Scoring "The Black Bang"

One of the most exciting aspects of working on a new film is writing the musical score. It's quite a rewarding challenge, juggling the various aspects of my post-production duties while all the while thinking about the musical pieces that will tie the whole thing together into a cohesive whole. There are moments of inspiration, doubt, fatigue, joy... all the emotions that accompany any truly creative endeavor. So many artists will tell you that when they are finally done with a project, they are so relieved to have reached the finish line and have spent so many countless hours buried within it that they just want to move on and never look back. That is certainly true in many respects - I personally need time and distance away from a project before I can finally appreciate the work I put into it. In the immediate aftermath I can only hear the mistakes and things I'd wish I'd improved or done differently. Only after months have gone by can I listen to the music with fresh ears and think to myself "Wow, I really like that... and I can barely remember even writing it!"

What really excited me about revisiting the CAGE THE BEAR universe in this new film THE BLACK BANG was the opportunity to continue some of the musical and thematic elements of the first film by expanding upon them and adding new colors. At the same time I wanted to create new themes that would help further the story within the tonal fabric I'd already established. There is no right or wrong way to approach writing the music to a sequel (or entry into a franchise). The most common approach is to revisit the major themes already established - character motifs, the title theme music, etc. John Williams is obviously the most notable composer to use as a comparison for this approach - every new Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter film he scored drew upon previously established themes while constantly introducing new ones. Most people assume "The Imperial March" (what people think of as Darth Vader's theme) was there from the beginning when in fact it didn't appear until the second film. However, John Williams also famously decided not to follow this approach when it came time to score the sequel to Jurassic Park. He eschewed every majestic and beautiful theme from that film in favor of a darker, rhythmic approach for The Lost World. It was a fantastic choice and a fantastic score and altogether risky in hindsight to do that with such a blockbuster franchise.

In the case of THE BLACK BANG, I knew I wanted to carry forward the prominent musical themes and motifs from the first film because so many of the same characters and ideas were returning, But this new film was completely different in tone and genre so I knew it would require a different tonal pallet. The first film was very much a cloak and dagger espionage thriller and I scored it accordingly using a very jazz-like sensibility - lots of electric pianos, brush drums, xylophones and woodwinds.

This new one leaps into the world of science fiction and so I knew I wanted to get a much more electronic flavor to whatever I was going to write. I didn't want to be obvious in this approach - I still wanted my orchestral elements to drive the melodies. But because so much of the film is dialogue underscoring, a solid pulsing electronic rhythmic foundation was needed. Pace and tension without being obtrusive. And of course I needed theremin - because every great science fiction film needs theremin! Although I've played a real one (lots of fun, totally recommend it) this film used a great sample I had used once before in my BITE NITE score. I use it here much more subtly, mainly as part of the director's desire to underline the UFO dialogue being tossed about in some scenes. But also as part of one key character theme.

Another part of my Must Do list was to bring back the melody for the traditional Ukranian folk song "Plyve Kacha". I was introduced to this song by my director when in post-production on the first film - it has become in recent years sort of a rallying cry and protest anthem. We were originally trying to find a way to work in a modern cover version somewhere - perhaps the end credits. That never panned out but I became entranced by the simple 9-note melody and knew that it would be the perfect theme for the film itself. Grand, beautiful, haunting, sad - it could be anything I wanted it to be depending on the context of the music and images surrounding it. In both films I have used it both in its entirety and in various forms and combinations - those 9 notes form the basis of almost every melody in the films... sometimes in ways I wasn't aware of until I went back later and listened. Once it was in my head, it informed practically every melodic decision I made, giving (in my mind) both films a unifying backbone. And its also undeniably Ukranian-sounding, which is something I was also striving for. I wanted the music to be of that place and I think it works great without being cliche or too on the nose.

So those were my marching orders - now how to go about achieving that? I'll walk through some of the musical cues from the soundtrack album now and try and explain how and why I did it.

Crash Landing

The first music I wrote for the film. I wanted to establish the tone and pallet right at the opening which meant a blend of both electronic and orchestral. The 6-note string ostinato was the kind of rhythmic motif I knew I would need as the film progressed and because it was in 3/4 it would easily match up with the Plyve Kacha theme as necessary... that theme is actually played underneath in its entirety here to establish itself and our Ukranian heroes. I wanted this whole opening to be pretty and orchestral, inspired by the gentle spinning of the satellite cross-fading into the aerial shot over the Dnieper river and to set up the hard turn into the electronic pulse of our story beginning in order to grab the audience right away and set the pace.

Message Received

Probably the second thing I wrote and a fun way for me to completely discard the orchestral elements in favor of electronic rhythm and soundscapes to match the science fiction aspect of the scene. It also serves to keep the action moving forward and tells the audience we are in for a ride here. A lot of the musical elements established here will reappear in various guises throughout the film.

Vika

This was one of a couple cues that took me forever to get right. My initial attempt which can be heard in Vika (Alternative Version) was a much bigger and bolder musical statement to accompany Steve's telepathic-guided journey. I thought the film needed something epic there but it just never felt correct to me. I doggedly held on to it as long as I could before scrapping the whole idea and rebuilding it electronically. I think its more meditative and moody now, letting the visuals do the heavy-lifting. I also went back and figured out a way to add the theremin melody I thought of as Vika's Theme in here to establish its presence. My one regret is that the second half of the alternate version includes a main theme which I wanted to establish early but is now heard for the first time at the end when Steve walks slowly across the hill to meet Vika for the first time, in a more electronic form. But I suppose it works better for the film now - one climax instead of two.

The Mission / Natasha / Gnomes

These 3 cues represent the first real musical call backs to the original film. The Mission serves the same purpose here as its elements did in the original - to establish the plan and set it in motion. Natasha brings back the jazz tone of the first film, connecting us to that original character. And Gnomes is a repurposed version of Magic Mead and serves the same function here - the backdrop to our characters hallucinating on Vexxin Vodka, only this time with electronic elements. Both scenes are silly and the music is as overtly Slavic as I could make it. It was important for me to establish these thematic connections between films for continuity.

Russians

With new villains comes a new theme, properly Russian in its musicality. The initial fanfare is big and bold and establishes the melodic elements. But then I took those elements (specifically the cello and double bass) and used them as a rhythmic motif that I could use to underscore any scene involving these characters. I wanted the music to accent their presence, but not always in a bold fashion and this cue gave me the template to do that.

A New Distraction

Long dialogue scenes can be difficult to write if they are about information more than emotion and this one was a doozy. Not only did I need to give the scene a pulse, I had to color the dialogue in a way that reinforced the dialogue and give it extra weight without calling too much attention to the score. So there's a little bit of the Russians theme, some theremin and other variations of motifs that reappear later. The scene kept getting whittled down further and further for pacing so what you hear here is an early version before all of that editing.

Worst Scenario

Another dialogue underscore including another appearance of the Russians theme in all its glory. But what I love about this cue is the ending when Romax watches the Kapustin Yar explosion from his ship. I unleash the full orchestra here and I was really happy with how it turned out. It was something I created late one night in the headphones after a few too many beers and a desire to create the biggest orchestral crescendo I could - just something huge that would rattle my speakers. When I listened back the next day, I was thrilled - that rarely happens when I write and mix in headphones.

Tembro / Sofia's Space Journey

Sometimes when you're making a film you discover that actors have a chemistry with each other that creates an emotional relationship you never foresaw at the script stage. As the editor, I love when these moments happen and I run with them. It happened with Tanya/Roman on the first film and it happened again here between Tembro the savvy alien and Sofia the diminutive SETI scientist. So I felt it only natural to reprise the romantic musical elements of the first film for this new one, again establishing a connective thread between the two. I also love the melodies so it was a real treat to revisit and expand them. The space journey section took me forever to get right because I was continuously adding more instrumentation and countermelodies and losing the focus of the music. So I stripped it all away and kept it simple - french horn, cello, a couple woodwinds and let that carry all the weight. Its much better for it I think.

Shadow Agents

Another tough scene to get right (you can read all about it here) but it ended up being one of my favorites. It started as a very electronic soundscape that sounded cool but did nothing for the momentum of the scene. So I scrapped all that work and waited until I found the ostinato pulse of the violins and viola rhythm which gave me my solid foundation to build on. From that point it was just a lot of fun to weave that in and out while the electronics added all the coloring. A scene that intercuts like this between several viewpoints allows a lot of freedom in jumping around between musical ideas - each little section needs to get in and out with a solid idea very quickly and that's fun to do. It also sounds great in headphones, which was a pleasant surprise because I wrote and mixed it using only speakers... something I've been forcing myself to do as a standard.

Larkazz

Oh man, another bugger of a scene. I love the opening orchestral stabs that establish our other villain but I'm not sure I will ever be completely happy with the rest of the cue. Action can be so difficult to write at times and this is one where I was never really satisfied. But maybe other people will dig it. You win some...

Under Attack

This scene in the film was built completely in the edit process. In the script, it is actually several scenes strung together but I just knew that wasn't going to be very dramatic. So over the course of several days I figured out a way to intercut all of them together so everything built to a single climax. Everyone was happy with the result and it allowed me to use the Message Received music as a foundation to weave my other character themes in and out as needed.

We Are Allspace

This music actually appears twice in the film but I decided once was enough for the album. During the editing process I was actually quite perplexed as to how to score this until I simply copied my previous track onto the scene and it worked perfectly. Sometimes it's just that easy. I messed with it a bit to make it fit but overall I feel it gives this pre-climax the emotional weight the film needed. And its pretty. I like pretty.

Message To Earth

In the film's script there is very little description of what this moment would look like. We didn't have the budget for spaceships hovering over cities and all that big Hollywood stuff so I decided to go for a gentler montage. This allowed me once again to pull previously-established musical elements and give them a proper farewell here, in different and more economical forms. During our review of the rough cut we made significant changes to the ending of the film which in turn influenced the music for this scene. I toned down the "bigness" of the ending knowing the real climax was yet to come.

The Bear / End Credits

The jazzy sound of the first film makes its final appearance here in The Bear as two favorite characters, Natasha and Sergei reunite. They are always fun together and I wanted the music to reflect not only that but also that their mission across the two films had finally reached its conclusion. For the End Credits I wanted to forego a typical suite of themes in favor of a heavier rock version of Under Attack, edited down and changed significantly here before the Russians make their final appearance.

Well there you have it. Thanks for indulging me and I hope you enjoy the music even half as much as I enjoyed creating it. It's been a real treat to work on these two films and play in this crazy world of Ukranian hackers and space aliens. I was able to explore a lot of new musical avenues which is always challenging and fun and helps to add more colors to my toolbox. Until next time...