Young: "CREATIVITY" IS ONLY A WORD,
AND IT'S OVERUSED AND MISUSED,
BUT IT IS THE WORD THAT WE'VE DECIDED DEFINES THE ACT
OF GIVING YOURSELF PERMISSION
TO FOCUS EXCLUSIVELY ON THOSE SOUNDS IN YOUR HEAD.
IF YOU DON'T HAVE THOSE SOUNDS IN YOUR HEAD, THOSE NOTES,
THEN YOU'RE KIND OF IN TROUBLE.
WHEN I START ON A MOVIE,
THE FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS, OF COURSE,
IS WATCHING THE FILM WITHOUT TEMP MUSIC.
IT ALLOWS ME TO IMMEDIATELY HAVE MUSIC START DANCING IN MY HEAD.
AND THEN SHORTLY THEREAFTER WITH THE TEMP MUSIC PLACED IN.
ALL OF US FILM COMPOSERS SEEM TO THRIVE ON THE IDEA
OF HAVING A MOVING IMAGE GENERATE THE MUSICAL IDEAS.
IF WE'RE IN THAT SPOT
WHERE WE'RE HARD-PRESSED FOR A MUSICAL IDEA,
JUST RUN SOME FOOTAGE IN FRONT OF US,
EVEN IF IT'S A TOOTHPASTE COMMERCIAL,
AND WE'RE OFF AND RUNNING.
SO I WILL WATCH THE FILM A FEW TIMES,
AND THEN I'LL STEP AWAY FROM IT
AND I'LL WALK AROUND FOR ABOUT 7 TO 10 DAYS
AND JUST SPIT INTO THE CELLPHONE
ANY MUSICAL IDEA THAT POPS INTO MY HEAD.
!!musiC@! DA-DA-DO-DA-DA-DO, DA-DA-DO-DEE-DA-DOE !!musiC@!
!!musiC@! BRRRRRM !!musiC@!
IN THE COURSE OF A DAY,
I CAN COME UP WITH SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT DIFFERENT THEMATIC IDEAS.
THEN AFTER THAT'S COMPLETED, I GO BACK TO THE PICTURE
AND SEE WHICH OF THESE IDEAS ARE VALUABLE.
I HAVE SOME ASSISTANTS HERE.
THIS IS REALLY WHERE THEY FIRST GET INVOLVED.
THEY HELP ME BELIEVE
THERE'S SOMETHING THAT'S REALLY VALUABLE,
'CAUSE I'M SO SELF-CRITICAL, I'D GO,
"I DON'T THINK ANY OF THESE ARE GONNA WORK,"
AND 99% OF THEM GET FLUSHED DOWN THE TOILET,
BUT AT LEAST THEY'VE GOT THE GEARS MOVING.
Man: I FEEL LIKE THERE MIGHT BE A FRIENDSHIP THEME
BETWEEN MONKEY KING AND THE MONK.
Young: I'LL SUBDIVIDE THE MOVIE INTO THEMATIC CATEGORIES
AND THEN LIST ALL THE CUES THAT ARE RELEVANT FOR THAT CATEGORY.
I'LL TACKLE THE HARDEST, MOST INVOLVED SCENE,
AND THAT'S USUALLY THE CUE THAT I WRITE FIRST.
I THEN PULL OUT MY CALENDAR AND GO,
"HOW MANY DAYS DO I HAVE TO GET ALL THIS MUSIC WRITTEN?"
THAT ALLOWS YOU TO KNOW, EXACTLY HOW MANY MINUTES
DO I HAVE TO WRITE IN A DAY, YOU KNOW?
AND THAT'S THE LAW. IT'S SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.
YOU HAVE TO GET THAT DONE.
THAT'S YOUR PRIMARY OBJECTIVE.
YOU KNOW, WE DON'T MAKE GREAT PARTNERS, I DON'T THINK.
YOU KNOW, IF WE HAVE KIDS,
WE WISH WE COULD BE THERE WITH THEM ALL THE TIME,
BUT EVEN WHEN WE'RE THERE WITH THEM, WE'RE NOT REALLY
'CAUSE WE'RE THINKING ABOUT, "I GOT TO GET BACK TO WORK."
THIS LITTLE JIMINY CRICKET WHO'S SAYING,
"STOP THIS CHATTERING WITH YOUR KIDS.
GET BACK TO THE PIANO."
THE FIRST THING I'LL DO IS WATCH A SCENE,
AND I'LL TRY TO CLEAR MY HEAD OF ANY MUSICAL THOUGHT
AND THEN, IN A PRIMITIVE, UNINTELLECTUALIZED MANNER,
RESPOND TO THE SCENE AND THINK JUST ABOUT,
"WHAT IS THAT PATTERN, THAT OSTINATO,
THAT RHYTHMIC IDEA THAT'S GONNA MAKE THIS SCENE WORK?"
WHOA, WHOA, BANG!
AND USUALLY WHAT I'LL DO IS I'LL SIT AT THE PIANO
AND BASH IT LIKE A LITTLE BABY.
[ DISCORDANT PIANO NOTES PLAYING ]
THE BEST ACTION CUES I'VE EVER WRITTEN
HAVE ALWAYS BEEN GENERATED BY MY INSTINCTIVE RESPONSE.
IT'S HOW VISCERALLY RESPONSIVE IT IS TO THE SCENE.
[ DISCORDANT NOTES CONTINUE ]
AND THEN I'M READY TO HAVE A SCORE PREPARED.
THIS IS WHERE MY ASSISTANTS COME IN.
MY ASSISTANTS BECOME MY HANDS.
THEY PUT INTO THE COMPUTER THE EXACT NOTES THAT I WANT
SO THAT THESE SKETCHES --
SKETCHES ARE REDUCTIONS OF THAT MUSIC.
THESE THINGS ARE THEN PRINTED OUT,
AND THEN I HAVE MY SYNTHESIST, MY MAIN GUY MAX,
HE WILL INPUT THE SKETCHES THAT HE GETS.
"THAT'S WHAT THE STRINGS ARE DOING? GOT IT."
AND HE INPUTS, "OH, THIS IS WITH THE BRASS? OKAY."
THEN HE PUTS IT AND HE SHAPES IT,
THEN I COME DOWN AND LISTEN TO IT.
WHAT DO YOU THINK FILLING IN SOME?
SOUNDS PRETTY QUIET TO ME.
Max: YEAH, PROBABLY THIS WHOLE SECTION
COULD COME UP A LITTLE BIT.
Young: WHOLE SECTION YOU THINK CAN COME UP?
WE SHAPE IT TOGETHER.
THE DIRECTOR COMES OVER. HE HEARS IT.
IF THE DIRECTOR LIKES IT,
THEN THE SKETCH THEN GOES OUT TO THE ORCHESTRATOR,
WHO TAKES MY SKETCH
AND THEN HE BLOWS IT UP INTO THE FULL SCORE FOR THIS ONE.
[ DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS ]
TO TRY TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT
IS SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE SETS OUT WANTING TO DO.
YOU KNOW, I LOOK AT MY SCORES,
AND I KIND OF DIVIDE THEM INTO TWO CATEGORIES.
THOSE SCORES I'M COMPLETELY ON MY OWN,
AND USUALLY IN THOSE SITUATIONS,
YOU'RE REALLY ABLE TO BE CREATIVE
AND DIFFERENT AND SPECIAL.
THE ONES THAT HAVE TEMP MUSIC
THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DANCE AROUND,
YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T HELP BUT WALK AWAY FROM THE MOVIE
AND GO, "I WONDER WHAT THE SCORE MIGHT'VE BEEN
IF I'D NEVER HEARD THE TEMP."
THE WEIRD THING, AS YOU KNOW, ABOUT ANYTHING THAT'S CREATIVE
IS THAT THERE ARE NO RULES.
THERE'S NO DEFINITIVE REQUIREMENTS
THAT MAKE ONE BETTER THAN THE OTHER.
IT'S ALL IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER.
BUT I'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME STUDYING MUSIC,
SO I KNOW WHAT'S GOOD, WHICH IS AVERAGE,
AND WHICH IS NOT REALLY THAT GREAT.
AND I'M ALWAYS CHALLENGED, AND I WANT TO GET BETTER.
I'M STILL OBSESSIVE ABOUT WANTING TO GET BETTER.
[ MID-TEMPO DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING ]
YEAH.