DAVID BRANDSTATTER

For him, the score has to embrace the movie from beginning to end, reflecting the development of the story, tailored as close to the plot as possible. "Actually film music is very similar in structure to opera - except that in modern films the actors rarely sing."

Premiere Issue (P. 34)

By Deborah Gilels

This year, David Brandstatter will begin his collaboration with Toronto Pictures on their upcoming productions Punctured Hope and Virtary- Stories of Lost Virginity. Prior to the first film's commencement, he sits with Editor-in-Chief Daria Trifu to discuss composing for film, his family background, the technological state of modern film composing and his plans for the future.

DG: David, when did you first encounter your passion for film music?

David: At the age of 6, my parents took me to the theatre to see E.T.! I really loved the movie and the music even more. My parents bought me the soundtrack recording with John Williams´ music. I listened to it so much that they decided to buy me another soundtrack. Since then I loved film music - I grew up with Star Wars, Indiana Jones and many other wonderful scores from that era.

DG: What is your musical background?

David: First of all, my family was my musical background. My grandfather was a bandmaster in Budapest, my grandmother was a violinist, my aunts are opera singers, and I started to play the piano very early, at the age of four. Besides that, for many years I had to listen to my sister, Regina, practicing the violin, which was difficult for me. Now she is a successful soloist performing with the leading members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and teaches at the University of Music in Graz. I started to compose when I started to play the piano. I only wanted to play my own composition, which was not always appreciated by my teachers. Years later, I recorded my first orchestra film score when I was studying film music and audio production in Salzburg.

DG: What was your largest, or most important project so far?

David: Because there is always a difference in production size and tone, it's always the current project I'm working on that is the most important, and there are some great projects coming up for me - so I'm very excited about the future. I'm especially looking forward to my collaboration with Toronto Pictures this year.

DG: What do you think about music in relation to a film?

David: If you receive dailies from the set without sound or music, you get a picture of how vital the audio aspect of a movie is. Music and sound can ruin a film, but they can also create that certain "magic" which makes a movie a worldwide success. Could you imagine Star Wars without humming at least one of the famous themes?

DG: How do you work once you start a new movie, how do you develop your ideas?

David: First of all I read the script to get a picture of where and when the movie takes place and to find connections between the characters, their background and motivation. This procedure already creates the first musical drafts in my acoustic mind. I tend to lean on Wagner´s "Leitmotif" technique, to establish "musical identifiers" through melodies or instruments, which are representing elements within the movie, like places, characters, or emotional states. Actually film music is very similar in structure to opera - except that in modern films the actors rarely sing.

DG: When you are working, what equipment do you use?

David: I'm excited about the astonishing developments of software in the past few years and I'm currently used to composing on several networked Gigastudio machines with Steinberg Nuendo as the sequencer, using my custom instrument library combined with instruments by East West, Vienna Symphonic Library and Sonic Implants. This is a great setup to compose MIDI Mock-ups before recording real orchestra over a time-locked sampler-score. If the budget fits for real musicians, we at Rebrand Productions have access to two huge recording stages. Our studios are also equipped with Pro Tools Systems for mixing, recording and audio post-production.

DG: What are your plans for the future?

David: As the founder of Rebrand Productions, I'm looking forward to composing scores for new and interesting movies. Let's see what the future will bring.

DG: A personal question - are you married, or still available?

David: I spend most of my time on business and am hardly ever home before 2 a.m., so I don't think I'm an ideal partner. So better keep your hands off composers! D

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