Suby's Effective Butterfly Score

Michael Suby is a recent graduate of the Berklee College of Music, achieving a degree in film scoring in May of 2000. He wrote the music to an independent science fiction epic called ABLE EDWARDS and composed the main title theme for NBC's STARTING OVER. His first feature score is for New Line's compelling time manipulation story, THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT. The soundtrack was released last week by La-La Land Records (LLCD 1014).

Performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Suby's score is quite an exquisite work. Its primary tonality is one of moody ambiance for orchestra and voice, as if displaying the awe and wonder of the concept of changing time. This theme acts as the starting point for the rest of the score just as events from the past serve as a starting point for Ashton Kutcher's adventures in the film. Like his travels through time, the music emerges in quite a different form while retaining a gentle, tonal consistency that, just as Kutcher retains awareness of the time changes his journeys have wrought, keeps the score on an even keel. The melody is reworked and its texture is felt in the other melodic passages and rhythmic atmospheres, most of which are derived from the gentle characteristics of languid piano and violin figures, often punctuated by processed percussion, synthesizer, and other musical effects. Female voice enhances the mood when the main motif is directly reprised. Suby also effectively captures the film's darker moments through a deeper, more shadowy rhythmic undulation ("In The Basement," which contains an effective, squeaky-synth stinger that is startling even on the CD, the very spooky "Lenny's Explosive Flash/Hypnosis," "Evan Kills Tommy," and others).

It is not a [IMG4R]particularly inventive score but it is an entirely satisfying one. Suby crafts his atmospheres with precision, his melodies are eloquent and the score's overall effect is one of gently stirring ambiance, with increasingly intrusive suggestions of this expressive romantic pallet having drifted slightly off kilter, as the storyline itself becomes increasingly altered through the machinations of Kutcher's time effective changes.

The CD contains two dozen tracks of mostly short length that build an atmosphere of mystery and suspense before floating off. "Sorority Strut" is a pleasing rhythmic pattern not unlike something from Thomas Newman; gentle, rapid keyboard over a low-end riff from percussion and brushed cymbal. "Driving To See Lenny" is a fragile, poignant piece for high-end piano over violins while grows mysterious as it segues into "Inside Lenny's Room," the mood shattered by a descending violin stringer; then the earlier piano piece is reprised but with a decidedly more melancholy mood.

At the end, the score's mysterioso "Butterfly Effect" motif becomes the beautiful and lyrical "Butterfly" theme, a richly soaring melody that closes the story before drifting back into a reprise of the primary theme that escorts the End Titles. Its lovely mix of orchestra and voice provides both a soothing, romantic atmosphere as well as investing the music with an element of wonder, as if creating a tone poem for the consideration of the mysterious substance of time and the complicated mysteries that might apply to the present if even a small thing in the past were to be altered. That infamous crushed Paleozoic butterfly that results in a completely altered present day has launched not only what seems to be a compelling and imaginative story, but also a highly evocative and impressive musical score. The label has sequenced the album nicely and packaged it with an eight-page booklet that includes notes about the film and its music from writer/directors Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber.

As noted last week, John Debney was selected to score for
director, producer and co-writer Mel Gibson, Newmarket Films' THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, which opens Ash Wednesday - February 25, 2004. The highly

Michael Suby's score for THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT.

© La-La Land Records

Percepto Records plans to release David Newman's charming score for THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER, although a release date has not been specified. www.percepto.com

Hollywood Records will issue James Newton Howard's music for HIDALGO.

Coming soon from La-La Land Records is The Fantasy Films Of George Pal, featuring music from ATLANTIS, 7 FACES OF DR. LAO, DOC SAVAGE, and more. The label will also release Richard Gibbs' score to the new Sci Fi Channel miniseries BATTLESTAR GALACTICA. www.lalalandrecords.com.

Intrada announces the forthcoming release of two previously unavailable scores from the late, lamented, and much underrated composer, Jerry Fielding. Intrada's double-header features Fielding's final two collaborative efforts with Sam Peckinpah. The first features the world premiere of Fielding's complete score to MGM's BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA (1974). As producer Nick Redman writes in the notes about Fielding's score, "The music for Alfredo Garcia rises and falls like a melancholy tide -- each wave breaking over the listener with ever more concentrated feeling."  The score was remixed from the original stereo elements and is presented in complete form, including music excluded from the final print of the film. The second score is the music for MGM's THE KILLER ELITE (1975), a spy revenge story starring James Caan and Robert Duvall. From Redman's notes, "Jerry Fielding returned to his jazz-based roots for the darkly tinged score. His "Main Title" is a hornridden rampage, brilliantly setting the scene for the film's unpredictable tone. However, like Locken, the music for the most part is constricted, clinging to the shadows. Since Locken is a partial invalid, the music stays close, encircling him like a chain around his neck."  The suite from KILLER ELITE is also presented in stereo. The single-disc CD will be released Feb. 24^th. www.intrada.com.

As the Audio Director at Cyan Worlds, Tim Larkin is the composer of the soundtrack for URU: Ages Beyond MYST, the latest installment of the multi-million selling MYST computer game franchise. IGN.com described Larkin's score as simply "beautiful music" and JustAdventure.com concluded the soundtrack is "achingly beautiful." The game's soundtrack, featuring sound and music by Tim Larkin, was also awarded GameSpot.com 2003 Best Sound Effects in a Game.
www.cyan.com/urumusic/default.htm.

The nominations for this year's BAFTA awards have been announced. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts' picks in the original score category include RZA's music for Quentin Tarantino's KILL BILL, Vol. 1 (surprising, since the vast majority of the effective music in that film is an eclectic mix of previously existing material, including Bernard Herrmann's TWISTED NERVE and Italian Western cues by Morricone and Luis Bacalov). Kevin Shields for LOST IN TRANSLATION, Alexandre Desplat for GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING, Gabriel Yared for COLD MOUNTAIN ,and Howard Shore for THE RETURN OF THE KING were BAFTA's other nominees. The winners will be announced February 15^th. Music From the Movies.

The Broadcast Film Critics Association has given their ninth annual Critics' Choice awards. Howard Shore won best composer for THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING, and the song award went to "A Mighty Wind" from A MIGHTY WIND. Film Score Monthly.

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association has also given their latest film awards. Benoit Charest and Mathieu Chedid won for Music/Score for THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE, and the runner up was the entire group of songwriters for A MIGHTY WIND Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Eugene Levy, Michael McKean, Catherine O'Hara, Annette O'Toole, Harry Shearer, and Jeffrey C.J. Vanston - Film Score Monthly.

The Hollywood Reporter's latest Film and TV Music issue is now on the stands. The issue features discussions of the likely Oscar contenders in the music categories, brief interviews with composers on their current and upcoming scores (such as Marco Beltrami on HELLBOY), a chart of the year's top selling soundtracks (THE TWO TOWERS is the only all-score disc on the list, at #15), and even quotes from several of the industry's top orchestrators, conductors and engineers, like Jeff Atmajian, Bruce Botnick and Mark McKenzie. Film Score Monthly.

The extras included on MGM's DVD release of JEEPERS CREEPERS 2 includes a very good 10-minute featurette on Bennett Salvay's musical score. He is interviewed by and carries on an engaging dialog with director Victor Salva, who asks some very pertinent and relevant questions about his musical approach, including asking about the controversial bane of most film composers - temp tracks, as well as inquiring about the role of the orchestrator and the recording process. Salva would make a pretty good film music journalist!

"How is the

JIMMY NEUTRON composer John Debney at the film premiere event.

© 2002 Sue Schneider

"Casting the composer is just as important as casting an actor," says Salva. "You want someone who you think really gets the script, who has a wonderful voice of their own but who will also take a little bit of direction to help you tell your story."

"It's very important for a film composer to take direction from the director in terms of what his vision is, what the emotion is, not necessarily in terms of specific instruments or specific chords," says Salvay, prompting the director to add, "I haven't gotten to the point yet where I say, 'I want this all to be French horns right here!'"

The featurette includes many shots of the orchestra performing cues, with many close-ups of various instruments being used, and then we are shown, sans dialog or sound effects, the scenes they accompany, which really allows us to appreciate what the music does and what its components are. "We tried to make a very different movie I both sound and picture," director Salva remarks. "I think the music is a big contributor."

Columbia Tristar's release of the first season of MTV's new animated SPIDER-MAN series also contains an effective appreciation of its musical score. The show has a rather unique look, accomplished with CGI, that mirrors the look of a comic book page come to life. The score, unusual for an action show, is based on techno dance music, which works surprisingly well in the action motifs, at least in the context of this show. The theme and episode scores are a collaboration between composer William Anderson, DJ and mix artist John Digweed (he scored 2002's STARK RAVING MAD), and musician/programmer Nick Muir, the music lays down a consistent riff that drives the show's action rather commendably, although it loses some of its effect in the more emotive moments. UK-based Digweed and Muir (although not Anderson) are featured in a 10-minute featurette on Spiderman's music.

"The thing that both Nick and myself have noticed with this new version of SPIDER-MAN is the way that it's shot," Digweed remarks. "The animation had a lot of depth to it and it's a bit darker and grittier, yet you've still got the classic one-liners. Musically it's been great to put what we do along side that and marry them together. I think the combination of electronic music with this cutting edge animation just seems to work so well."

"One of the things that struck us was it was so atmospheric," adds Muir. "The lighting of the production is superb, and ... it's a real visual feast, very creative and very imaginative, and that's what we like in our music making. A lot of the episodes not all of them have a real explosive, high energy quality to them and we like powerful music... When you've got real explosive energy within the production, you can then mirror that in the way that you're making the music."

The musicians describe their process of working on the L.A.-based production from their studios in England, courtesy of the internet and ftp sites that allow a cross-Atlantic fast transfer of material between music and the studio.

"We've tended top stop short of being totally triumphant with the music," notes Muir, "because there's a slight doubt in his mind about his status as a super hero, and that lends itself to the atmosphere and puts a curve on things that we were able to pick up."