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Westerkamp and Gus Van Sant: Adapting Music for Film.

Gus Van Sant's "Elephant" is now playing nation wide. It is a film that gently and poetically observes the daily comings and goings of its' teenage characters who, at day's end will have become the victims of school violence. High school is a unique experience for each student. For some it is exciting and friendly. For others it is a difficult and lonely time. We find the film's high school culture a complex environment in which life can quickly shift from light to darkness.

Van Sant borrowed the title "Elephant" from British filmmaker Alan Clark's documentary about sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Clark had titled his film based on the saying that a problem is often " ... as easy to ignore as an elephant in the living room." It seems an appropriate title for Van Sant's film about high school life in a time of violence.

Hildegard Westerkamp, is a Canadian composer whose work was selected by Van Sant and sound designer Leslie Shatz for the film. The following interview with Westerkamp explores her experience in having work adapted for use in a feature film.

PN: From what composition of yours did Director Van Sant select a segment for use in his film, "Elephant"?

HW: He selected segments from two pieces: "Beneath the Forest Floor" (released by empreintes Digitales, Montreal on "Transformations") and "Türen der Wahrnehmung" ("Doors of Perception") (originally released by Nonsequitur on Radius #4)

PN: How long before the film was released were you contacted about the use of your composition?

HW: I am not sure about the exact release date of the film, but I do know that the film was awarded the Palme d'Or and Best Director prizes at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, which I believe was in May 2003. I was contacted for the first time on December 27, 2002!

PN: How were you informed about Mr. Van Sant's interest in your composition? Did Mr. Van Sant contact you directly?

HW: No his producer Danny Wolf contacted me.

PN: Were you told why your composition had been selected? Or how it would be used?

HW: Yes, Danny Wolf explained it in fair detail. About "Beneath the Forest Floor" he said in one email, "We love the mood and emotion that it evokes". He also was open to my questions of HOW they would use the compositions. He was quite detailed especially in explaining how excerpts of "Türen der Wahrnehmung" would be used, referring to the way scenes get repeated in the film from different perspectives and viewpoints. But I never found out exactly which parts would be used until I saw the film.

PN: How was your composition eventually used as part of the film's sound design?

HW: I saw the film only once and don't remember all the details. But one excerpt of "Türen der Wahrnehmung" was used repeatedly in one of the scenes that was repeated from different perspectives, but showing the same corridor, the same doors. The excerpt from "Beneath the Forest Floor" came at one of the most dramatic points in the film, after the first shooting had occurred, punctuating in a most eerie way the silence, the horror of that moment.

PN: What was your response?

HW: I was very impressed how the excerpts were used. Although "Beneath the Forest Floor" was originally a piece about the indigenous forests on the Pacific west coast of Canada and was very much trying to underscore the peace and depth of wilderness/wildness in these environments ---its use in that moment in the film worked remarkably well. Most likely it worked because the composition, besides trying to create a peaceful atmosphere, contains an eerie tone, one that refers to the darkness of forest, the mystery, that which makes us afraid to walk through such a forest in the dark.

His use of the excerpts of "Türen der Wahrnehmung" was particularly interesting to me. I had never been very satisfied with that composition,found it somehow incomplete, inconclusive. When I heard the ways in which it was used in Elephant, I thought "now I am glad that I have composed it, someone knew how to work with it". It completed the piece in a strange way for me, even though he only used a miniscule part of it---the whole piece is 30 minutes long.

PN: Your compositions had already been recorded and released on CD. Did Van Sant use a segment directly from CDs or did you have to prepare a special digital edition for him?

HW: No he used them directly from the CDs.

PN: Could you share some perspective on what is involved for obtaining permission to use a composer's work in a film or media production?

HW: This was a bit nerve wrecking for me as I had never been involved in such contracts. Most other situations had been on a smaller scale. I consulted with some colleagues more experienced with providing music/sound for such a film. What was most important was that I would retain my rights for future use of the pieces. The contract only had to do with this film, even excluding the production of a potential future soundtrack on CD (although not anticipated originally a CD of the soundtrack was produced in France after the film won the prize in Cannes).

PN: Given the experience you had with your work being used in "Elephant",what advice would you give media producers on how to contact and arrange for an artist's work to be used in their own production?

HW:My most urgent advice has to do with timing. This was a typical example of how sound/music is dealt with---always at the last moment. Because the music was already composed in this particular case it was not such a big problem. But I felt pushed in terms of the contract negotiations. There was an assumption that I would be able to respond instantly, drop everything else that was going on in my life! Meanwhile I needed to do some research and inform myself of what a good contract is in such a situation for the composer. This takes a while. Later I found out that everything had to happen so fast as they were in the final stages of the film--trying to get it ready for Cannes. This kind of pressure is rather unfair to anyone involved.

If a composer is contacted to do the composing I feel strongly that filmmakers should involve composers at an early stage. Composers, just like all others working on the film, need to familiarize themselves with the film, its' moods, progressions, deeper meanings and need some time to convert that knowledge into music. The reason why the music and soundtracks of so many movies are lousy and superficially produced can be found in the incredible rush that is suddenly demanded from composers: most of the time they have been engaged at the very end of the film's production, when the push to finish is the fiercest. This is usually
audible.

PN: Thank you.