The Film Scorer

Just because the podcast is between seasons and on a brief hiatus doesn't mean that the work stops. To keep me busy, I chatted with Brooke Blair and Will Blair (Blue Ruin, Green Room), the very rare sibling composer duo, about their latest score: Rebel Ridge. Rebel Ridge marks the fifth collaboration between the Blair Bros. and director Jeremy Saulnier, and is arguably their best. As such, we spend much of our time talking about their score, including developing the palette, experimenting with and avoiding musical clichés, and mimicking cicadas as a “symphony of terror”.

Beyond that, though, we discuss what it's like to build your career alongside a director, how to uncover a director's preferences (and the benefits in doing so), working as brothers (including when their third brother, Macon (I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore) gets added to the mix, and plenty more. I even try to get a little inside information about the forthcoming Toxic Avenger film, which they scored and their brother Macon directed, but no luck. For your benefit, the first long answer you'll hear comes from Will.

Brooke and Will's score, and much of their other music, is available on all major platforms, and Rebel Ridge is currently available on Netflix. You can find out more about Brooke and Will on their website.

Welcome in the new year (and forget that it's already September) by hearing about some of the best and most notable film scores kicking off 2024, including Dune: Prat 2 by Hans Zimmer, Spaceman by Max Richter, and plenty more, both big and small. Remember: the show is still in hiatus between seasons, but hopefully this can hold you over a little bit.

Keep your eye on The Film Scorer website for reviews and articles covering some of these scores, including detailed writeups and lists.

For a full list of the scores discussed in this episode, see below:

• Dune: Part 2 - Hans Zimmer

Somewhat early on in The Film Scorer days, I did a few video reviews of film scores. The first was the 1974 score for Five Shaolin Masters, by the prolific Chinese composer Yung-Yu Chen. Given that the show is currently between seasons, there's a bit of time to kill (and I know you're all clamoring for new episodes), so I've decided to clean these up a bit and release them through the podcast as well. First off: Chen's score.

The audio here is a little rougher than you're used to, as it may have been before I even owned a mic. But that's balanced out by a nice little capture of the main motif of the score that comes about halfway through. This also went surprisingly "viral" on YouTube, racking up nearly 60,000 views. If you enjoy this and want some more, just let me know - I've been meaning to record some more reviews and keep procrastinating...

You can also read my review here: https://thefilmscorer.com/five-shaolin-masters-yung-yu-chen-1974-film-score-review/

We've reached the end . . . of season 4. To commemorate the occasion, Daniel Hart (The Green Knight, A Ghost Story) joins The Film Scorer! Daniel is fresh off of scoring season 2 of Interview with the Vampire, which itself had its season finale only a couple of weeks ago. As such, Daniel and I spend a lot of the interview discussing his scores for both seasons of the show (and some hints about what's to come in the newly-announced season 3). We then break out from there, discussing Philip Glass, the prospects of writing a recorder concerto, and plenty more.

Daniel's score, and much of his other music, is available on all major platforms, and the series is available on AMC. You can find out more about Daniel on his website.

As season 4 draws to a close, I'm joined by someone all of you should know: Viggo Mortensen (The Lord of the Rings, The Road)! One thing you might not know about Viggo - it was certainly news to me - is that he's also a musician, making a number of albums with famed guitarist Buckethead and even scoring a couple films, including his latest directorial effort The Dead Don't Hurt. As such, we discuss his musical history, his score for The Dead Don't Hurt, his first foray into making music for film in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, balancing various behind-the-scenes roles in the same film, and plenty more. Even though this is a pretty short interview, we cover a surprising amount of ground.

Candidly, this was the most surreal, hard to believe interview I've ever done. When I saw Viggo pop up on video to chat with me, I was certain I was being pranked, or maybe just dreaming; I'm sure I'll wake up at any second...

Viggo's score is available on all major platforms, while The Dead Don't Hurt has just finished its theatrical run and will likely be coming to home video soon.

I also want to flag that I accidentally attribute a (poorly) paraphrased quote to Ernest Hemingway that's actually from Mark Twain.

On the latest episode, I'm joined by Jason Graves! Jason is best known for a number of different video game scores, such as the Dead Space games, Tomb Raider, Far Cry Primal, and Moss 1 and 2, so it's no surprise that we spend much of our conversation talking about his latest game scores: Still Wakes the Deep and No Rest for the Wicked. They're two very different games, in terms of genre, style, gameplay, and more, and so Jason's scores are equally unique. We probably spend the most time talking about the former game's score, which is a combination of a string quarter, woodwinds, a bass synth, and a roughly two foot tall sculpture - it may seem weird, but I promise that it sounds good. Along the way, we cover things like his journey through scoring, how he works with game writers to understand concepts and plot points before they're rendered in-game, and differences (perceived and real) between scoring for film and video games.

Still Wakes the Deep (the game and the score) releases on June 18, while No Rest for the Wicked is currently in early access with Jason's score forthcoming. You can also find many of Jason's other scores physically or on all major platforms. Find out more about Jason on his website.

Recently anointed Grammy winner Carla Patullo joins The Film Scorer podcast! While Carla has over thirty scores under her belt, she might be most known for her non-score album So She Howls, for which Carla won the Grammy for Best New Age, Ambient, or Chant Album earlier this year. Unsurprisingly, then, Carla and I spend a fair bit of time talking about that album. However, and perhaps more importantly, we actually focus much of our discussion on the genesis of that album: Carla's cancer diagnosis a few years ago. Carla began by recording little voice and vocal snippets, which eventually evolved into a full album. She told me she was worried it might be her final album, but that if so she wanted a chance to sing "one last time". Fortunately, it isn't.  We also move into discussions on the scoring world, her love for short films, the concerns surrounding AI, and plenty more.

You can find out more about Carla on her website.

In a Film Scorer first, a composer-director team joins the show! Composer Suvi-Eeva Äikäs & director Ben Steiner recently worked together on Ben's film Matriarch (which Ben directed and which Suvi scored). As such, we primarily talk about Suvi's score for Matriarch from both the director and composer perspectives (and with them each touching on sound design as well, particularly regarding the score edging into sound design and the sound design edging into score). Along the way, we touch on some big questions, like the role of film music, collaborating (and how to push back), and plenty more.

Suvi and Ben actually connected in Bristol, England through a mutual friend, Ben Salisbury (Annihilation, Ex Machina). Suvi has also worked with Ben Salisbury and his longtime composing partner Geoff Barrow on several projects, including Devs and Men.

You can find out more about Suvi on her website or about Ben on his website. Suvi's score is out on all major platforms, and Matriarch is currently on Hulu.

While 2023 ended several months ago, here at The Film Scorer it's only just happened. Tune-in to hear about some of the best film scores that rounded-out the year, included Poor Things by Jerskin Fendrix, Killers of the Flower Moon by Robbie Robertson, Godzilla: Minus One by Naoki Sato, and plenty more that you may not be quite as familiar with.

Keep your eye on The Film Scorer website for reviews and articles covering some of these scores, including detailed writeups and lists.

For a full list of the scores discussed in this episode, see below:

• Poor Things - Jerskin Fendrix

Fresh off of scoring Evil Does Not Exist, composer Eiko Ishibashi joins The Film Scorer podcast! Evil Does Not Exist is Eiko's second collaboration with acclaimed director Ryusuke Hamaguchi, and the film itself actually stemmed from Eiko approaching Ryusuke regarding providing visuals for her live performance. Evil Does Not Exist grew out of that, while also spawning the film Gift, a sort of "composer's cut" of Evil Does Not Exist, which removes spoken dialogue and focuses on Eiko's music. Not surprisingly, we compare and contrast her work on Evil Does Not Exist and her prior score, Drive My Car (the Oscar winner for Best International Film). Along the way, we also cover things like Eiko's approach to music and preference to giving control to the director, trends in Japanese film music, and more. 

Note that this is an interpreted interview, so you'll hear snippets of Eiko's responses in Japanese but the answers are primarily via English translation.

You can find out more about Eiko on her website. Eiko's score releases digitally and on physical media on June 28, and Evil Does Not Exist is currently in theaters.