Film composer Hans Zimmer has exerted an extraordinary influence over movie music in such motion pictures as “Rainman,” “Black Rain,” “Driving Miss Daisy,” “As Good As it Gets,” “Lion King,” and “Crimson Tide.”
His newest effort is “The Prince of Egypt,” which opens Dec. 18.
Movie music writer Edwin Black spoke with the composer in his studio last March, and in September by phone. The edited transcript of those interviews follows.
Q–More soundtrack music is available today than ever before–some 500 CDs annually. Quantity is dramatically up. But what about the quality?
A–Within any year I see 98 percent horrible stuff and 2 percent quality. I certainly didn’t write anything great last year.
Q–What was your best?
A–“Peacemaker.” I liked one theme in it.
Q–The “Sarajevo” theme?
A–Yes. Because it was inspired. We all have craft, we all have technique. But the moments of inspiration, that’s where it really happens for composers.
Q–Are you saying the current filmmaking environment makes inspiration and innovation less possible?
A–Right. For one, there’s just too much music being used.
Q–Remember the chase scene in “Bullitt” had no music.
A–The fight in “Rocky” had no music either. I know that for a fact because a producer once said to me that he wanted the scene to sound like the “Rocky” fight and that my music was all wrong. I went out and got the video of “Rocky” and discovered the scene had no music.
Q–What type of music do directors expect from Hans Zimmer?
A–I have no idea. I’m this loose cannon–all over the place. I can do action movies and romantic comedies. And I’m a good collaborator–which means I’m cantankerous and opinionated. I compose from a point of view. Point of view is the most important thing, and not necessarily the director’s point of view. In fact, great directors welcome disagreement. A film takes on a life of its own, and you just hang on for dear life. Eventually, it starts talking back to you. It’s an odd process.
Q–So why so many action movie assignments?
A–Because when I was a kid in Europe, I only scored art movies. In those days, all I wanted was to go to Hollywood, compose for action movies and sound like John Williams. But I didn’t know how. So “Black Rain,” my first action movie, was original but only by virtue of my own stupidity. My lack of knowledge made it original.
Q–Black Rain is one of your best-known scores. Yet much of the music you composed is only used for an instant in the movie itself. In fact, you only hear a few seconds of the “Black Rain Suite,” a 20-minute piece.
A–Would you like to know what happened? Our producer, Stanley Jaffe, at the time, hated everything I was doing. And hated it so much he shouted at me after a screening at Paramount, and I fainted. So by the time we got to the dub stage, I was just living in fear. We were battling the system. It’s always a war. Well, not always, but most of the time it’s a war. You’re in a battle and you lose faith and you lose heart–especially when your producer tells you that is the worst piece of music he’s every heard.
Q–How has “Lion King”–and your Academy Award for it–made a difference in your career?
A–First, I realized that I should not write things in 3 1/2 weeks. “Lion King” could have been better if I had spent twice the time. Second, it’s dangerous to work with black and white preproduction drawings and not color because I think I got the orchestration wrong in a few places. Third, “Lion King” also made me reassess my situation in this town. You can go two ways. I admit that standing on the stage getting an Oscar is the most seductive moment in one’s life. It is truly overwhelming. And then you go, wow, if I just carry on writing nice music like this, I can have this moment again. That’s why I did the exact opposite, scoring for truly offensive projects like “The Fan.” Just to shake myself out of the desire for that Oscar experience. Otherwise I would just stagnate. Nothing new would happen. For me, it’s still about trying to write decent music. Ironically, despite all the scores I’ve written, there are very few I’m proud of.
Q–When you’re composing, are you thinking about the CD or the movie, or both?
A–I’m thinking about the movie–all the time. Today I’m sitting here mixing “Prince of Egypt” and everybody else is telling me it sounds great. But I just have doubts about it. Constantly. But that’s the way I’m built. At the same time, the studio is asking me, what tracks are going on the CD, and I’m saying, “I don’t know. Maybe two minutes’ worth.”
Q–How long did you work on “Prince of Egypt?”
A–I started on the songs 3 1/2 years ago, long before any drawings were made. Animators must coordinate to lip movements, so they really needed the songs first. For years, I worked on the project just one or two days per month–and even became involved in story shaping.
Q–What was the big difference between “Prince of Egypt” and “Lion King”?
A–Unlike “Lion King,” for “Prince of Egypt” I had plenty of color drawings. Everything but the burning bush. In “Lion King,” I wasn’t that involved with animation and didn’t really understand the process. For “Prince of Egypt,” I saw the color charts. In fact, in the burning bush sequence I wrote the score first and then they colored it.
Q–What type of scars did Prince of Egypt leave?
A–While recording in London, I was the most miserable I have ever been. I was so grumpy because I thought I ruined the whole movie. I was convinced none of the music would fit the action. Then, I became more and more panicked and didn’t tell anybody. But everyone around me noticed. I was impossible to be with. Finally, one of my staffers kicked me out of the studio for 10 days to organize everything. There were 88 tracks of music. Imagine you are an air traffic controller. There are 88 airplanes circling over LAX, all running out of fuel, and you must decide which one lands first. That’s what it was like. Now they are saying its a great score. So it’s easy for me to answer, “No problem.”
Q–How was Israeli singer Ofra Haza selected for the lead songs?
A–I have always loved Ofra and just asked for her. If I ask hard enough, I get it. She was the first person we cast. Ofra is tremendous and recorded 13 of the foreign translations as well.
Q–Among the thousands of scores written in recent years, do you see more than a few great ones?
A–Not really. But it’s not necessarily the composers. The great movies have not just happened. On the other hand, why is the score from “Titanic” so incredibly successful? Because it works with the movie. I think it works on the lowest common denominator. No more, no less. But it works.
Q–Yet the simplistic score to Titanic has done a great deal for the world of soundtracks.
A–I know. But now we’re going to hear these generic “Titanic” songs. You know, the way “Feelings” has become a very annoying song. We have to differentiate between popularity and quality. The Los Angeles Times ran a great headline a few years ago after a Michael Bolton concert here saying, “Five Million People Can Be Wrong.”
Q–What about the proliferation of pop songs within the soundtracks. I have asked, “Why does Godzilla need a song?”
A–Yeah, why does it? I have no idea.
Q–Well, maybe the producers are now looking at the billion bucks associated with “Titanic.” Producers say, “I need a hit record.”
A–Yes, marketability. There are two things going on. On the one hand, you have the action, or light, fun kind of movies which always need songs flying around, for their genre of picture. On the other hand, there are movies like “The English Patient,” which didn’t have and didn’t need a song.
Q–So do you see soundtrack music becoming more creative, more inspired, or is it all going to homogenize into sound effects–what I call museffex?
A–I think the big effects thing is becoming passe. We’re bored with it. Jim Brooks and I went low-tech with “As Good As It Gets.” Our biggest special effect is somebody driving a car. Nobody’s shooting at anybody.
Q–Are you saying we’re going to cycle back to inspired music?
A–But only if you understand that inspired music arises from an inspired movie which arises from an inspired script.
