ScoreNotes: Let’s begin by talking about your latest project, Daybreakers.  How interesting did you find the premise of the film to be and in what ways did its unique sci-fi storyline inspire your score?

Christopher: I found the idea of human blood being a resource that needs to be farmed and is soon to be depleted a fascinating, and, I think, unique concept. Also, a society of vampires living ordinary suburban lives is a clever inversion of the genre.

ScoreNotes:  Can you touch on some of the sequences in the film where you feel your score is best highlighted?  And as a follow-up to that, might you please also describe the overall tone of the music for the film?

Christopher: After watching an early cut of the film I observed that there is an underlying sense of melancholy just beneath the surface of both groups of beings. In the case of the humans, they are hunted and fast becoming an extinct species, their anxiety is obvious; however the blood-addicted vampires also, as a whole, are not happy with the dullness of eternal life and in some instances are taking their own lives, like the old/young girl at the very beginning of the movie. I composed music that I felt reflected the vampire’s drug-haze, a static, yet restless music that can be heard on the track Nightfall on the soundtrack album. Of course, there is a lot of action in the film and this resulted in the brutal percussion of the vampire army and the electronic pulse of the refugee humans. The film sequence that I have called Resurrection on the album was quite challenging in that it needed to jump instantly between a number of quite different elements and at other times juxtapose them: the army drums, the hopes of the humans, the search for the cure, the transformation of Ethan Hawke’s character, and then the humans hiding once more.

ScoreNotes: With the film's production set in Australia, did you find this to be a perfect choice for you, given that you are based from there as well?

Christopher:  It’s possible that because of the financial structure of the film they were required to have an Australian composer. If that was the case then there was an obvious benefit for me.

ScoreNotes: How often do you find a need to come to Los Angeles (or New York) as part of your work?  Also, what are some of the unique challenges you face being a film composer who does not reside in Los Angeles?

Christopher:  I do travel to Los Angeles and London from time to time for meetings so I can’t say there are any real challenges. These days, with online cameras and FTP sites, instant collaboration is quite easy wherever you are in the world. You can even attend an orchestral recording session on the other side of the world in real time and at full quality.

ScoreNotes: Mao's Last Dancer is another recent score of yours and it’s one that has been met with favorable responses across the globe.  Can you tell us about the musical ideas and themes behind the music?

Christopher: This was a wonderful film to be involved in. Based on the true story of ballet dancer, Li Cunxin, it required a wide range of music and aesthetics, East and West cultures, underscore and concert music, classical, folk and jazz styles, simple and sophisticated approaches. The scenes in China are at first scored for an ensemble of Chinese instruments to which a string orchestra is gradually introduced as Li grows older and becomes more skilled. When he arrives in America the score is for solo piano to which a string orchestra is gradually introduced as Li adapts to the new society and becomes successful. Both groups are combined during the scenes in the Chinese consulate in Houston.

ScoreNotes: How enriching is it, creatively, for a composer to have the opportunity to expand his or her scope to instruments that are unique to other cultures?  And on that note – how rewarding is it to explore such cultures musically?

Christopher: One of the great things about scoring for film is that you are taken to musical worlds that a composer might not otherwise encounter. On Mao’s Last Dancer I used an ensemble of five Chinese traditional instruments, augmented with harp and hand percussion. They each have very unique colours and I tried to find thematic ways for each instrument to come to the fore at different points in the story.

ScoreNotes: Can you touch on some of the feedback you have received for Mao's Last Dancer, and specifically, what it was like for you to win the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award?

Christopher: The film has done extraordinarily well at the box office in Australia and I hope its success continues when it is released in the rest of the world. Music plays an important and up-front role in this picture so it is very much in the viewers consciousness. I feel the album flows particularly well, perhaps because there are a number of “set pieces’, tracks that are complete within themselves, which is not usual in film scoring. And I was fortunate in having some amazing soloists. It really is wonderful that the score is receiving such positive attention.

ScoreNotes: At a time when I was becoming fully engaged with film music (my point of no return), your score for On the Beach left quite a positive and lasting impression on me.  Can you, for a moment, revisit that score for us and share some recollections from your time on that project? 

Christopher:  Composing that score was certainly a highlight for me. The schedule was very short so I immersed myself totally into that world which, given that it was about the end of humanity and an intense love affair, had a powerful effect on me for that month. There was no time to rethink anything really, so I was forced to work from deep intuition, trusting that the emotions I felt were right for the picture.

ScoreNotes: The main theme from On the Beach is one for the ages, and in much of your other work, your thematic writing is quite strong.  What do you think is the key component to crafting a memorable and apt main theme?

Christopher: I work very hard at constructing my themes until they are doing the job they need to be doing. They are usually not something that just appear in a fit of inspiration. However the love theme of On the Beach really did come to me in an instant and at that moment I knew I had the emotional centre of the film and the score. Your readers might be interested to know that there is a week-by-week account of my composition of On the Beach with audio examples on my website at www.christophergordon.net/OntheBeach.html

ScoreNotes: What types of stories inspire you the most when you write your music? 

Christopher:  Most genres interest me and the important thing is to stay versatile. That was what was so satisfying about scoring Mao’s Last Dancer and Daybreakers in tandem; they are so different from each other and required such different ideas and skills that I always felt creatively fresh, even when I was exhausted.

ScoreNotes: As we wrap up, can you fill us in on your upcoming plans for 2010?

Christopher:  At the moment there are a few films in discussion but the only one that is publicly announced is Cradlewood which promises to be a very interesting project to work on. The director, Harry Weinmann, is talking about having a rich, romantic score, so I am looking forward to that. I am currently starting up a major work for large orchestra that should be finished in 2012.
 
Christopher Gordon online
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