Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/790371
42 CINEMONTAGE / Q1 2017 42 CINEMONTAGE / Q1 2017 was working, and the last half about getting down to the nuts and bolts, locking into the right song — many of which were written for the film — working closely with our picture editor [Richard Francis-Bruce, ACE] to get it all working right and, of course, our bosses making deals with artists." Additionally, the music editors had a lot of masters to please, no pun intended. Beyond the filmmakers and studio executives, particularly Mike Knobloch, Universal's president of film music and publishing, they had to serve the needs of the rabid fans of the franchise, who were intimately familiar with James' books — and with James herself — and the many specific musical references she wrote into her books, some of which she lobbied hard for during production of the movies. Then, of course, they had to make sure the performers they employed over the course of both movies were satisfied with the way they were cutting and utilizing their songs, including stars like Beyoncé, Annie Lennox, The Weeknd, Sia and Ellie Goulding, as well as Halsey, Taylor Swift and Zayn in the new movie, among others, who collaborated on the recently released single, "I Don't Want to Live Forever." In other words, it was a big job compared to standard gigs; most movies these days typically use one music editor. But Abbott says that music became such an overwhelmingly important element in Darker — be it songs, underscore, featured songs, ambient or background music — that "almost every minute of the film has some kind of music in it." The project's huge musical needs thus demanded two music editors, leading, Rubin says, to a collaboration between herself and Abbott that allowed them to "partner up and make the songs and score fit and flow seamlessly." Instead of feeling overwhelmed about managing the music of a billion-dollar franchise, they were able to help ensure that these movies "became a musical treat." Rubin adds that, for a lengthy period, she listened to approximately 20 to 30 songs a day — and sometimes two or three times that many — while sorting through reams of submissions from acts large and small. Her job was to help find, structure and incorporate the songs, while Abbott primarily concentrated on working directly with Elfman as he composed original material for the underscore. Then the two of them together created bridges and hand-offs between various musical elements while extending or enhancing certain cues. Fifty Shades Darker finished with 64 music cues, representing about an hour and 51 minutes of music in the film, Abbott says that music became such an overwhelmingly important element in Darker that "almost every minute of the film has some kind of music in it."