The moment has inevitably come to pass; “The Twilight Saga” film franchise has drawn to a close. But it has made such an impact on popular culture that it will influence Hollywood for years to come. And a large part of the viability of these films stems from the musical backdrop. Through the five films, three composers have made their mark with brilliant atmosphere, poignant characterization, and palpable romantic energy.
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One of the things I have really enjoyed about the “Twilight” film scores is the idea that they could very easily become these overtly-dramatic and dreary depression-fests that would otherwise be difficult to listen to as a musical product, but you seem to go out of your way to inject surprises and left-of-center musical decisions to make them fun and to keep the listeners on their toes. I’m speaking specifically to things like the horror element in ‘What You See in the Mirror’ (in “Breaking Dawn – Part 1”) and that wild swagger in ‘A Yankee Vampire’ (in “Breaking Dawn – Part 2”).
I will say right away that it’s a challenge for me to write music that never stops in the films; especially these last two “Breaking Dawn” films. They are like traditional melodramas, where one piece of music is ending, another one is beginning, and music plays through almost everything. For “Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” there was almost 90 minutes of scoring – there really is music playing all the time. So, what I do to make it palatable for myself is to keep it changing as much as I can and finding different tonalities.
And sometimes, we take that melodrama and try to make a joke out of it and go completely over-the-top, or I try to throw in something unexpected. For example, one of the things that happen in “Breaking Dawn – Part 2” is the introduction of dozens of new characters; there are vampires from all over the world coming together. And it’s not possible to write a new theme for every single character.
But ‘A Yankee Vampire’ was written for a character named Garrett, who talks about having been present at the Revolutionary War, but he dresses more like a member of a rock ‘n’ roll band. So, with the music, I tried to combine Americana with early rock ‘n’ roll. I was reaching for these strong musical tags that I can put on some of these characters that come and go very quickly. There are just so many things going on and so many characters in this film that it becomes the norm. And it’s just one of those things that I do to try to keep things varied and from sounding the same.
On these “Twilight” film soundtrack releases, you contribute one piece of music to each of them. For “Breaking Dawn – Part 1” you created ‘Love Death Birth’, and for “Breaking Dawn – Part 2” you offered ‘Plus Que Ma Propre Vie’ [French for ‘More Than My Own Life’]. Were these written before the scores, or were they compiled specifically for the soundtracks?
Those were compiled for the soundtracks, and I have mixed feelings about them. On the first “Twilight” soundtrack album, they weren’t originally planning to put anything of mine on there. But once ‘Bella’s Lullaby’ was written and recorded, it was such an important aspect of the film that Catherine Hardwicke, the director, really thought it should be on the soundtrack. And I think that made perfect sense.
But subsequently, every composer (including me) has put a piece on the soundtrack album. And I really don’t see how they go along with the songs. They don’t seem to mingle well with the songs, if you ask me. I guess it had just become a tradition with the “Twilight” series, and when we came to these last two films, they asked me to create suites to include, so I did it.
Well, what I like about them, especially these last two, is that there seems to be a tone poem quality to them, and I don’t know if I’m looking at them too philosophically or what. But ‘Love Death Birth’ really seemed to symbolize Bella’s transformation or growth into what or who she is now. And ‘Plus Que Ma Propre Vie’ starts with the end of that and pulls back, showing that she is merely a cog in a wheel and not as much a major component to the grand scheme she may have thought she was.
That’s interesting. I like your interpretation, in particular ‘Love Death Birth’ – there is a certain shape to it that does parallel Bella’s experience in that film. I have a harder time finding a shape like that with “Breaking Dawn – Part 2,” but I will accept your explanation…it’s as good as any I’ve got about what that piece means.
Now that the “Twilight” road has come to an end, looking back, would you have liked to have contributed to “New Moon” and “Eclipse”?
Yes, yes I would have. Seeing the entire set of films as one set of experiences, I would have liked to have participated in that journey. When we came to “Breaking Dawn – Part 1,” there were characters we hadn’t addressed in the original “Twilight” – Jacob barely had any musical identity or theming. He had grown into his own character during “New Moon” and “Eclipse.” I really would have liked to have been a part of developing his character. But at the same time, it doesn’t bother me that much that I wasn’t there.
’m so happy that once Bill Condon was chosen to direct these films that we could do this together. Honestly, a lot of the fun of doing these films has been working with the directors. I hadn’t really worked with the directors for “New Moon” and “Eclipse,” but it was a great pleasure working with Catherine on the first one and Bill on these last two. It might have been fun to do the others, but I have no regrets.Full interview examiner
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