“Elemental” composer Thomas Newman on the score from a passive perspective: “The scene presents itself in a certain way, and I respond musically”

For Pixar Primary schoolComposer Thomas Newman was given the challenge of composing for “elementary” cultures that do not exist in the real world, while at the same time evoking a sense of familiarity in the viewer. He says the real problem is “pointing out different cultures and never landing on one culture.”

Directed by Pete Sohn, the story follows Ember (Leah Lewis), a firefighter working at her parents’ market, whose short temper leads her to a chance encounter with Wade (Mamoudou Athie), a freshwater resident who as a city inspector works. Although fire and water don’t mix well, Ember and Wade grow closer. Instead of focusing on the clash of elements in the score, Newman says the most important thing is to remember that this is a love story.

DEADLINE: You have many different elements coming together. What were your first sources of inspiration?

THOMAS NEWMAN: The idea was to refer to different cultures and never commit to just one culture. The challenge was that it was a fictional world made up of elements, but it had to have a certain familiarity. There is a sense of otherness, and I think in the case of Wade and Ember, there is an otherness on both sides. She lives across the river, he lives in the city. I think the process was experimental, we tried different sounds and different voices and often integrated them so you don’t refer to any kind of global culture here in our world.

I think it was also very important to remember that this is a love story. That feeling of two people really getting along and really loving each other was more important than that clash of cultures and elements.

DEADLINE: Can you talk about the themes of the different characters?

NEW MAN: I don’t think I’ll ever tackle things themed like “Here’s Ember”. They arise from dramatic situations and do not musically indicate a character. I often have ideas that I contrast with an image, and I experience what I feel passively as a listener, not actively as a composer.

Emotions arise from drama. For me, the most important thing is to always remember that there is a story being told and that the music wants to contribute to that story being told. The scene appears to me in a certain way and I respond to it musically. And then Pete would come into my studio, or we’d be online remotely, and he’d often have the same feeling or say no.

I remember one instance where he never wanted the father to be someone we felt sorry for. When Ember goes through her way and comes back and sees her father sleeping, we don’t want to see him as an old man who can’t stay awake very well, because here is a very good man. So there were areas where we had to make decisions about what the music made us feel.

DEADLINE: I know Pete Sohn has talked a lot about how personal the story is to him. What was it like working with him on it?

NEW MAN: The film is very personal to Pete Sohn. He said something very interesting about this idea: he often felt that he was neither Korean nor American, and what that meant was slightly different. I wanted to be very respectful of that and both of his parents who ran a business in the Bronx, like a grocery store, because it meant a lot to him. So there were times when we had to make sure we were on the right track as storytellers, and if we still didn’t do anything, Pete would be less likely to recognize this very personal story because of the choices we made.

You have to respect a story that he wanted to tell in a certain way. When you’re working with a director, I don’t think you can work faster than a director can process the ideas you have. Often I felt that I was on to something, and Pete was perhaps a little slower to come to that conclusion. You have to gain the trust of a director. I think it’s a kind of reward first, because who doesn’t want to trust someone, but eventually wants to earn it. So I had to be very aware of that and let him come to these conclusions about what the music was saying. And often it may not be what he expected. All directors have a personality. They have a high level of commitment and writing music for films is a human skill. The ability to not only empathize with the characters, but also to understand a director and his methods.