Compte tenu du succès que remporte la série
et de l'intérêt des fans pour cette interview,
inter-activites s'était engagé à publier une nouvelle
interview plus exhaustive de David Lawrence pour son
travail sur Jéricho. Promesse tenue, voici certaines
de vos questions et leurs réponses tant attendues par
certains! David aura d'ailleurs une pensée toute
particulière pour, ses fans, à la fin de
l'interview... Touché par la passion qui anime
certains d'entre vous! Mission accomplie pour
inter-activites qui a permis aux artistes et aux fans
de mieux se connaître! Alors à très bientôt pour de
nouvelles expériences...
MISTER
LAWRENCE, can you tell me about you, your training
and your background?
I
started playing piano and composing at around 5 yrs
old. I studied piano and orchestration until college.
Then I studied Composition and Piano at the Mannes
College of Music in New York.
How and why did you come to
film music?
I’ve
always loved watching film and was always interested
in the components that made up a movie. Particularly
music. And how, if composed right, you could
influence and/or heighten the impression of how an
audience experiences that movie.
Do you have any mentor? Are
you inspired by a composer in particular?
I would
say the composers that have most inspired me are
Bernard Hermann, Henry Mancini, John Williams, James
Newton Howard, Dave Grusin and Thomas Newman.
Do you consider yourself as
being part of a “school” of composition? How would
you describe or characterize your own musical style?
Unless
I’m working on something dire with serious
consequences, I try to infuse as much humor and irony
in my work as much as possible.
How do you choose a project to
work on?
I’m
very lucky to be working as much as I am. Composers
are rarely in a position to choose what project they
want to work on. I think the key is to create the
best possible environment in which to work, once you
begin, and try to infuse as much of yourself into
that project as possible.
Did your way of working change
along the years or according to each film?
I
started working in film and tv in the mid ‘90’s.
Computers were becoming more and more of a necessity.
Time constraints and budgets dictated that. Even with
amazing technology now, however, there are still
instances where computers can only serve as an
example of what you actually want the orchestra or
even a single live musician to play. In those cases
it’s faster sometimes to write out by hand want you
want played.
How do you compose? Do you
have a method of working? How do you proceed?What do
you feel when you’re composing and what do you like
in this process?
As a
general rule, the visual image dictates what I’m
about to compose. I’m inspired by the visual
composition of the piece I’m working on. The
dialogue, the actors, set design, cinematography,
etc. If I need to follow a temp score, I need to
incorporate that particular sensibility into my
thought process and create from there. If there is no
temp score it is far more challenging but much more
satisfying to develop themes and styles to match to
picture. Regardless of the style of music that I
compose, there’s always the initial difficulty of how
to begin but always a rush when things start coming
together.
What would you advice to
apprentice film composers for them to succeed in the
business?
Mrnickb,
Australia.
First
and foremost you have to be very very comfortable
with computers and their associated technologies. And
secondly, YOU MUST BE VERY VERY FAST!!!!! Learn every
keyboard shortcut to create your sequences as quickly
as possible. Above all, don’t dwell on concepts. If
you’re stuck, get over it. Use your craft to propel
you past your rut and move on! We live in a time when
projects have to delivered incredibly fast and with
great quality.
THE SERIES-JERICHO
Is it easy to work on series,
and movies ? What are the similarities and the
differences between the two (series/movie) from your
working point of view?
Over
the last 5 years. The differences between writing for
film and for tv have diminished significantly. Music
has become much more pervasive throughout episodic
television and film as well. The demands therefore
have necessitated a wholesale change in how composers
approach their work conceptually. There is a much
more cinematic approach to tv writing now. The main
difference in film is that you have more screen time
to develop your themes and subsequently more
opportunity to use different colors/approaches with
which to develop them.
What do think about the
growing number of series and about the growing
audience for them?
There
will always be a thirst to see something new and
different on television. That’s great. I also think
it will provide more opportunities for new and
currently working composers to strut their stuff.
More and more first-rate film music composers come to
video game music.
What do you think about that,
and would you like to be part of this?
I think
my daughter would be very disappointed if I didn’t
try to work on game music.
Have you been inspired by any
other Tv series music, like Lost by Michael Giacchino
“the ending of certain sequences”?
Morpheus80, Amiens-
Picardie
I’m a
big fan of John Keane (CSI), Sean Callery (24) and
Mark Snow (X-Files). I think these composers have
helped shape the current and very cool state of
television music today. Director and exec. Producer
Jon Turteltaub is also the creator of Disney’s
National Treasure.
Do you see any similarities
between Trevor Rabin’s score and yours?
Were you asked to do so?
Hybrid Soldier, Yvelines
(78), France
Some
of the Pilot (1st episode) was ‘temped’ with Trevor’s
score as a guideline, not as a bible. The score to
Jericho is very complicated both from a compositional
sense and from a resulting textural sense. It took
many episodes of experimenting to ultimately find the
show’s musical character.
Did you know about the existence of
the morse codes that are different at the beginning
of each episode?
I
didn’t catch on to any of it until one of the
Producers of the show laid it out and I was blown
away. I think it’s very cool.
Are there other secret codes in your
score?
The
only sneaky thing I try to do is incorporate as
subtly as possible the show’s main theme into certain
scenes. Little phrases here and there can play very
effectively on your subconscious mind.
Is there any difference between
scoring a musical and your way of treating TV series
music?
Ultimately the goal is the same; to try and
incorporate principal themes and their variations to
support specific character development and plot
points. Sometimes it can be a very obvious
implementation and sometimes a very subtle one.
Do you write a long suite with
different themes that you cut afterwards to put
pieces into the different episodes?-Or did you write
2 or 3 different themes to weave into your score,
different for each episode?-Or do you work another
way (different teams…)
I
actually do a little of both. If I get really
inspired and write a long suite I usually have a
wealth of material from which to cut into smaller
pieces. From there, those ‘smaller’ pieces take on a
life of their own and I further develop them into
more themes.Sometimes, there’s a new character or a
completely new twist in the plot and then you have to
invent something different and special for that.
How much time did you have to compose
an episode, and how would you describe you music for
JERICHO?
I
usually have about 3-1/2 days to write about 35-40
minutes of music. The styles of music ranges from
Traditional Orchestral to Americana to
Trance/Electronica to Folk. Kind of all over the
place but with a very specific point of view and
application.
What's about the release of the score?
As of
right now, there are no plans to release a CD of the
music from “Jericho”. A DVD of the entire 1st season
is coming out in the next few weeks though.
Can you tell me about your projects?
I just
finished scoring and writing/producing songs for
“High School Musical 2”. I’m just about to start a
new series for CBS called “Cane”. “Jericho” is
starting up again this year. In October there’s a
Rock ‘n Roll Musical movie for MTV and a Christmas
movie for Disney/ABC. We just produced “Bye, Bye Big
Guy” off-Broadway in New York this summer and are
finishing up a musical with Blake Edwards that may
get produced next spring. It is a very exciting time.
If you could choose a project, a film
to do, and a director…
Wow. The sky’s the limit with that question. I love Dramedies. Depth of character development with a humorous underpinning. “Kramer vs. Kramer” but with jokes. I’m kidding. But certainly a mix of drama with humor. That’s what life is. As far as directors go... I love Pedro Almodovar, Brad Bird and Sydney Pollack...and 20 more to numerous to mention.
Wow. The sky’s the limit with that question. I love Dramedies. Depth of character development with a humorous underpinning. “Kramer vs. Kramer” but with jokes. I’m kidding. But certainly a mix of drama with humor. That’s what life is. As far as directors go... I love Pedro Almodovar, Brad Bird and Sydney Pollack...and 20 more to numerous to mention.
Do you have specific message to add
for our readers?
I’m
overwhelmed by your interest in my work. I’m grateful
and thank you.For those of you interested in pursuing
a career in tv/film composing; believe in your
abilities, persevere if you are lucky enough to be
able to so and be ready when the opportunity arrives.
It is very easy to say all this and much harder to
actually do, but that’s what the pursuit of dreams is
all about!
Thanks and all my congratulations.
My pleasure!
My pleasure!
