Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1061972
45 Q4 2018 / CINEMONTAGE composer had things he needed to get going, and there was a certain workflow I helped him develop." It would be difficult for somebody to shift gears from working on a full-blown temp on a film this size into tracking underscore cues at the composer's studio; those tasks are too far apart, George acknowledges. "The way our process unfolded, Paul and I were working toward each other," he explains. "I was paying attention to what he was doing, because where the temp is going helps us with spotting and musical communication on things like what kind of tone the director is looking for. And then, eventually, new material is written and put into demo form. If the director likes it, we hand it off to Paul to try in the temps. So slowly it starts to cross-pollinate, and once it all began to come together, we ended up here on the scoring stage together." For his part, Rabjohns started on the film in September 2017. "But I was here in LA while they were still shooting in Australia," he clarifies. "They would send me cut scenes, and I would start putting temp score to them and sending them back to Australia. When production came back to LA last November, we really started up on the temp score, continuing the process here." In what he calls a "really unusual preview process" for a film, Rabjohns reveals, "Aquaman actually had a preview audience for the very first temp, the end of the director's cut. Normally, that temp is just for filmmakers and studio executives. But they decided to screen it for an audience — and that meant we had to have the music much further along, because we were showing it to members of the general public. We had to race to make the temp track feel like a finished movie in terms of music." And that's why for the temp track phase the producers added Surga and Oso Snell to the team. "James Wan wanted to do a lot of experimentation and try different styles of music and approaches to scenes during the frenetic director's cut period," Rabjohn continues. "So he wanted as much creative horsepower as possible before that first preview screening. Jeanette mostly worked on two particular set-piece sequences in the middle of the film, which involve a big chase, while Peter concentrated more on a big reveal toward the end of the third act." Picture editor Kirk Morri also created temp score options for certain key scenes along the way. According to the music editors, the eventual temp track these collaborations produced was crucial for the project's eventual success because it helped filmmakers figure out the thematic approach they wanted to take throughout. Rabjohns worked on the temp track for almost a year, through four preview screenings. "Although Rupert's score doesn't sound like the temp music in the final film, the temp score was particularly useful for the director to explore a lot of different ideas, and led him to a general philosophy for the way a score might ultimately work in the film," he elaborates. "Through the temp process, James came up with the idea that modern-day Atlantis exists underwater and is a society much more high- tech than the surface world. To that end, he wanted to distinguish Atlantis musically by 45 Aquaman. Warner Bros. Pictures & DC Comics CONTINUED FROM PAGE 43 J.J. George.