HIGH FIDELITY

First session: Marc Streitenfeld, composer and collaborator with Ridley Scott

Talking about working with Scott on “A Good Year”, “American Gangster”, “Body of Lies”:

Q: what kind of research did you do for American Gangster?

A: i grew up with the late 60s music, question was, do i do a period score? And we decided not to, because the story seemed more universal, we weaved in elements. Focused the score on the storytelling, the drama, but we tried to use sounds that were historically accurate, part of the period. I used a drum machine from 1969.

Q: let’s contrast that with Body of Lies, which is set in the middle east.

A: used some source music, tried to bring the sense of middle eastern music to it, the strings especially. we experimented with cellists and violinists.

Q: you do a good job in Body of LIes avoiding cliches, like sitars. how did you decide to do that?

A: that’s a difficult thing to do. need balance between the place and avoiding cliches

Here’s a review of the soundtrack to Body of Lies

Streitenfeld: main character is a bin-landen type character, and the music is trying to suggest that.

american_gangster_score_alone

american_gangster_score_in_film

Q: there is elegance in your music — is that what you’re going for?

A: i don’t want to be too overpowering with my music, suggestive.

Q: how do you work?

A: i play around a lot with instruments. i don’t like sounds out of a can. i create all the sounds myself, trying to figure out a sound style. if i get stuck, i pick up an instrument and bang around. i try to understand instruments i can’t p;lay even, helps me develop knowledge and get inspired.

Question from audience: do you start with rhythm?

A: sometimes, other times i write melody first. depends on the project

body_of_lies_score_alone

body_of_lies_score_in_film