BY THE WINTER SEA – Jesper Hansen

Original Review by Alan Rogers

A short film set during World War II, director Philips Stevens’ By The Winter Sea follows the progress of Ada (Helen Victor) who leaves her home in London to join the Women’s Land Army, to work on a farm on the Lincolnshire coast. She soon realises that the life of a “Land Girl” is not the one portrayed on the posters but with the help of fellow Londoner and Land Girl Jean (Sarah Whitehouse), she eventually falls in love with her new life. Danish composer Jesper Hansen continues his association with the Lincolnshire-based film production company Red Dog Film and provides a sparse but tender score based around a small ensemble of fiddle and piano with embellishments (e.g., harp, snare drum). The first main component to the score is an Celtic/folk-inspired theme played on solo fiddle (“Main Title – The Journey”). First heard over shots of a bleak grey coast of the North Sea, the theme has a mournful quality about it and its appearance of the theme at various points in the film suggests an influence of the new life (represented by the sea) on the characters even when there is no visual reference to the sea. In the cue “Arrival To Lincolnshire”, for example, Ada’s waiting to be picked up for the final leg of her journey to the farm where she has been stationed and the appearance of the solo fiddle when she gets into the car seems to signal the “point of no return” for her adventure from town to countryside.

“Arrival To Lincolnshire” also features a lovely theme for solo piano. Constructed in such a way as to give the sense of innocence to Ada, this theme – and the use of solo piano in more hesitant ideas and motifs (e.g., “First Day of Work”) – mirrors Ada’s journey from the city to rural Lincolnshire as well as her arrival to and settling down in her new and unfamiliar environment. As Ada’s confidence builds the piano line then becomes more animated, determined and happier (“Home By The Winter Sea”). The juxtaposition of both the piano and solo fiddle in the score echoes the various experiences of Ada as she comes to terms with her new surroundings as well as her inner turmoil during her initial doubts and subsequent embracing of her new life. This acceptance of her situation is then reflected in the score by the end of the film as the solo fiddle (and the sea) becomes associated with Ada. 

PHASE 7 – Guillermo Guareschi

Original Review by Alan Rogers (First uploaded at maintitles.net)

First-time feature director Nicolás Goldbart’s Argentinian tongue-in-cheek, end-of-the-world thriller Phase 7 focuses on a couple who are quarantined in their apartment block when a deadly worldwide epidemic reaches Argentina. Rather than dwelling on the usual shocks of a deteriorating populous, Goldbart’s film concentrates more on how the band of trapped neighbours cope with their situation. Naturally, after everything starts off so well, tensions between everyone begin to appear as the residents get a bit stir crazy and things get out of control when one of the neighbours starts on a shooting spree. The director wanted a specific sound for the music in the film and asked fellow Argentinian Guillermo Guareschi for a “big synth driven score in the 80s style”. What the composer (a writer of scores for successful Argentinian TV shows and blockbuster films) delivers is a score that would not be out of place alongside the late-1970s/1980s scores of the likes of John Carpenter and Richard Band. Pleasing-to-the-ear synths deliver a variety of meaty rhythms and tempos, augmented with electronic strings and abstract sounds that sits nicely with electric guitars and live drums/percussion and all coming together as an interesting and enjoyable listening experience.

The predominant feel of the 80s in the music for Phase 7 is the John Carpenter-influenced synths and emphasis on solid electronic ostinato rhythms. Tracks such as “Lobby Reunion”, “Explore”, “The Mirror” and the powerful conclusion to the score, “Face The World” (an great amalgam of the various parts of the score) are excellent examples of Guareschi’s grasp of the genre. Scores such as Escape From New York (“Explore”), Christine (“Terrace”, “The Mirror”) and Assault On Precinct 13 (“Incidental Phase”, “The Freezer”) all spring to mind as a result of certain synth and sound design choices made by the composer.

GOODIE – Jesper Hansen

Original Review by Alan Rogers

Goodie is a short drama film released in 2011 from The Red Dog Film Company, a “Community Interest Company”. A family of superheroes saves a community from natural disaster (tornadoes in Lincolnshire) but tragedy strikes the family and the remainder of the film deals with issues such as loss and grief. Young Danish composer Jesper Hansen focuses on the emotions associated with the impact of loss on those left behind (and in some ways, also on those who are dying), and delivers a memorable strings-based score which has, at its heart, an evocative adagio theme for the head of the superhero family.

Scoring for the format of a short film, Hansen’s score does not have the luxury of establishing the film’s musical world with a statement of a title theme. Instead, “The Tornado” jumps straight into the action as we see an overview of the the damage done by the passage of a recent twister, the arrival of the superheroes on the scene and then the rescue of several members of the community. An energetic string ostinato propels the action forward as these events unfold, swelling to a crescendo as the superheroes are enveloped by another tornado and then the orchestra falls quickly away and a calming solo female voice heralds the clearing of the tornado. The following track, “Adagio (For Brace)”, is the highlight track of this short score. Playing as a self-contained piece rather than a cue that follows the on-screen performance, strings (plus the additional of some ethereal wordless female vocals) adds an emotional weight to what could otherwise have been a rather flat scene: the family watches over their figurehead as he lies in hospital, dying from injuries sustained during the final tornado strike. The grave sense of loss the family feels is captured in Hansen’s heartfelt adagio theme. However, a brief statement of this adagio later in the score (“Be A Hero One Last Time”) hints that the theme also represents the strength Brace provides to the family – heightening the sense of impending loss to their previously-stable group. 

LAST BREATH – Vincent Gillioz

Original Review by Alan Rogers (First uploaded at maintitles.net)

Written, directed and starring Ty Jones, Last Breath seems, at first sight, to be just another torture-horror movie where the protagonists find themselves trapped and at the mercy of a sadistic killer hell-bent on making his captures suffer for 90 minutes or so before killing everyone or being killed themselves (perhaps). However, Jones’ first directorial feature is not all that it seems to be. Released to both popular and critical acclaim in 2010 the film stars the director and Mandy Bannon as Michael and Tina Johnson, a couple whose once-happy marriage has come under severe pressure from various directions and is at risk of collapse. Finding themselves trapped in an abandoned warehouse and being stalked by a “Dark Figure” (Aaron Laue), the film follows the pair as they make a series of choices that will decide both their and their son’s future. A revelatory twist at the end of the film then takes the couple (as well as the audience) down a path that has everyone re-examining the film’s events. Recently made available on Howlin’ Wolf Records as a limited release (limited to 500), Swiss-born composer Vincent Gillioz’s award-winning score to Last Breath highlights how a score that could have been just another run-of-the-mill horror score can be enhanced when a composer has a clear vision for the score and how it interacts with the story.

Gillioz’s task on Last Breath is a difficult one. There is the family drama of the deterioration of Michael and Tina’s relationship plus the horror aspect of the film (their imprisonment and torture by the Dark Figure) which, as it turns out (as the composer explains in the CD’s liner notes), “…is actually an allegory to the [family] drama”. Musically, Gillioz represents family and family values with a piano because of the instrument’s association with the home and the attendant feelings of stability, solidity and warmth. “To The Core” provides one of the most complete statement of Gillioz’s family theme. A single piano gives a heartfelt statement of the family’s theme, highlighting the positive aspects of the family’s relationship. In the same track, Gillioz then highlights the versatility of the theme, taking a 4-note fragment of this theme (played on winds) and building the orchestra up around the fragment, mirroring the complication of Mandy’s family values by intruding revelations. This family theme (full or as a fragment) appears throughout the score whenever the concept of family values (a lifeline to which the protagonists must cling to in order to survive their ordeal?) arises during key moment of the film. 

GLORY AT SEA – Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin

Original Review by Alan Rogers

Director Benh Zeitlin’s Glory At Sea is an award-winning short film from 2008 set in a post-Hurricane Katrina Louisiana. It’s a fantastical story of a community coming together, drawing on their spirit, hope and determined faith (their own faith rather than the restrictive faith of the church) to aim for a goal that seemingly is unattainable. Featuring local and little-known actors, Jake (Geremy Jasper) is a man deposited from the sea into the arms of a barely-functioning community who are mourning the loss of their loved ones to the recent storm. Jake is determined to build a raft and return to sea in order to save his lover, Tess (Meggy Tucker), one of the many souls condemned and trapped on the seabed. Jake refuses to believe the community’s preacher when he tells his remaining congregation that their loved ones have been taken by the sea for a reason. It is this refusal to accept this that leads Jake on his quest to save Tess. Gradually, the rest of the community join Jake in building his boat, hopeful that they too can save their loved ones.

Benh Zeitlin’s visually arresting film is complemented by an equally striking score composed by the director himself in collaboration with fellow-composer Dan Romer. Centred around a small ensemble of musicians, Zeitlin and Romer’s score features mainly strings (plucked and bowed) with additional colours coming from carefully placed piano, brass ensemble and additional instrumentation. The score has a strong emphasis on rhythm particularly with the use of string-ensemble ostinato figures. The choice of instrumentation, musical style and close miking all add to produce a very memorable – almost hypnotic – listening experience (even though the score has a running time of barely 20 minutes). 

My Favourite Scores – 1942

• Kings Row
• Erich Wolfgang Korngold
• Varèse Sarabande / 1991 / 48:10

According to Korngold’s son, George, thousands of filmgoers wrote to the composer to express their enjoyment of his score. And listening to this re-recording from Charles Gerhardt/The National Philharmonic Orchestra it is easy to hear what all the fuss was about. Right from the outset, Korngold’s fanfaric theme grabs the attention immediately and for me it is Korngold’s themes and leitmotifs contained in this score that is the attraction.

This version (subsequently, Film Score Monthly have gone on to release the original soundtrack recording – that I have yet to hear) has been arranged as a couple of symphonic suites and the quality of Korngold’s music means that this is not a problem.

As well as the main theme (that many have said has similarities to John Williams’ theme from Star Wars, though I did not notice this until it was pointed out to me) there’s a beautiful, rather romantic theme that’s very European in style to my ears and Korngold’s skill is to take these themes (and others) and adapt them into a whole myriad of forms.

The score can be a bit melodramatic in places but, again, Korngold’s themes are some of the best he composed and mean that this score goes to the top of the pile for 1942 in my view.

ROUGE IN LOVE – George Shaw

Original Review by Alan Rogers

Rouge In Love is a 10-minute YouTube video directed by Evan Jackson Leong and Michelle Phan, starring Michelle Phan who plays a girl visiting Paris where she comes to the aid of an unknown guy who falls at her feet after having been seen fleeing from an unknown peril. What then transpires is the usual boy meets girl, boy loses girl and then boy trying to find the girl again. At its heart, the film is a love story and it calls for an effective, romantic score particularly as – save for one single word – the film has no dialogue. The directors turned to talented composer George Shaw, who succeeds in giving the film an emotional heart with a lushly romantic score for string ensemble and piano that is based around a strong main theme.

Shaw’s theme is first heard right at the outset as a sparse statement in the opening track, “Single Status Update”. It’s a short track (lasting only 20 seconds) but the theme is so strong that it immediately grabs the attention. It is heard again in the next cue, “Win A Trip To Paris”, but this time it is accompanied by a piano countermelody that sits alongside the theme, adding an emotional depth. These two tracks – as it turns out – are not taken from Rouge In Love but are, in fact, from a “prequel” companion film, The Sweetest Thing. This latter film documents how Phan’s character ends up winning a trip to Paris. A quote of the theme on accordion then a full statement on strings and piano signal her winning the competition. Then a statement of the theme on celeste as we see Phan standing by a particularly ornate Parisian building adds a fairy-tale quality to the scene. “Win A Trip To Paris” highlights how Shaw moulds his versatile theme into several different forms by varying both orchestration and tempo to achieve the desired effect. A versatility in the music is particularly important in a film such as this: one that is so heavily reliant on the music (remember, there is no dialogue). However, some may find that, upon viewing the video, the music is a bit over-the-top in terms of signposting what’s happening on-screen (e.g., the appearance of accordion music when we see the Paris competition poster, fairy-tale music for the dream trip to Paris, etc. is an obvious example). 

CHILLERAMA: ZOM-B MOVIE – Bear McCreary

Original Review by Alan Rogers (First uploaded at maintitles.net)

I don’t really enjoy Jerry Goldsmith’s scores for films such as Gremlins/Gremlins 2: The New Batch and The ‘burbs. I state this straight off because, in my opinion, anyone who appreciates scores such as these that heavily feature Goldsmith’s use of synths will enjoy Bear McCreary’s score for Chillerama: Zom-B Movie. Those who don’t enjoy scores such as this may struggle to truly appreciate what McCreary has tried to do in this score. Director Joe Lynch’s Zom-B Movie is a “wrap-around” segment for the anthology movie, Chillerama, a movie that has recently been doing the rounds at various drive-in movie theatres prior to its release at the end of November 2011 on DVD/Blu-ray. Lynch again turns to composer Bear McCreary (their previous collaboration was for the straight-to-video sequel Wrong Turn 2: Dead End) and, from all accounts they had a whale of a time on a project that fits nicely into the Creepshow, Tales From The Darkside and Twilight Zone: The Movie genre of horror anthology movies.

The album begins well with the end credits song “I Don’t Want To Die A Virgin”, a catchy number performed by Young Beautiful In A Hurry (vocals by Bear McCreary’s brother Brendan) that features a great little guitar riff. For the score proper, McCreary has stated that Chillerama: Zom-B Movie gave him the opportunity to expand his musical horizon into the sounds he grew up with, letting him unleash his “inner thirteen-year-old” and to go wild composing for this score. McCreary further mentions that he was inspired by composers such as Bernard Herrmann, John Carpenter, Lalo Schifrin and the aforementioned Jerry Goldsmith for the various aspects of the score.

My Favourite Scores – 1941

• Citizen Kane
• Bernard Herrmann
• Varese Sarabande / 1999 / 52:45 

This is a difficult choice for this year as there’s not one that really stands out for selection. Herrmann’s score is rightly seen as a landmark score at a time where film in general was being experimented with by innovative directors such as Citizen Kane‘s director, Orson Welles.

I am not expert enough in film history or theory to understand whether Herrmann’s experience in composing for radio put him in good stead for Welles’ directing style for this film, but Herrmann’s use of the short cue that was particularly effective at bridging scenes is a technique frequently in radio.

It’s the moodiness of this score that is appealing to me; the way in which Herrmann creates a feeling with what appears to be very little effort. The slow, off-kilter tracks in particular are highlights. Alongside the highlights there are also tracks that I always skip: up-tempo tracks such as “Galop” I avoid. And I may be in the minority not liking “Salaambo’s Aria”. Although there are parts I do not like, when it’s good it is very good.

For years, Joel McNeely’s version (with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra) was the go-to version. Rumon Gamba’s more recent release of 49 minutes of Herrmann’s score (BBC Philharmonic, Chandos Records) is now the more sonically appealing though I do not like their choice of making 6-7 minute suites from joining together several of Herrmann’s individual cues.

FIRST POSITION – Chris Hajian

Original Review by Alan Rogers

Receiving positive reviews when it did the rounds at film festivals last year, Bess Kargman’s debut documentary First Position is now having a (limited) theatrical release in the US and Canada in May 2012 with the prospect of a wider release later in the year. The film follows, over the space of a year, the experiences of six gifted ballet dancers (aged nine to nineteen) as they focus of competing in the Youth American Grand Prix, a youth ballet competition that awards ballet school scholarships to the best young ballet performers of the world. New York composer Chris Hajian, perhaps best known for his scores for several Alex Zamm comedies including Inspector Gadget 2, Beverley Hills Chihuahua 2 and Tooth Fairy 2, continues to add to his portfolio of documentary scores (e.g., Nursery University and Unraveled) with a contemporary score which highlights the emotional highs and lows that accompanies the sacrifices and pressures of disappointment placed on both dancers and their families.

As an experienced documentary score composer Hajian is aware of the need for there to be a fine balance between enhancing the emotions felt by the audience to the film but not dictating the audience’s emotional response. Hajian’s use of small-scale arrangements (e.g., solo piano or acoustic guitar) to support the emotional events on-screen rather than musical devices such as swelling strings finds the right balance needed in a documentary feature. As well as emotion, the composer is able also to convey a tension that must be an ever-present feature of a film of this kind. Hajian’s use of contemporary influences such as prominent drum and synth rhythms as well as string ostinato may be a surprising choice for a film featuring a significant amount of references to classical ballet music and it posed particular problems for the composer as he tried to meld the score with the source music. It’s difficult to gauge how successful Hajian is in achieving this fusion in a pleasing way without hearing his music in the context of the film itself, but comments from those who have seen the film have been positive and seem to vindicate the composer’s extensive efforts at integrating his contemporary score with the classical source music. The contemporary aspect of the score includes the use of the solo instruments heard in the slower-paced, more emotional parts of the score and seems to link these two aspects of the score together. When listening to the score, elements combined seem to musically reinforce the film’s attempt to highlight the children’s commitment to hard work as being the important “take home message” rather than the drive for success (winning) at any cost.

For the purpose of this review I was only able to listen to a few chosen highlights from Hajian’s score. But Hajian’s score for First Position does seem to to complement the film’s subject in a sympathetic way. Although there are a couple of occasions where the limitations of the synth strings can be heard (this is a personal thing where I tend to be disappointed when scores use samples that betray their electronic origins), my overall impression of his music is very positive. A commercial release of Hajian’s music for First Position would be most welcome and hope that a full release of the score will happen as a result of the success of the film.

Rating: ***

1. The Competition – The Opening (2:06)
2. Sacrificing It All (1:47)
3. Missing His Family (1:14)
4. Trip To NYC (1:49)
5. Michaela’s Moment (1:06)
6. Epilogue (1:44)

Running Time: 9:48

Composer promo (2012)