Film & TV Music Conference

To give you an idea how funny Randy was, I'll quote from a fax I intercepted which was sent to my boss, thanking him for his participation in the seminar. He and his fellow panelists had the unenviable task of following Randy in a rather dry discussion about the financial structuring of deals. The closing line of the fax was "Maybe next year we should follow Robin Williams."

The topic of Randy's interview was "The Director/Composer Relationship." It's hard to put across how funny Randy was, because so much of his humor is in the way he says things, combined with his body language. For instance, when they were first starting, they were testing their microphones. Instead of saying "Testing.." or something like that, Randy sang this horrible note: "Ah.... - I'll give you an 'A'... Ah..." ("I'll give you an 'A'" as in an orchestra tuning up.") I don't think that reads funny at all, but it was hilarious.

Randy said that the two animated films were his best scoring experiences, that "Toy Story" and "James" stretched him musically. "They put all this dialog over my music, but people liked it anyway." He said that the score for "James" was a little more lyrical and a little less frenetic than "Toy Story." He was asked if people hire him to write scores because they know that he can do songs as well. He said not necessarily, "... although I did try to get one into 'The Natural.'" Then he sang to the tune of "The Natural" theme: "There was this boy, a natural..."

The moderator said, "We haven't spoken yet about the element of trust." Randy said, "Element of WHAT???" His advice to film composers is to just write your score and "don't look back" because you're not going to like what they do to your music after the fact. He said that "you can't be a hard-ass when you're an employee, when you're a slave to someone who has a CD player so that makes them an expert."

He told a story about some director who was on the scoring stage and was into having everything sound very bright. He asked that a certain instrumental line be raised an octave and was happy with the result. He then asked the oboe player if he could raise his line up an octave, and the musician said, "No, it's out of my range." The producer said, "Well, how about a half octave?"

He was asked what his best composer/director relationship was and he said "Forman (Ragtime), because he didn't come to any of the sessions." Then he said that actually, it was John Lasseter (Toy Story) and talked about how it was both challenging and scary working with a company which is so "hands-on." They would say things like "Do you want the criticism here, or should we call you?"

He said, "I hope I never do another comedy." The moderator said, "You say that every time I talk to you, and yet you keep doing them." Randy said, "Well, I guess they keep coming up with money or something." He talked about the frustration of directors and producers not trusting the audience to get a joke, and feeling that it has to be telegraphed in the music. If they test a comedy movie and "somebody coughs" (they don't get the audience reaction they were looking for) they make you go back and change it.

He said that directors will say things on the scoring stage like "Can't you make it funnier? Are there any funny instruments?" Randy imagines replying, "Well, we could stick something up your ass, that would be pretty funny -- We'd all laugh." He feels that directors have a certain contempt for the audience, believing that it's necessary to tip everything off. As an example, he cited how they added banjo to everything in "Maverick." He talked about the "composer's nightmare," being asked to use a trumpet "wah, wah" to show that something is a joke... "and I have to look the trumpet player in the face... a loathsome experience."

He said that in working on a picture, you must subdue your ego. "I can't just put something in there because I think it's nice. Everything I do is for the picture."

His advice to directors, or anyone who works with creative people is, "If you work with artists, remember that you cannot over-praise. If I hear a sentence beginning with 'You probably get tired of hearing this, but..' you know that I am really listening for what will follow."

He talked about the shock of seeing the finished product "..when I finally see it on an airplane." He wrote this wonderful music for Avalon and then it was mixed so low that you couldn't hear it. "And this wasn't for dialog, this was for montages. Levinson preferred to my music, like, the sound of GRASS. Even in 'The Natural,' he preferred the exploding light bulbs to my music."

He talked about how he admired Jerry Goldsmith's work in "Basic Instinct," about how the script didn't really do anything to show you that the Sharon Stone character was a writer and an intelligent woman, but Goldsmith's score helped to show you her intelligence.

He said that it's helpful to know what a director wants from you before you start working. After he had finished the score for "Michael," Ephron said that she didn't like classical music. "I wish I had known that. I was using an orchestra. I would have used, like, a skiffle band."

He was asked if there was ever anything that he felt very strongly about and fought the director about. He said "Yes" and that sometimes he's wrong about things. For instance, in "Parenthood," in the scene where Steve Martin is walking across the parking lot with his kids, he had written some score that he really believed in. But Ron Howard wanted him to write a song, "something to show the audience that they're watching a comedy." Randy said, "They KNOW they're watching a comedy." However, he wrote the song, "I Love To See You Smile," which he said has made him more money than any other song... "I sold it to a toothpaste commercial." He said that maybe he was wrong about not wanting to write the song, but then again, artistically, maybe he was right.

Going back to the frustration of directors wanting the music to be funny, he said "I spent a week of my life bringing a dog back from the dead in 'Michael.' It's not a comedy, I mean, it's not Monty Python, so I had to get into this religioso mode, when what I was really thinking was 'You're an angel and this is what you do? Bring a dog back from the dead?" In describing how he sometimes feels dealing with directors, he used the analogy of a "Saturday Night Live" skit from years ago, when Michael Dukakis was running against George Bush. In the skit, George Bush was going on in endless rhetoric with phrases like "Stay the course..." and "1000 points of light..." When Dukakis was asked for his rebuttal he said, "I can't believe I'm losing to this guy." He said that, although he may feel that way, he doesn't let it show. "I've become almost Oriental in my deference."

He talked about how temp tracks can be a curse because they're never quite right, but still the director and editor get use to it and then that's what they want. He cited "Michael" as an example. Nora Ephron actually preferred the temp score (consisting of library cues) to what Randy wrote, so she licensed many of them and included them in the film. In the scene where Michael is coming down the stairs you hear "farting tubas and banjos," but that's not what Randy wrote, that's the temp score which Ephron kept. Randy said that they previewed the movie with that music and it worked, but he still disagrees that it was right.

With regard to "The Paper," he talked about the importance of the ticking clock which he tried to portray in his score.

He talked about the frustration of meeting motion picture release dates: "When a picture comes out is almost more important than what's in it." He usually asks for 10 weeks to score a film, but rarely gets it.

He said that he likes to do two scores per year. The moderator asked how much time he spent working on "Faust." He said that although it was spread over a long period of time, the total time spent on it was probably 6 - 8 months. He also said that he made no money on it, that in that regard it is probably the least rewarding thing he's ever done. The moderator said, "But it was artistically rewarding" which was met with applause.

He said that he's currently working on a song album (yea!!!). He said that's difficult because "when you have neither a deadline nor an audience, you don't want to do anything." He talked about spending his days in the yard talking to the pool guy. "The kids come home from school and find me in the same position I was in when they left. If it starts to rain, they have to drag me in." He said, "I have to come up with an artificial deadline, and then fail to meet it."

Talking about his Oscar nomination for "James And The Giant Peach," he said, "I'm practicing the Menken stance" and demonstrated how he will stand up to let Menken get by him to pick up his Oscar. He likes his score for "James," but says that no one saw the movie. He said he thinks that "Hunchback" is Menken's best score and that he thinks it will win.

After Randy's interview, he came off the stage and a small group of people gathered around him. I went over and saw James Foley, who was already talking to Randy. I hung back, feeling a little timid about going over, and also feeling that, since I had already met Randy a couple of times, I shouldn't be greedy. James came over and talked to me, and somehow, very naturally, pulled me into the circle. (Thank you, James!) I don't remember exactly what you said, it's all kind of a blur. But, thank you. I got to shake hands with Randy, and touch his always warm, cozy hand yet again. I told him that I love the Faust album and think that it's brilliant. I was wearing my Faust T-shirt, which he seemed to appreciate. James asked him if he thought that Faust would ever make it to Broadway. Randy said that if it did, it would probably be in a very changed form, a form that he wouldn't like. That's about all I can remember. I was a little overwhelmed. Randy is at the absolute top of my hero list.