Cinéma et jeux vidéo
Depuis plus d'une
dizaine d'années, l'univers du jeu vidéo est devenu
l'une des principales sources d'inspiration du
cinéma; avec plus ou moins de bonheur. En 1992
sortait Super Mario Bros avec dans le
rôle-titre Bob Hoskins, qui enfilait la célèbre
salopette de la mascotte de Nintendo. C'était la
première fois qu'une franchise de jeu vidéo était
transposée sur grand écran. On compte également la
saga des Mortal Kombat, celle de Tomb
Raider dans laquelle Angelina Jolie prête ses
plantureuses courbes à l'héroïne Lara Croft; les
trois volets du survival horror Resident Evil
emmenés par Milla Jovovich. Il faut également citer
les oeuvres d'Uwe Boll (The House of the dead,
Alone in the dark, BloodRayne,...), que
beaucoup d'aficionados des jeux vidéo considèrent
comme le fossoyeur du genre. Enfin, il faut citer
le Silent Hill de Christophe Gans, une des
meilleurs adaptations de franchise vidéoludique
jamais portée à l'écran selon l'avis de nombreux
gamers.
HITMAN
Crâne
rasé, code barre tatoué sur la nuque, costume
noir, chemise blanche et cravate rouge : l'agent
47 est le plus mystérieux et le plus
insaisissable des tueurs professionnels. Réputé
pour la minutie avec laquelle il va jusqu'au bout
de ses missions, il obéit toujours à un protocole
strict : extrême vigilance, extrême discrétion et
extrême soin apporté à l'exécution de ses
contrats. Patience et détermination sont ses deux
armes de prédilection. Rien ne l'arrête. Sa
signature : l'absence de preuves. Sa spécialité :
disparaître sitôt sa mission accomplie. Un vrai
fantôme, obligé de se découvrir le jour où
Belicoff, candidat aux élections russes, lui tend
un piège. Avec Interpol, les services secrets
russes et trois tueurs de sa propre agence à ses
trousses, l'agent 47 est contraint de briser son
propre protocole pour mener à bien sa mission...
You're actually scoring Hitman
for Fox.
Geoff Zanelli -
Contrary to
Shrek, for which you composed for a
videogame based on a movie, you’re presently
scoring Hitman for Fox, that is the
adaptation of the famous video game.
How did you come on the project?
I got the call
because the scoring process didn’t work out with
their initial composer, and once the film company
moved on, they were down to around 30 writing
days before orchestra. So, maybe because they
knew I’d scored Secret Window in 13 days, I got
the call.
Did you work with the producer, Luc
Besson (Europa Corp)?
I was
writing in Los Angeles, so no actually. I met
with Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, who is one of the
producers, and as well with the picture editor
Nick De Toth and Robert Kraft, head of music at
Fox.
Is the process of adapting a videogame into
a movie different from the process of adapting a
movie into a videogame?
I couldn’t say. The
process of scoring a video game movie though is no
different at all from scoring a movie which is not
based on a video game.
Did you play the games, and did you listen
to the video game score? Why?
I’m afraid
I don’t have time to play video games very much
even though I’d love to, so no I didn’t ever get a
chance to play the video game, nor did I listen to
the scores. I feel very strongly that since we are
making a film, I needed to write a film score, and
approach it as an original property.
What material did you use from the actual
Hitman games ?
Schubert’s Ave Maria
makes an appearance, but other than that, it’s my
own score.
May you tell me about your approach for
this film?
I was under
a very tight schedule again, so I needed to write
an efficient score. You’ll hear that it depends on
a signature riff for the main character, named 47.
And there is also something that I wouldn’t call a
love theme since love isn’t really the best word
for it, but there is a female character in the film
and she’s treated thematically. It’s a hybrid
electronic/orchestral score, mostly string based,
and there are also a few dark choir moments.
What the subject and the story of the film?
What do you think personally about that?
I think I
should wait until the film is out to discuss the
story other than what you can gather from the
trailers… It’s about a hitman, and things blow up!
How much time did you have to compose your
score?
33 days
What orchestra and what size did you
choose? Did you use some electronic sounds in your
score or was it all live?
The
orchestra was recorded in Paris. In fact I only
returned yesterday. The musicians there were
excellent, and I’m now in the final music mix and
very pleased with the results.
To you, what is the most interesting, the
most successful or the most complex scene you had
to score for this film?
It’s easier
to answer this time since the movie is still very
much on my mind. Well the action music definitely
works symbiotically with the story, but I’m also
excited about Nika’s theme, the woman in the film,
because I think people will be surprised to hear
something like this in the film.
Is a cd of the score scheduled? Why? If
yes, when ?
Yes, from
La La Land. I don’t know the details of when
though. There will also be an iTunes release, as I
understand it.
What did
the experience bring to you, personnally and as a
composer ?
I think I
should wait until I’m completely finished to answer
this. But right now I feel very good about the
work, even though I’m still knee deep in it.
Do you have any anecdote about this work?
The first thing that
comes to mind is… Paris is AMAZING. I very much
enjoyed working with people I’d not worked with
before and everyone involved was a true joy, from
the conductor to the musicians, Europacorp’s team
to the engineering crew.
Can you tell me about your projects?
Do you mean what’s
coming up for me? After Hitman, I’m
scoring Outlander which is an ambitious
film, very fun to write for. And then I’m going to
score Ghost Town which is a romantic
comedy, something I’m also very excited about since
it’ll be so different from the action and adventure
scores I’ve been up to lately. There’s a few other
things but it’s a little early for me to talk about
them.
What would you advice to apprentice film
composers for them to succeed in the business?
You have to think of
yourself as a filmmaker who uses music as a means
to make a film. It’s very crucial to be thinking
about storytelling, about filmmaking as early as
possible. The technical aspects, and even to some
extent the compositional aspects are assumed to be
in place once you’re working at a certain level, so
the thing which separates you from the other very
capable writers is your ability to be symbiotic to
picture.
Do you feel concerned about piracy of film
music on internet. What kind of solution would you
suggest?
I don’t think about
that much, to be honest. It’s never really occurred
to me.
For a new project, if you could choose you
a genre, a kind of story and a filmmaker, what
would they be?
Just something
different from the last thing I did. That’s why I
say I’m excited about Outlander, cause
it’s not like Hitman, and I’m excited
about Ghost Town, cause it’s not like
Outlander.
Do you have specific message to add for our
readers?
Just that I
appreciate their interest!
Thanks and all my congratulations.
Thanks to you too.
My pleasure.
ACCUEIL
