Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/760821
72 DGA QUARTERLY PHOTOS: (L-R) MIKE PONT/WIREIMAGE; ISAIAH TRICKEY/FILMMAGIC H E R E H A V E B E E N m a n y c l a s s i c d i r e c t o r - composer collaborations ove r t h e d e c a d e s, f r o m A l f r e d H i t c h c o c k a n d B e r n a r d H e r r m a n n t o Steven Spielberg and John Williams. Arrival marks the third collaboration be- tween Canadian director Denis Villeneuve and Ice- landic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, after Prison- ers (2013) and Sicario (2015). They are now working on their fourth film together, Blade Runner 2049 (sched- uled for release late next year), a sequel to the 1982 film directed by Ridley Scott. DGA Quarterly asked them to discuss their long professional relationship via confer- ence call—Villeneuve on location with Blade Runner in Budapest, Jóhannsson in New York while on tour for his new album Orphée. DGA: How did the two of you first get together? VILLENEUVE: I was looking for something spe- cific for Prisoners—something that would sound like Arvo Pärt, a kind of classical music that would have that kind of Nordic sadness. I had all these CDs on my desk, something like 40 composers to choose from. When I heard Jóhann's demo, I was totally seduced by the freshness of his voice, the singularity. He was totally in that vein. J Ó H A N NS S O N : On Prisoners, we spoke before pre-production. We were still finding a feel for each other. It was more on Sicario that this real collabora- tive process kind of gelled, and became a real mode of working. On Sicario, I started to send music after I received the first cut. But on Arrival, I sent music during the first week of shooting. DGA: How did the two of you develop such a harmoni- ous relationship? VILLENEUVE: Music is a very powerful art form. It has a massive impact on a movie. Instead of asking Jóhann to do the music right at the end, once the edit- ing process is finished, we are doing the opposite. Jóhann comes on location; he reads the script. Then, early in the editing process, we send him scenes, so we can start brainstorming. With my editor, Joe Walker, we do not use any music as we are editing. Then Jóhann brings maybe two or three ideas and there's always one that strikes us and blows us away. We re-edit with the music. It's like a dialogue between the editing room and Jóhann. It's a dance I really love. DG A: Are your early compositions based on reading the script, and maybe discussions with Denis? JÓHANNSS ON: For Arrival, especially, it was the script which obviously contains so many strong ideas and so many strong themes. Denis and Patrice [Ver- mette, production designer] were generous enough to share with me some of the concept art, including the shapes of the spaceships. So it was very much inspired by the ideas and the concepts behind the film. For ex- ample, that first recording session that produced this music I sent to Denis during the first week of shooting was all created using analog tape loops. That's just the first salvo. Then there begins a dialogue. It still takes time to find the true voice of the film. That happens between Denis, myself and Joe, during the editing process. VILLENEUVE: The goal is to try and avoid "temp" music. Joe and I, we try as much as possible to remain musical virgins. Jóhann will come with very strong, powerful tracks, maybe two or three massive themes that will become preeminent in the movie. But I am not a musician, and sometimes there are moments where I'm looking for something specific. So I send TAKING MUSIC AND SOUND TO ANOTHER REALM BY JON BURLINGAME [ C O L L A B O R A T O R S ]