The Music Man Pt. 2

Composer Charles Dennler's a pretty cool guy. He's due to pick up this year's BIFF Award for Excellence in Music for Film. We just finished editing an interview we did with him by phone from his home studio outside of Denver. Even though he was battling a cold and felt like hell he never once tried to hurry things up or pull a ruse to get us off the line (Oh, wow. Spielberg's on the other line. Sorry, I just have to take this...).
Nope. Quite the opposite, in fact. He took the time to indulge our full broadside of geeky movie music questions. Actually, this was more a conversation than an interview - a conversation with someone who is obviously extremely passionate about the marriage of music and film, sound and vision.

Here's a taste:

Mark Shaffer: I’m a huge fan of film scores and composers. Who are your influences or do you draw more from your own experience as a musician and composer?

Charles Denler: Well it’s certainly a little bit of both. My mentor once told me, “Good composers are completely original but great composers copy great composers.” I try to spend some time every day studying great composers – Beethoven, Brahms, a lot of Bach. But then I also study contemporary composers like Ennio Morricone –

MS: Ah, The Maestro.

CD: His score for The Mission is probably one of my all time favorites and the reason I am film scoring. I remember seeing The Mission back in the ‘80’s and something snapped in me. It took a few years to surface, but when I heard that music it just stirred my soul. Definitely Morricone and – of course – John Williams. I listen to a ton of John Williams. He’s the most lyrical composer in history. His music is amazing. I don’t know if we’ll ever see those days again where the themes [in film] are so brilliant.

MS: I agree and this is strange: just before we began this conversation, I posted a preview of this interview on our film blog after listening to some of your work and I actually mentioned Morricone and Williams.

CD: Wow, (laughs) that’s funny.

MS: Incidentally, they’re two of my favorites. Their stuff is incredibly iconic.

CD: It is. It’s lyrical and thematic. You know, I’ve told my agent and my friends and producers and directors I work with that if you want “sound effect music” don’t call me. I won’t do it. I refuse to do it. I believe that there’s still a place for melody in film – something that’s not part of the sound effects library they’re using to sweeten the film, but something that actually gives the film a signature sound. There are still a few films out there that do that and a few directors who look for a signature theme for their film. 



By the way, Denler's favorite Williams score is Jurassic Park. Catch the entire interview in the special BIFF edition of Lowcountry Weekly in print and online February 16th.

In the meantime...
Charles, this for you:

So what are your favorite film scores? Composers?