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September 24, 2010
Adding music to the movie
Complexity features original songs and scores by Ron Philips.
CYNTHIA RAMSAY
While filming may be complete, there remains a lot to be done on Complexity. In this month’s column, we focus on the music – work on which began more than a year ago.
“I started Ron Philips on Complexity in August of 2009,” said director and scriptwriter Adam Bogoch. Acknowledging that this was an unusually early start – “especially since the script Ron had back then was going to go through seven more drafts before its completion” – Adam said he wanted to give Ron more time to “play around with some new sounds and start building and trying out ideas for the film.
“The music is so vital to a film, it could ultimately massacre a project. If a film has horrific music, all people will say coming out of the theatre is ‘Man, that music sucked!’ Plus, I love music, and I love watching Ron’s process. It was great having time to work on ideas.... He and I would spend time analyzing other composers’ pieces to see how each score affected the scene for which it was written.”
Adam explained, “At the beginning, Ron and I would be looking at the script and testing out ideas of what the music would sound like for scenes suggested by me. We’d play around until we had something we both liked. As production came to my doorstep, I had a much better idea of how everything was going to look and play out, given that I’d worked with the actors, the locations, and knew the script much better at that point. Now that the film has been shot, Ron and I look at the dailies (unedited footage) to know precisely what’s going on in each scene that needs to be scored. This is how I work with my composer, we both come up with ideas as we watch how the script is unfolded by the actors, and what Paul (Mitchnick) is doing with the cinematography.
“It is amazing to see how Ron can come up with ideas so quickly after he has absorbed the content of the scene. After studying other pieces and working on ideas for months, we can now narrow these ideas and pinpoint them to the right place, or scrap them altogether, to be replaced by something completely new.”
Adam stressed the collaborative nature of the process.
“Though I have strong ideas of where the music should and shouldn’t go, so does Ron,” he said. “It helps that he knows the script and understands what each character is going through at any given time. This is something he has focused on much more than when he scored my first feature film, Avoid Confrontation. There are times when he and I will debate if a certain scene should be scored or not. Recently, there was one scene that I wanted to have scored and he watched it and suggested that nothing be added to it. It is the most pivotal scene in the movie for Clara (Emilie Ullerup) and Sylvia (Elizabeth Connor) and he felt that he couldn’t add anything to it, and that the actors had all ready expressed everything that needed to be expressed. Now, I agree 100 percent. It’s so great to work with a composer who’s so honest about these things and won’t step on someone else’s work just to get more involved with the project.”
“The priority factor here is the film, the dialogue, the second level of communication portrayed through the acting in the various scenes,” said Ron about his role. “Music is a medium in which an emotion, a thought or whatever is heightened so that the audience can connect with the film in a better way.”
About working with Adam, Ron said that “together we seem to examine a number of ideas for a particular scene and bring the best one to the surface. Also, Adam may talk about a particular direction for the music to go in and his perception of the film. This type of collaboration can create a better insight for me to write the music.”
“I wanted very classical-oriented pieces to be contrasted by an indie feel to match how a few of the main characters act in society,” said Adam. “The score is growth, a similar growth to what the characters are experiencing as the movie progresses.
“Not to give too much away, but Ron and I are working a lot with pairing guitar with the violin. The two of them ... are not often paired with each other. I love working with the guitar, perhaps because Ron can just pick it up and play along with the scene; he just plays what the action makes him feel. It often turns into part of the score, or creates an idea on which to work. We also have three or four movie themes that we designed to be flexible with different scene tones. Our main theme, which can be heard at the end of the Complexity teaser trailer, is flexible and can be used in many different ways. There is also a very cool, jazzy piece in the works for a gala scene in the movie.... Though most of the film will be scored, there are going to be two original songs, with possibly a third if all things go well. One of them is a Joan Jett-type song for a bar scene, and the other is performed by Chelsea McBride, who performed the song ‘It’s You’ at the end of Avoid Confrontation.”
Ron and Chelsea co-wrote the song “Break Away,” and “IOU” was written by Ron and Dennis McDonald. So far, the rest of the music has been written by Ron alone. While various musicians have been brought in for the recordings to date – Ron gave the examples of Kelly Stodola (drums), Marie Kaplan (vocals) and Chelsea (vocals) – and there may be other musicians brought in for the final recordings, Ron actually plays most of the instruments.
“Most of everything is actually done by Ron himself,” said Adam. “He is vastly talented with many different instruments, including piano, bass, drums and, especially, guitar. He has his technicians that help him out with any mixing or editing that goes on and he also brings in specialized musicians to perform instruments like the violin, or drums. He has an incredible book of loyal contacts and friends that are willing to come help out and dedicate their talents to the project.”
In addition to finishing up the film, Adam was recently interviewed on JoyTV’s The Standard — that show can be found on YouTube by searching “Adam Bogoch.” And, he said, “We will have a presence at the Vancouver International Film Festival this year, to market our project and, hopefully, work on some really cool possibilities. Mattie Shisko (producer), my father, David Bogoch (executive producer), and I will be taking part at the festival in some way to promote Complexity.
“Being present at VIFF also calls for a new trailer to pass out, so I’m in a scramble to produce the official trailer for the film. Brianne Nord-Stewart, best known for her award-winning short film Trolls, will be editing the trailer for us. Brianne is a young and talented editor who has the right vibrancy for the project – she’s pretty damn cool. The official trailer will be launched in the next couple weeks in the same locations as the teaser trailer, IndieGoGo, YouTube and Facebook.”
Adam said he is hoping to sign Brianne as the editor of Complexity. As for other business, the fundraising continues.
“Please visit indiegogo.com/complexity, not only to learn about the project but also to help this film get finished,” said Adam. “IndieGoGo has the major credits we offer for the film, along with some cheaper options as well. If you’d rather not work through the Internet, please contact us at [email protected].”
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