Danny Elfman: 'My Constant Worry Is That I'll Run Out of Ideas' (Q&A)

Situs The Hollywood Reporter mewawancarai Danny Elfman, berikut ini kutipannya:

The Hollywood Reporter: How did you score seven films in about a year's time? 

Danny Elfman: Eight. Dark Shadows, Men in Black 3,Frankenweenie, Silver Linings Playbook, Promised Land,Hitchcock, Oz, Epic. I've never had a year like this. It's a blur. Ripping myself out of one and hurtling into another is like switching alternate universes, a ripping slash.

THR: What was Russell like on Silver Linings Playbook?

Elfman: I was apprehensive because I have a real fear of romantic comedy. It's the one genre I go out of my way to never do because I don't have a feel for it. I see very few comedies, even. But this was just strange enough, and I loved the chemistry between Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. I thought it'd be easy, since there isn't that much music. It was far from easy, because David is such a character. He tortured me endlessly but never stopped amusing me. The trick with David is to be very patient, just kick back and try to enjoy the Russell Experience. Really worthwhile.

THR: You imagined yourself into composer Bernard Herrmann's head for Gus Van Sant's Psycho remake. What was it like to score Hitchcock?

Elfman: The main thing I wanted to know from Sacha was that he didn't want to do a Herrmann-esque score, a mock Psycho. The story is a romance between Alfred and Alma Hitchcock. It's a fairly romantic score, and it gets a little darker where Hitchcock is in the world of Ed Gein [the killer who inspired Psycho], talking to him. I found myself occasionally doing Herrmann-esque things but not intentionally. He's so much part of my DNA, there's moments where, yeah, there's a bit of an homage there, but it's just me.

THR: Why did you do Promised Land? Was it fun because Van Sant likes to let people take big risks?

Elfman: There's so many things fun about working with him, but that's an important one. He actually forces me to take risks. I start with ideas, and he'll say, "Let's try completely opposite stuff and see what happens." I just start playing Gus pieces I'm writing. For Promised Land, I'm thinking, "OK, guitars -- a very simple Americana score." Gus was like, "Why don't we do the whole thing on marimbas?" He's just a pure pleasure to work with.

THR: What makes music funny?

Elfman: I don't know.

THR: Do you have a "funny" button on your console?

Elfman: I wish. On Oz just yesterday, I was playing some music for [director] Sam Raimi, and he was laughing out loud. And what I did that was so funny in this particular moment was a pause. What's usually funny in music is timing. When I'm making Sam laugh effectively, which I've been doing quite a bit of this week, it's because I'm finding the timing of a scene, putting in accents and pauses in very specific moments. It's funny without trying to be.

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