How did you get into scoring films?
While studying classical composition at Oxford, I discovered working in theatre, and I did a couple of television things and a student film. I got fed up with the classical route because I wanted to write music and communicate it. After college, I learned my craft over about eight years of working in television.
How do you do what you do? Describe your process.
I get a copy of a near-finished film, and I soak myself in it until I really understand the world that the film is in. Then I will work my way through the film trying different ideas, and I'll do a second draft and a third draft. I have better ideas once I know a piece very well, so the more I work on it, the better it works.
The most important thing is the emotion, the characters and the setting, and also the cinematography and what the camera's doing. If the camera's moving, it is often an invitation to have music. But if you've got a close-up head talking, then it's often the opposite. You can always break those rules, but there are very natural places for music.
How many people are involved in what you do?
For the first six, seven or eight weeks of writing on a project, I am very much a one-woman operation, occasionally talking to the director. Then I work with an orchestra and a conductor when I am recording, so it is a team effort at that point.
What do you like most or dislike most about your job?
It has to be the best job in the world. There's so much freedom, the canvas is so big, and it's such a huge part of a film. But I hate the schedules. For a film like "Chocolat," I had three and a half weeks. Usually I'd expect to have about two months, but that doesn't always happen.
What was high school like? Were you into scoring films?
I started composing classical music when I was about fourteen. I went to a school with seven hundred boys and twenty girls, and had a ball. I did very little work and was a bit boy crazy. But I had a fantastic music tutor there as well.
What other kinds of things do you do? What else would you like to try?
I am recently tried my hand at writing an opera, which I've never done.
Tell us about scoring the scene "Vivian Sets Up Shop" in "Chocolat."
There are lots of different types of music in "Chocolat." There were times when I really wanted to drive and push the movie, and that needed an up-tempo feel. There's something incredibly positive and earthy about Juliette Binoche's character Vianne, and so I wanted to have a very positive, earthy feel for this scene.
If you look at the scene, it is a montage. There's no conversation...you sit back and learn that Vianne is setting up shop and time is passing, and the town doesn't like what she's doing. I wanted to gather a momentum at this moment in the film. I used a slight South American feel to it--it had some Mayan roots. It was a mixture of panpipes and accordion and lots of guitar rhythm.
