Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1532181
FRIGHTFUL SOUNDS: "The score transitions from traditional orchestral cues to very electronic," Paterson says. P H OT O : P H OT O F E S T 'In the 1979 film, the music would often appear solely out of these eerily silent moments. We were able to recreate a similar feeling.' 33 S P R I N G Q 1 I S S U E F E A T U R E same page as well. No one wanted to copy what the original movies did, but we wanted to find ways we could nod to them and cap- ture their essence. To my delight, one of the things I heard when we started mixing were these lone woodwinds that would begin cues and were saturated in '70s tape delay, as they were in the original movies. After studying the 1979 film, I realized how the music would often appear solely out of these eerily silent moments, and we were able to recreate a similar feeling. The score transitions from tradition- al-style "Alien" orchestral cues that bring you in and make you feel nostalgic, like you're watching a recognizable "Alien" movie, into a very electronic score. Some- thing Ben said to me was interesting: He t h o u g h t t h e re l at i o n s h i p b e twe e n t h e electronic elements and the orchestral ele- ments were "very alien to each other," and I always wondered if that inspired him to mix up the two different methods. Files: We've been lucky to work with Ben on several pictures recently. He's one of a few modern composers that understands and embraces old-fashioned thematic movie music. It's so easy to say, "Oh, it's old-fashioned and this should be modern and cool," but there's a way to do both. He's amazing at doing something that serves the film thematically and gives you the emo- tional throughline you need, and also gives you some shockingly unexpected sonic tex- tures. Especially when we get into what we call the fourth act, I think the music goes off the rails in a really delicious way. It almost feels like a completely different composer, a completely different score. But that's what the film needed at that point: Take a hard left at the end where it's like, "Where is this coming from? This is insane." Gilmore: I love what Will said about it being old-fashioned plus new. That encap- sulates the entire movie. Fede wanted to pay homage to the original "Alien" from 1979. When Will and I started creating sounds, we kept returning to "Let's try to recreate, not recycle." How do we keep things very much feeling old-fashioned, a nod to the legacy — which is a challenge in itself — but also put our own weird spin on it? The big thing I took away from "Ro- mulus" is to keep taking risks. Don't be afraid to go for it and make bold choices in editing and mixing. If you're scared to make a choice, there's a pretty good chance it could end up being the right choice. I also want to give a ton of props to our amazing crew. It was never lost on them that we had an amazing opportunity to contribute to a franchise we've loved forever, and they all poured themselves into this thing.■ This interview has been edited for length and clarity.