Music & Composition03 / 03

For me, music is the emotional link in filmmaking. Three notes from Hans Zimmer’s Interstellar can blow you away. Underworld’s Born Slippy in Trainspotting can make a scene unforgettable. Music can hit you in a nanosecond, triggering memories and emotions before you’ve even had time to process what you’re watching.

I’ve spent over 50 years playing, writing and experimenting with music, from electronic soundscapes to recording orchestral scores with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I don’t claim to be the world’s greatest composer, but music is in my bones. It’s shaped the way I think, the way I see pictures and the way I direct.

I remember sitting in a boardroom at Saatchi & Saatchi with some of the agency’s top creatives. One of them said he’d rather spend the entire £150,000 production budget securing the perfect music track than spend it on the film itself. I knew exactly where he was coming from. Play someone the first few notes of a familiar track and bang — you’ve got them. An instant connection, a memory, an emotion. That’s an incredibly powerful creative asset and one that should never be underestimated.

It’s not just music. Sound design, atmosphere, silence and the detail of a sound dub can completely transform a scene. Danny Boyle once suggested that 80% of a film is sound. Coming from the director of Trainspotting, I think that says it all.

80% of a film is sound.
Danny Boyle