Regular contributor to the filmmaker Bryan Singer (Usual Suspects, Superman Reborn, WALKYRIE), he came to film music completely by accident, because it is the first film and the realization that he had intended. In 2009, he composed for ASTRO BOY and ORPHAN.
Cinezik : With “Orphan”, this is your second collaboration with Director Jaume Collet-Serra, after “House of Wax”. Spanish Directors for Horror/thrillers films have a special touch. What was your personal approach or the touch you wanted to give to the score?
John Ottman : Well the biggest challenge with making films like Orphan is trying to make them feel as plausible as possible. The music should pull the audience into the film so that they believe the world they’re in. Once they’re sucked in, the film can go into outrageous directions and the audience is not aware of how ridiculous it all is. They’re hooked into that reality. So the musical goal for Orphan was to avoid cliché horror music in the first act, and instead, create a world of complete normalcy – in essence, music that helps the viewer take the story they’re watching seriously. The mother, Kate, is composing a piece of music in the film. I told the director that the piece she’s writing should be about her two daughters – one who died (Jessica) and the one who’s deaf (Max). So I wrote a sort of classical piece that gives the film some intelligence, as well as character depth for her. I also wrote a theme for Max, who figured prominently in the film. The subtext in the film is the bond between Max and her mother. So I played this musically as the through-line in the musical story. I’m a big believer in scoring from the characters. If you believe in them, the more scared you’ll be when they’re in jeopardy. Basically, being musically intelligent instead of being cliché and foreboding from frame one was the key in making Orphan work.
Esther, the girl in “Orphan” is a manipulator, did you try to do the same with the music? Playing as the Director with Horror and Thriller’s tricks to then diverse it, in a certain way…
Well, in a way, yes. Her “manipulation” is, of course, acting like a sweet, perceptive innocent girl. So the music played along with this idea, being very inviting and warm, until, of course, she reveals her true colors. When she gets darker, I introduced a motif that signifies her presence by manipulating the sound of an African shaker. It was quite eerie to use a simple organic sound for her which signified her presence.
The movie “Orphan” reminds me of the movie “The good son” (with Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood) with the music composed by Elmer Bernstein. It figures the duality of an “angel” boy that turns into Devil (same for the recent film “Joshua”). What were your references to compose?
I really didn’t reference anything. I used to reference things when I was a new composer, but in recent years I just sit at the keyboard and do what comes to me. I have no idea where it’s all coming from!
“Astro-Boy” is your first incursion into animated movies. How did you get involved in this project and how was that experience? Did you get any directions to follow by Osamu Tezuka?
The music supervisor made the director aware of me and a couple other candidates. I had a couple meetings on the film and got hired. I was very excited to do it. I remember going to the editing room to view a rough cut of the film. After watching, I realized I’d had a smile on my face the whole time. The temp score was often drab and drony, but I new I could find a way to breath more life into this endearing film… I was also in a place where something as innocent and bright as Astro would be terrific therapy; a change of scenery from a recent run of heavily serious, dark or “grave” films. Endearing, innocent, joyful, emotional, action-filled and just plain old fun, this film would allow me to express myself in ways I’d always dreamed of as a film composer - to tell a musical story rich with a cornucopia of character motifs spanning a gamete of emotions from sadness to elation. There was no intent on anyone’s part to follow in any musical footsteps of the original TV series or any other pre-conceived notions. We all wanted a new theme and music that reflected Astro’s life and emotions.
The “Astro-Boy’s” theme is very epic and adventurous and heroic like in “Superman returns” and “Fantastic four”, in “Reluctant warrior” track, there is also a Peplum kind of music with Asian ranges. Where does come from these inspirations and why the music in general, seems to be “too” much serious or dark, for an animated movie destined to children (it’s not a criticism)?
I wanted everything in the film to have character so it would be more fun. A big robot dressed like a Samurai warrior attacks Astro, so I gave it a sort of Asian “battle” signature with Chinese percussion. Even though it’s a children’s movie, it’s a dramatic and emotional story. It would have diminished the story to make it all childish. The best children’s films, like Wizard of Oz or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang have dark and scary music for the bad guys, for instance. So the music in Astro Boy is a constant interplay of dark and light, as any good drama or adventure. But even at it’s most action-packed moments, the music has a fun feel to it. The most serious parts of the score are the emotional ones. And that was a must.
Enriched by this experience, what are the differences you’ve learned from working for an animated movie regarding to a real movie?
I realized that there really isn’t much difference except that you can be more overt with the music. Animation really puts the music in the forefront as a major storyteller of the film. You don’t have to hide as much as a composer. You can be more open with the emotion and just open up with everything. I found that extremely liberating and rewarding. Sadly, film didn’t perform at the box office as we’d all hoped, and expected. This was not only heartbreaking for me personally, but I was saddened for the filmmakers who put so much into it. We were all hoping for Astro to be around to see other adventures –mainly so we’d all have an excuse to repeat the time we had together. Nonetheless, I’ll remember Astro Boy as one of the happiest moments of my career, and I think one of my best scores.
Do you have any news for “Superman returns 2: Man of steel”?
I don’t think Bryan Singer is doing the film. I have no idea if Warner Brothers is even making it. So it would depend on the director of the film on whether I would be scoring it if it happens.
We know that you are a big Star-Trek fan. So if Star-Trek XII was coming, would you do anything possible to compose the music?
Well, I’d have to arrange a car accident for Michael Giacchino. I’m sure he’ll be doing it because of his relationship with J.J. Abrahms. If he weren’t doing it, then, yes, I would chop off a couple toes to do it.
What are your coming soon projects? And any wishes for this coming year ?
Well, naturally I wish for a good project that doesn’t tank at the box office! I have a film called “The Losers coming up”, and perhaps yet another horror/thriller, but that’s not for sure yet. We’ll see what happens!
Interview by Xavier Ducamp
John Ottman Bon et John Ottman alors ? (si on les cite tous on en a pour un bon moment je pense :lol: :lol: )
Qu'est-ce que vous en pensez ?
Ce que j'en sais :
1° C'est aussi un réalisateur.
2° C'est aussi un monteur (et vraisemblablement un monteur avant d'être un réalisateur).
3° Il fait de sup ... Read all Reply to this message
