I'm wondering today: How are soundtracks written? Doesn't the movie need to be shot and edited in its entirety before a composer can know what moods to match and for how long within a given scene?
Posted by Kriston at February 29, 2008 3:20 PMI don't know how that exclamation mark got there. But I'm leaving it.
Posted by: Kriston at February 29, 2008 3:30 PMthe most expansive article on the topic to date
I misread that as "expensive," which would've required another kind of congratulations entirely.
How are soundtracks written?
There's a great featurette on the Dead Man DVD about Neil Young's composition of the soundtrack, which seemed oddly like the way they used to do MST3K: he watched and played along to the film a couple thousand times, then picked the best bits from various takes.
I read an interview with Johnny Greenwood that he did a similar thing with There Will Be Blood, only it was a matter of improvising along to the film on electric guitar, then turning it into a full-fledged composition. Granted, neither of these is probably typical of the John Williams mode.
Posted by: SEK at February 29, 2008 4:40 PMSometimes the cues are written before the movie's shot.
Posted by: ben wolfson at March 1, 2008 1:19 AM