"If you're so passionate about game composing, then why do you also do films?" (and vice versa)
Thoughts on a question I get asked, in many different forms, more often than one would think.
On films
I love films because Portrait of a Lady on Fire makes me sob every time I watch it, and Being John Malkovich reminds me how wonderful and weird the things we're capable of creating are. I love falling in love with a character (or loathing them, but still getting invested in what happens) and getting fully immersed in their story for however long it lasts. I love beautiful cinematography, and good actors are basically like wizards to me. I love the experience of sitting in a movie theater and hearing the music and sound design on a really good sound system, and how that can transport me to another universe for a bit.
I love making music for films because a good score can make these fleeting moments so much more impactful. I love when certain things factor into the way I write music that you wouldn't necessarily expect: the way a shot is framed, the lighting, an actor's body language. I love the puzzle of making a cue match with the timing of everything happening on screen while still making musical sense, sometimes resulting in really fun and unusual switches between different time signatures and tempos. I love the wide variety of music a film can have: memorable standalone themes for the title and end credits music, soft subtle beds under dialogue, big builds and swells under intense action and big emotional moments.
On video games
I love games because immersing myself in Civ 5 helped me to ease the pain from a bad breakup, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons made it so that I could still celebrate my 30th birthday with some friends, all hanging out together on my island, in May 2020. I love that not only do I get to escape to a different universe; I get to influence it. I love the sense of triumph I get when solving a difficult puzzle or beating a final boss. I love wandering through vast worlds, exploring every little nook and cranny.
I love making music for games because I love experiencing my music reacting directly to a player's actions. I love thinking of music modularly, as a series of building blocks that can be combined in so many different ways rather than one singular track. I love the challenge of making loops that will convey the right atmosphere and emotions without knowing exactly what the player will do or when they'll do it. I love my music acting as a companion to help the player solve puzzles, fight battles, explore vast worlds, and experience big story arcs. I love the little extra bits so much, the bits that tie it all together, the stingers and transition segments and musical sound effects.
On podcasts
I love podcasts because, although humans are visual creatures, podcasts are proof that audio on its own is enough to fully tell a story. I love that I now actually look forward to doing laundry and cleaning because that's my opportunity to learn about a new scammer and/or cult. I love how every time I listen to any podcast, I find myself really noticing the hosts' speaking voices and thinking about how cool it is that we all sound completely different from each other when we talk. I love how many random things I've learned from listening to podcasts, and I love hearing people info dump about the incredibly specific topics they're passionate about.
I love making music for podcasts because as an audio only medium, the main/title theme arguably has an even bigger impact on the tone of the piece than anything with a visual component, and I relish the opportunity to play such a big role in transporting people to the world of the podcast. I love how unexpectedly similar it is to video game composing in some ways, with me sometimes making stingers or pieces that can loop a bunch under people talking. I love that podcasts have often given me the opportunity to get pretty weird sound-wise, because podcast themes are generally short, and you can get away with 30 seconds of pretty much anything without it becoming too much.
On animation
I love animation because it's just so beautiful. I love it because one of my very first memories is of being completely taken in by Disney's Beauty and the Beast as a toddler (and really loving the prologue music). As an adult, movies like Flow and Coco completely sucked me in with their beauty and creativity, emotionally destroyed me, and stuck with me after I watched them. I love that animation can also get very strange and dark. I love how many different kinds of animation there are: hand-drawn 2D, hyper-stylized 3D, stop motion, rotoscoping, just endless possibilities.
I love making music for animation because some of the most unique, heartfelt, and absurdist projects I've worked on have been animated. I love getting to contribute my music to such weird and wondrous worlds. I love occasionally getting to switch things up by composing for kids' animations, which is a very different intended audience than the projects I usually work on. I love noticing how the particular art and animation style of the project I'm working on changes the way I approach composing. I love getting to be along for the ride, watching as the project transforms from a simple series of sketches in an animatic to the amazing final product.
Final thoughts
Simply put, music is my thing. When I'm composing, I feel at home, like I'm doing exactly what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm not one of those composers who is also happy doing sound design or any other audio work. It's music. It has to be music.
I think one of the best and most beautiful things about humanity is the way we continually create art, as a means to connect with each other and express and evoke all the emotions that define what it means to be alive. Each mode of storytelling is unique and amazing. During my life I've been continually moved by all kinds of art: music, visual, films, books, video games, just all of it.
So when you think about these two factors, my inability to enjoy doing any sort of work other than music and my innate love and enjoyment of all types of art, it just makes so much sense, right? A media composer who is happy to work with any medium. I don't think that's so hard to understand.
It's not that I'm medium-agnostic when it comes to what I compose music for. It's that I actively want to contribute to all different sorts of projects, to express things in different ways, to reach different audiences. No matter which medium you create in, I promise I think it's amazing and beautiful and important. I have a specific, unique love for every art form. Any of them that can have music, I want to be a part of.