Strilo posted:Right but when they say "the music for the kiss was too understated" or the music for Sirius' death was boring. Or even that there was a lack of thematic development, they know at least a little of what they are talking about.
Strilo posted:For the bit where the DA is flying to the Ministry of Magic, the music is too happy and magical and fun. It distracts from the tension and the urgency of what they are doing. This was a seriously miscalculation of tone by Hooper and/or Yates. Again it actively hurts the film.
Strilo posted:I agree with the hot Czech girl.
Strilo posted: Damnit I totally knew that.
Hooper Interview posted:JOSH: Hi listeners, and welcome to a very musical edition of Spell Cast. Today I have with me, the one, the only, the BAFTA award-winning, Nicholas Hooper! Welcome! NICHOLAS HOOPER: Hello there. JOSH: Hi. Fantastic to have you on the show mate. We’ve been looking so forward to having you here. Just have got a few questions for you. Have you actually read the Harry Potter books? NICHOLAS HOOPER: Yes, I’ve read them all. I’ve been a fan ever since the first one came out, and I’ve waited for each one with baited breath, and I’m waiting for the last one now with baited breath. Yes, I really think she’s a tremendous writer, JK Rowling. Coming from my background, where my mother was a children’s book writer, as well. Not quite as successful. I’ve just got a real thing about books, and I love Harry Potter in particular. JOSH: The score was recorded in Abbey Road, London, with the chamber orchestra of London, but we know that the baton has been passed on through John Williams and Patrick Doyle, and these are some pretty big shoes to fill. How much of their themes and motifs did you want to keep, and how much of yourself did you want to actually bring to this score? NICHOLAS HOOPER: I, originally, was going to use quite a bit of the John Williams material, but as I was working with David Yates, it became apparent this film was going to be a bit different. So a lot of the themes that were in previous films weren’t really appropriate. Obviously there’s no Quidditch, so there’s no Quidditch theme. Things like that. In the end, we decided on the Hedwig theme, which is the one that everybody sort of wanted to be used. I’ve used it, obviously at the front, but also it’s sort of secretly in the score in lots of different places. You’ve probably spotted it in important moments in the film. After taking over from other people like John Williams, that was a bit daunting, I have to say. JOSH: Yeah. NICHOLAS HOOPER: I had a great team, so I was very lucky. Abbey Road is fantastic, very cool on that. Just the best possible, imaginable recording studio. I had Peter Cobbin as my engineer who has done Lord of the Rings, Narnia, and he’s just one of the top recording engineers in the world. He was so experienced that I could lean on him for experience and work at how to get the sound I wanted. Very pleased with the results. JOSH: So your actual creative process, how do you create a score for film because you’ve come from a lot televisions and plays and dramas? NICHOLAS HOOPER: Well, film isn’t much different except it’s on a bigger scale. I’ve done two other feature films before. Creating the score is really a matter of working with David Yates, the director. We’ve always worked this way. We work very closely together. I give him material, which I come up with at various times throughout the whole process, even before filming, and he gives me his reaction. It gets shifted around, we try it against different things, it gets thrown out, new material comes up. One of the main points about the themes, I write a lot, and quite quickly, so there’s plenty of material around for us to pick and choose, and work out what will work. That’s the process really. JOSH: So did you actually have times where you’d wake up at 4 AM and you’d go, “Oh! Here’s this fantastic melody. I’ve got to write it down right now!” Or you’d give some melodies to Dave, and he’d go, “Nope. Don’t like that.” NICHOLAS HOOPER: Oh both really. Well, usually 5 o’clock in the morning (laughs). And I’m quite, quite often in a sweat saying, “Oh dear, is there sleep yet? Am I ever going to?” I had ideas in the night, yes. But a lot of them would come, somehow, simply. Some of the best ones came very simply, and unexpectedly. Like the Umbridge theme, which you were talking about, which you like so much. I think I wrote six ideas for that. Different ones, all very, very quickly because I was so entertained by the Umbridge classroom scene. That was where I started. And I gave them to David, and amongst them was this odd, rather disturbing and irritating theme, which I thought he wouldn’t like, but I put it in. Of course that was the one he liked. That’s the one you liked too. JOSH: That is honestly amazing. So was that the first theme that you created? NICHOLAS HOOPER: I think the first one was Mr. Weasley’s theme at the beginning of the Ministry of Magic. In fact, that whole Ministry of Magic piece was the earliest piece I wrote for the score. Because in the early days, when we were trying to get Warner Brothers to take me one, I had to come up with some ideas, obviously to show them what I could do. That was the one that stuck. JOSH: In coming up with a theme, what do you do? Do you get a huge jug of tea and some sugar, a pen and a pencil, go sit down by a lake or something? What helps you reflect on and help create some new themes? NICHOLAS HOOPER: Well actually, I’m quite boring. I use a computer and a keyboard. I sit there, and I keep bashing away at things. I sort of call it “throwing stuff at the walls to see if it sticks.” So I’d say from 9 o’clock in the morning, well probably 5 past 9 by the time I got down there, I’m blooming well going to have to come up with something, so I’m kind of just writing until I do. That’s the process really. It’s quite tough. The stuff by the lake sounds great. I wish I could do it (laughs). JOSH: Yeah. I’m just trying to think of how you get your inspiration. NICHOLAS HOOPER: I don’t know where it comes from really. JOSH: That’s fine. You’ve composed for a fair bit now, obviously, but is there a sense that composing for Order of the Phoenix, has it opened up avenues and new areas of interest for you? NICHOLAS HOOPER: Yes, I think so. I mean composing on that scale. I have got ??? in the past, but not quite the same scale. I think big emotional moments have been opened up by that score because it is quite an emotional score. The whole business of size and impact and that sort of feeling of being able to really swing out with the music instead of trying to make sure it will just fit under some television program, it does make a big difference really. It’s got to hasn’t it? JOSH: Oh, that’s very true. So your favorite piece, before you said, was the Weasley piece? NICHOLAS HOOPER: My favorite piece is when Harry throws out Voldemort when he possesses him. That’s the one I really like the best. It’s quite slow and very emotional. I think it has to be my favorite piece of the score. JOSH: Oh okay. So I’ve had an actual friend who’s not been particularly happy with the score. She said it sounded very Cirque du Soleil, Les Miserable-like. For example, the Ministry of Magic reminded her of One Day More from Les Miserable. To her, it seemed more atmospheric, and no particular themes actually stood out in the crowd for her. Were you trying to be more atmospheric in that way, do you think? NICHOLAS HOOPER: Well not consciously. And I haven’t heard Les Miserable, so if I had nicked it from there, it would’ve been by accident—I can assure you. We were certainly going for emotion, and I think the score was intended to underpin the film very carefully. Maybe that was its strength rather than having more upfront themes. But I would contest the idea that there weren’t any themes, very strongly. I think the Umbridge theme, the possession theme, some of the other themes to do with the Weasleys were perfectly clear to be heard. I mean it just really depends on the style you like. There’s no way I would even wish to try and compete with Mr. Williams. I think he’s brilliant and at the top of his field, or my field, in fact. But I was very happy with what I did. It was different, and I hope people find it refreshing. JOSH: Well I’m sure they do. Your relationship with Mr. David Yates, how did you guys start off together? NICHOLAS HOOPER: We started off because, well, I saw a piece he did on the television back in the early 90s when he was a student, and I thought, “This guy knows how to use music.” And I contacted a friend, and I said, “How do I contact David Yates.” And he said, “He’s in the next village to yours.” Three miles away. So I got in contact with him, and I did his student graduation film. And the rest, as they say, is history. JOSH: With the online fandom, they were very interested in what you were actually going to be able to do. We actually have something called Wizarding Rock, which is like the Harry Potter fandom’s way of creating their own music. There are 100s of bands, duets, and they get together and they record and create their own songs for Harry Potter characters or events or things that have or haven’t happened in the books. But what kind of advice would you be able to give aspiring composers in the Harry Potter fandom to create their own music? NICHOLAS HOOPER: Oooh, well Jarvis Cocker did quite a good job I thought in Harry Potter 4. He managed to combine quite traditional rock ideas with something that was a bit different. I feel that the Harry Potter music should be slightly old-fashioned. The whole thing has a slightly old-fashioned feeling. More classic, if you know what I mean. JOSH: Yeah. NICHOLAS HOOPER: So I think there’s a bit of that, but a lot of it would be just trying to be very original. Try to throw things at the wall. See what happens. I keep saying that because that’s the way I work, but actually my son’s an electric guitarist and rock musician, and he gave me some advice on it all as well, and what he made of Jarvis Cocker and the very clever way in which he managed to mix styles so that in the end you ended up with something that was familiar, but slightly different from the usual thing. Other than that, I don’t know what to say really. Just go for it. JOSH: Well, what about book 6? Can we look forward to you coming back for that? NICHOLAS HOOPER: I hope so. It’s in negotiation at the moment. But I certainly hope to be back for book 6, yes. JOSH: We’re all going to be waiting for you mate. It’s going to be fantastic. From here on in, you’ve composed the score, it’s been a huge success, you’ve had fun, where do you want to go now from this? NICHOLAS HOOPER: Well I’d love to do the next one. I would love a chance to work on an emotional score. I mean, this one was, but I’d love to do a film that had a real chance for the emotional cameras in it. So you know, I’d love a big romantic film. That would be gorgeous to work on. Something like that. Otherwise, I’ll just keep composing, you know? I’m writing a little concerto for a local youth orchestra at the moment, which will be great fun. I wrote a song for the local church the other day. I do all sorts of things. I just like composing really. I don’t want to stop. JOSH: And the final question is, in terms of inspiration, what actually inspires you? NICHOLAS HOOPER: I think it is the potential or potency of a theme that I’m working with. And I don’t mean the musical theme, I mean a story theme. If something has a real kick to it, and it excites my imagination, that’s what inspires me. JOSH: And that’s what has brought you to composing? NICHOLAS HOOPER: I think it probably has. Yes. JOSH: Well wonderful. That’s about all we have time for today, but once again, thank you so much Nick for joining us today on Spell Cast. NICHOLAS HOOPER: That’s my pleasure.
