It's an unknown profession, with complex facets and often multiple levels of intervention. But without a music supervisor, there's no coherence, no ambition, no magic in the soundtrack of a film or TV series. So the profession has decided to make its voice heard. Pierre-Marie Dru, music supervisor at Pigalle Production, is the first president of the association bringing together these men and women behind the scenes. He is also the music supervisor for Leos Carax's new film, Annette - opening at Cannes on Tuesday, July 6. Interview.
A year ago, you helped found the Association des Superviseurs Musicaux. What is its purpose?
The ASM brings together some fifteen structures, i.e. between thirty and forty music supervisors. My first observation is that, before this merger, I knew very little about my colleagues. We're in a complex and extremely time-consuming business, with work on feature films, documentaries and TV series stretching over more than a year, so without making the effort to get to know each other, we'd all stay in our own corridors, doing our own thing, with no time to look up. We're also a fairly young profession, still relatively unknown. So even before we got organized to raise issues that we felt were crucial, it was important to set up a framework for us to meet and share our experiences.
Until then, each of you worked a little apart from the others?
Yes, and often in an artisanal way, each of us having created our own business out of passion, after very different life paths - I had destined myself for a career as an architect, others were lawyers, others musicians. In a way, each had invented his own profession, his own personal way of being a "music supervisor".
A mission that covers a wide variety of aspects, at different stages of an often lengthy creative process...
Yes, and that's both the beauty and the difficulty of this job. We provide advice, artistic and technical expertise, and sensitivity. We accompany the film's director in all his or her choices and needs, whether for pre-existing or original music.
The supervisor is in charge of obtaining the exploitation rights for existing titles, but he or she is also responsible for the executive production of new recordings, from the choice of composer to the delivery of the final mix. And then, in addition to these legal and artistic aspects, he manages tempos, schedules and budgets. The supervisor is, in a way, the master builder of an audiovisual work's soundtrack.
It's easy to imagine that you come into conversation with directors with very different approaches, musical knowledge and desires.
There are many who have clear ideas about what they want - and so much the better, that's really what I encourage! This was of course the case with Leos Carax for the soundtrack to his new film Annette, which I had the pleasure of supervising. And then there are those who don't know what they want for their film and come to us with a blank page. So we help them figure it out. We organize an audio casting, present them with a choice of composers, and try to include new talent. This is a crucial moment in our relationship: I push hard to ensure that the directors really take the time to think things through, because the choice of music is a fundamental part of the film, just like a lead role! And if you set off for six months' work when you've made a mistake in the casting, it's a disaster, it's an ordeal to go through... I think this is the moment when I can be really difficult (laughs)... I'm difficult because I want this crucial choice to be the result of real reflection and a meeting. And when it goes well, as it did for Jérémy Clapin's J'ai perdu mon corps , which won Best Film Score at the 2020 César Awards and was shortlisted for the Oscars, then it's a joy for the director, for composer Dan Lévy, and for all of us who worked on their behalf.
You also have to counter-propose, argue, react to music choices already made or wishes not always achievable?
It's a classic scenario, yes, and a normal one. We're given a title or an artist, and we have to try to get closer to it. Or propose an alternative solution, "in the spirit of". That's where our musical culture comes in! The film or documentary editor is also involved, as they often start their work with a fictitious soundtrack. It's up to us to listen to them and meet their expectations, while at the same time trying to surprise them and offer them something even better than they had dreamed of... Generally speaking, a good music supervisor is someone who has a good relationship with tempo. You need a lot of tact and psychology to do this job; you have to know how to choose the right moment to play a proposal: neither too early, nor too late. You also have to be ready to fight for what you believe in.
Did you have this trait right from the start?
From my earliest films, I worked with the idea of creating unique soundtracks and leaving as much room as possible for creativity, as with Sound of Noise, a film selected for Critics' Week at Cannes in 2010. But I got into this profession by accident, after studying architecture and music. Or rather than talking about an accident, you could say it was the result of an emotional and aesthetic shock that only cinema can offer: After discovering Ismaël Lo in Pedro Almodovar's Tout sur ma mère, I wanted to learn all about West African music, so I went there on several occasions, and one day I was asked to supervise the soundtrack of a Burkinabe film called Ouaga Saga - a film by Dani Kouyaté released in 2004. It was the first time I'd been asked to do my job, even though I didn't yet know it existed.
You don't compose your own music?
No, I'm not a composer or an agent. I want to be able to work with anyone, start from a blank page and propose a different cast for each project if I so wish. Others in our profession are also agents and therefore have loyalties to the composers they represent - it's an understandable choice. For my part, I like the idea of seeking out new forms of writing, even if I also have loyalties - to Fred Avril or Clément Ducol, for example. But I think it's important to bring newcomers into the business. With, I hope, more and more female talent to promote: in terms of soundtrack production, the current balance is very unbalanced, with only 6% female composers for 94% male composers. This is an issue for all of us, and an anomaly we must learn to correct.
What other issues would you like the Association of Music Supervisors to make its voice heard on?
This sometimes very distended relationship with time, with the need to be involved at every stage of a film's progress, can make our working conditions difficult. And yet, everyone can see that our role is essential: the music composer is often the film's third author! But are they given enough time to carry out this essential work? And what about us, who accompany them every step of the way? We're not intermittent workers, and none of the music supervisors are, so the question of our remuneration needs to be addressed with producers, broadcasters, sharing platforms... Just as the question of copyright and broadcasting rights remains crucial, all the more so as European and American legislation - when we work for Netflix, Amazon, Disney or HBO - is different.
Another very topical issue is that of production facilities. French studios have suffered greatly from the recording crisis. In Paris, the Davout studio, with its large recording room for orchestrations, has disappeared. Question: how can we preserve these essential production tools that are our recording studios - and the professionals who welcome us there - and avoid going to Belgium or Eastern Europe to produce everything - even if we enjoy going there? How can we keep reminding people that there are excellent musicians and groups of musicians here in France? Furthermore, when a studio closes, skills become rarer, trades are lost, sound engineers, orchestrators, copyists and analog synthesizer repairmen have less work. And essential know-how is no longer being passed on.
You accompanied Leos Carax in the production ofAnnette's rich soundtrack. You can imagine the ambition of the project, but also the pressure...
Leos is a huge fan of Anglo-Saxon rock: when you go to his house, most of the decor is made up of records and books. When he invited me to join the project, I immediately felt confident because we spoke the same language. The collaboration with the Sparks had already been going on for a long time, they had exchanged songs and shared a lot - work made easier by the fact that Leos has a great ear for music. Listening to their work, I was struck by the obviousness of the Sparks' compositions, which have this incredible poetry and fantasy. But I think Carax has his own fantasy, and for me, their respective fantasies telescoped for the better! I arrived on the project shortly before shooting, and Leos had also begun discussions with Clément Ducol, who is a fantastic composer, orchestrator and arranger. And then we had to finish recording and mixing the musical cradles of the 45 songs: a pop group in L.A., an orchestra in Berlin, a children's choir in London, soloists in Paris and Brussels - another kind of challenge in the midst of a global pandemic...
Director: Leos Carax
Original story by : Ron Mael and Russell Mael
Lyrics: Ron Mael and Russell Mael, & LC
Music: Sparks
Images: Caroline Champetier
Sets: Florian Sanson
Editing: Nelly Quettier
Sound: Erwan Kerzanet, Katia Boutin, Maxence Dussère, Thomas Gauder & Paul Heymans
With : Adam Driver, Simon Helberg, Marion Cotillard
Film supported by the CNC under the " Avance sur recettes avant réalisation" scheme .
Les Olympiades réalisé par Jacques Audiard (2021)
Annette réalisé par Leos Carax (2021)
Mixte (série Amazon) réalisé par Alexandre Castagnetti et Edouard Salier (2021) <
Les productions en cours :
Irma Vep (série HBO) réalisé par Olivier Assayas
Le petit Nicolas (film d'animation) réalisé par Benjamin Massoubre et Amandine Fredon
Jack Mimoun réalisé par Malik Bentalha et Ludovic Colbeau-Justin
Promises réalisé par Amanda Sthers
Plan Coeur - Saison 3 (série Netflix) réalisé par Noémie Saglio
Read the article here: https: //www.cnc.fr/cinema/actualites/le-choix-de-la-musique-cest-un-casting-fondamental-du-film-comme-un-premier-role_1493782
CNC
