MCB Interviews Tyler Bates
In his score for The Way, composer Tyler Bates (Watchmen, 300) creates an organic soundscape that reflects an emotional journey along the Camino de Santiago. Director Emilio Estevez wanted Bates to exploit the scrapes and glitches of the guitar strings to convey the simple and personal nature of the score. “The final score is very close to my initial sketches, which were close to a stream of consciousness,” says Bates. "The music is intended to reflect the essence of the live-performed music that our characters encounter along the way, yet subtly incorporating themes that recur throughout the film. I wanted the music to be imbued with raw emotion, and not to sound overworked in any way.”
Bates keeps pace with production by diligently working with directors and producers to meet their most pressing needs. “It is always important to know the most important details to focus on at any given time,” explains Bates. “If the director is anticipating the ‘theme’ for the film or a specific character it is probably wise to focus on that assignment.”
While the digital revolution is allowing people to get more done in less time, composers are getting used to shorter deadlines and numerous revisions. "Technology will only ensure that the frenetic pace of ‘finalizing’ a film will continue to increase," says Bates. "Though I may be on-board a film more than a year in advance to its theatrical release, the tempo of which changes are implemented is pretty mind-boggling in the final weeks or days of a project. It sounds pretty insane but it is sometimes a lot of fun to work under the stressful time constraints that are becoming more and more a common part of today's filmmaking process."
Upcoming projects include a sci-fi film The Darkest Hour (Opening Dec. 22nd) and Killer Joe, a William Friedkin film starring Matthew McConaughey and Emile Hirsch. “Killer Joe is based on a Tracy Letts play, which has truly fantastic and twisted dialogue," says Bates. "We are including some score and dialogue sequences as well as pure score, songs, and a couple score pieces that are being augmented specifically for the soundtrack."
For more information about Tyler Bates, visit his website here.
Download The Way (Music from the Motion Picture) on Itunes - Tyler Bates