Considering the might of Hollywood’s marketing machine sometimes it really takes some effort to find the wood from the trees & relatedly I remember years ago a flatmate asking me how I found out about the films that I loved so much. That was back before the internet was the dominant means of finding out any & everything, but thinking about it my method hasn’t really changed – its just gotten a little easier.
As far as films go I try to keep an open mind, but apart from following the work of particular directors one of the other aspects of film making I have grown to trust more & more is the selection process of projects by film composers who’s work I love. And thanks to imdb it is very easy to discover for example that since I loved the score to a particular movie, that I can also find out what other films that composer has done earlier in their career but also what films are due to be released in the near future.
So the other night I watched a film that I love the score, the sound design & the mix of; Punch Drunk Love and so afterwards I wandered off to imdb to see what composer Jon Brion has been working on recently, only to discover the imminent release of a match made in creative heaven! Jon Brion had scored a film called Synecdote, New York which was also the directorial debut of screenwriter Charlie Kauffman, known for films such as Being John Malcovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind & Punch Drunk Love. See a pattern forming? Jon Brion also scored Spotless Mind.
Accordingly I cannot wait to see Synechdote, New York! Heres the trailer:
& how to pronounce the title
Searching further afield I came across an excellent interview with Jon Brion, about film scores in general but also specifically about his work on Syncdote, NY. Here is a link to the interview on the Film Music Magazine site where you can also download an mp3 of the interview, which is maybe a better idea as its 50 minutes long.
During the interview Brion discusses what must be the curse of most composers; temp music, but also discusses specifics about his approach to composing:
“I go until it feels wrong, in every possible direction. And eventually you find out the truth. Eventually you find out theres a thing that real & its like this. But you’re only going to find that if you’re willing to improvise and you’re willing to do things that are wrong.”
Amongst other things he also discusses a motif in the score of Synecdote NY which was produced on a Synthi – its a cue that plays a role in the film that he termed ‘the universal clock’ as a means of contrasting the varying speed of life of the main character in the film… & his favourite film score of all time? The Third Man
Heres a heartbreakingly beautiful cue from Synecdote, New York, called Little Person
& thanks to youtube comments:
Next time I am in Los Angeles I am definitely checking out Jon Brions live show, especially after reading this review:
“I’ve been obsessed with Brion since catching one of his weekly Friday night sets at Los Angeles club Largo. Expecting little more than the standard Piano-Man act, I was instead treated to my head being blown off by a 20-minute improvisation involving a good half-dozen keyboards, samplers, a record player, some sort of cymbal/vibraphone hybrid, and occasional interjections of Brion’s wounded-pitch vocals. And then he took an audience request for “Cortez the Killer”, and my heart exploded.”
Anyone reading this been to see him there?
Punch Drunk Love was actually written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson! One of my favourite films too. Although, I just wrote a fairly rushed and ropey essay on it for uni. Love the blog, I always find lots of interesting stuff here. keep it up!
Thanks, I should have noted that… I also havent seen another of his films ‘There will be Blood’ which I have heard a number of people comment about how great the soundtrack is to that film.
Its certainly something I have noticed over the years – you only get a great soundtrack from a director who makes films able to have a great soundtrack. I remember a long time ago working with a certain TV producer & no matter how hard we worked I was never satisfied with having done good work, and yet I could never quite work out why…. finally I came to the conclusion that this particular producer did not make projects that allowed us to do our best work & I slowly gravitated away from working on his projects.
This also relates to that excellent article Randy Thom wrote titled ‘Designing a Movie for Sound’ – to properly participate in film making sound & music cannot be after thoughts…
http://www.filmsound.org/articles/designing_for_sound.htm
TWBB is naff in my opinion, and greenwoods score is less than i had hoped for,, but im a film music snob..
brion is consistently excellent though, and puch drunk love is a fantastic example of music as emotional sound design IMHO.. its there, it gets louder and crazier, then it disappears
and it took you on the ride the whole way.. brilliant reflection of the story arc and the characters … there is a similar dynamic in magnolia..
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synecdoche seems a bit laboured ( towards the end),, and spells out its universal truths a bit loudly but is way worth seeing.. and the score is excellent..
theres a col vid on YT of brion doing creep in the style of tom waits.. priceless