The soundtrack to Yam Laranas’ Nightshift was just released. Here is a short interview regarding the production of the score for the film.
How did you get involved with the project?
Via long term collaborator Yam Laranas. It’s our third film together, and we are just about to start working on our fourth film ”Rooftop”.
What were you asked to bring to the film and its music?
For this particular project we were looking to get a modern ”noir” feel. The entire film has a sort of noir vibe, with a mystery that deepens the longer the film progresses, and gets more and more existentialist in a sense. The entire film and score is propelled forward by an unrelenting motion towards an inevitably bleak and gloomy end
Who made the musical decisions and how did the communication process happen?
As always with Yam, it truly is a collaboration. We start by sending demos back and forth and talk about the general feel/mood of the film. Then we narrow it down to specifics, both in terms of storytelling and instrumentation etc. Since we live on different continents, there’s a lot of Skype and emailing going on:)
Could you introduce key thematic elements of the score?
The most prominent theme is the main theme that is introduced in the opening cue ”Nightshift”. It comes back many times and in many iterations throughout the score. You could say that that theme symbolize the protagonists search for answers or the truth, and it gets more and more twisted as the mystery unfolds. The main theme appears in many other cues inc "03 The Demon”, ”05 Darkness”, ”06 What Happened?”, ”07 Dr. Alex”, ”12 The Earthquake” etc. There is also a second theme, a ”love” theme. That appears most prominently in the last cue called ”Dayshift”. That theme also appears most prominently in ”03 The Demon”, ”02 First Encounter and Blackout”. Additionally, there is also a third theme which is a B theme of the main theme, it’s sort of a question mark, played mainly by the woodwinds.
Do you have a favorite scene you'd like to talk about in greater detail?
My favorite scene/cue is actually the opening music ”Nightshift”, because it sets up the rest of the film in a great way. It really sets the tone and the mood, and the camera work is stunning. It’s like one big open ended question thing, but still with a motion forward, it really draws you in.
Was there a scene that was really hard to get right?
Well, the cue called ”13 Follow Them” was a challenge, and also a lot of fun. There is a lot of stuff happening in that scene, different moods, action etc that I obviously had to work with. It’s like the culmination of the film with a lot of stuff unfolding, so it is very intense. I can’t say too much, but there’s a lot of suspense and other things going on in there.
What could you tell me about the recording process?
The recording process this time around was a mix of different techniques. As usual a lot of the sounds are recorded in my own studio, ”Oceanview Studio”, analogue synth effects, electric guitars etc. For orchestra I wanted both a bigger sound and an intimate sound. So I went with FAMEs Orchestra in Macedonia for the big lush cues, but also recorded a string quartet with my long time collaborator Mattias Bylund for the more intimate scenes. On top of that I had some remote sessions with a few other musicians, inc Kristin Naigus who played some amazing winds and John Robert Matz who recorded brass. In the cue ”Dayshift” I also recorded some vocals with fabulous singer Christine Hals. Additionally, my daughter Solveig sang a few variations of the main them that is used throughout the score in various iterations.
Do you have any other funny / strange / interesting anecdotes about the project?
A lot of the sound effects I recorded myself, there is definitely some funny stuff in there, inc a rhythm played on nyckelharpa, violin distorted effects, a chicken pecking board toy, some Christmas decorations that were destroyed and pitched down. Also, a vuvuzela was part of a ”doomsday horn” sound that occurs quite frequently in the score, for instance in cue ”04 Behind You”.
