited to present a seminar in October 2007. My research presentation will include a verbal seminar, supported with audio and visual examples. Examples will draw from the working process and various methods of creating the screen composition for the film Die Hard 4. I will also have the opportunity of implementing the skills I have gained in future film scoring projects both here and overseas. Having had the opportunity to travel to Los Angeles it will now be possible to build on the associations I have made through the fellowship and so extend work opportunities.
9 RECOMMENDATIONS While our practice of music scoring may differ due to the vastly different budgetary considerations our productions have, I have been impressed with how collaborative processes between the various teams in the music making process are able to collaborate so effectively. These methods, regardless of the type of production make for a highly productive working environment and successful outcome. I will endeavour to emulate the principles of such a methodology in my future projects and activities. It is my hope that fellow Australians will seek every opportunity to explore their area of expertise on an international level and in doing so be inspired to create networks that will further assist in developing innovation and industry in Australia.