FEATURE TR A l NS POTTI NG
'l‘i'ui'iis/miii'iigis soundtrack
pulses with the hottest hands around. hut director Danny Boyle tells Alan .\lorrison it isn‘t just an excuse to sell CDs.
n Shirl/ow (imr'i' it was the sotiiid ot
emits-shut l‘llt—‘I‘it‘es hel'ore rcr'u‘icrtrs
adrenalin rush through the streets of
lidinhur'gh. ln 'l’riairs/mi/i/ig. it‘s a dart
along Princes Street with Renton heing
chased hy a shop security guard. set to the appropriate anthem ot lggy l’op's [.usi l‘iil' Lilia When it comes to opening a moyie. Danny Boyle certainly knows how to get the audience‘s hlood prrnrping.
'l'ltc t‘cst ol the i/il‘i(ills/mH/He Stttllltlll'dL‘ls' is :1 catalogue ol' musical credihility Brian lino. Sleeper. Blur rand Damon solo). Lou Reed. Primal Scream. and more. But unlike the ci'assly
0n the right tracks
commercial Hollywood merchandising spin-oil
that is your typical film score. Boyle and his learn haye used these existing tracks in an outstandingly creatiye manner.
‘\\'e decided early on that we weren't going to score the tilm in a traditional way. so you look to the masters.’ the director explains. ‘You look to the way that Scorsese — particularly in .llm/i Sir-eels — uses his music. It means that you‘re got to haye a Very yihrant editing room. a melting pot where you all chuck ideas in.~
For Boyle. the t‘ilrn‘s music has two l'oundation stones: ‘\\'hen we were setting the film up. I got this inci‘edihle alhum hy
t'nderworld called Uri/mii/iirmi'i'i/imy/ii'm/mu/i. l didn't think it should he all the way through the lilm. hut it should represent the pulse ot‘ the film hecause it's yei'y addictiye. yery drugsy. It's not a downer. it's got that dance thing that is uplil’ting as well.
‘.-\lso. we didn‘t want the lilm to he set in the S()s. like the hook is. yet we wanted to get somehow l'rom the mid-SOs to now without them changing costume. ()ne ol' the ways we can actually identity the period is to moye l'i'om Iggy Pop through dance music — Renton moves to London and goes to a raw — right tip to date with l’ulp. Blur. Sleeper and lilastica. 'l‘he l'ilm's time span is impossihle hecause Renton doesn't age and they don't ctit their hair. htit you "eel like you‘ye moy'ed through a period ot time on a sensual rather than documentary ley'el.‘
:\ couple ol' times. the sounds hitting the audience's ears couldn’t match the on-screen images any hetter. Renton shoots up. hlisses out and sinks into the carpet to Lou Reed‘s ‘l’er‘t‘ect Day". Renton settles in to his dingy London t‘lat while l’ulp descrihe the sell-same enyironrnent in '.\lile lind'.
‘Jai‘yis had already written that song hetore he came in and saw the lilm.’ says Boyle. ‘He said: “We're just oil on tour. we’re finishing off the alhum. we‘ ye no time to write anything new. but here’s all the songs l’i'oni the alhum — you can use any or those — and here's two that we're not going to ptit on the alhum tor yarious reasons." One ol those was this song ‘.\lile lind'. It just titted hrilliantly with the London stutt' and with the squalor ol' Renton‘s hcdsit.’
liyen Scorsese could learn something here. '/'/i(' 'li'uilis'lmlIi/ig soundtrack is on! (in [all/l l’re/iii'ei' ()II .llo/n/iiy /‘) l't’ln‘lull')‘.
The big score
You ol'ten don‘t notice a l‘ilni‘s soundtrack. With 'l‘mi'iis‘pniii'iig you can‘t ignore it. Thom Dihdin speaks
to Lel‘tl'ield‘s .\’eil Barnes.
urpirsrtrgly. vixen tlic irirpoitarice of' music to the tilin unision ot' litany/i. Wine, only orte track was \P'c‘y‘tl‘really se‘itte‘tl 301' ll. l.etttield's “l'lte l'rnal llit‘. It plays while ls’enton shoots up one last
syringe a" heroin ras he does throughout
the tilinr and e‘ytlllllltlt's on a nrghthus rourney to London.
'\\'e'd already hurl! up .i relationship with .-\ndr'ew and l).:rii‘.y «\lacdonald and Boyle. the tilrn‘s producer and director) hecause we did the title sequence for Vial/mi (irine lasl yeaif \;l}\ I.L.lillilk.!\l‘\ \i‘tl Barnes. lililtt‘} wanted to continue the relationship w ith tis. hat the main thing w as it w as such an L'\y‘lllll:_‘ BUNK.
llaying seen a rough cut or the t'rlni heroic any soundtrack was added. Barnes and his l.ettlield partner. l’aul Haley, were equally impressed.
lloweyei‘. what was required or them
12 The List 9-22 Feb 1996
was something which went into new tcrr itoi'y tor the hand.
‘ll was a challenge lot tts. l‘L‘c‘allsL‘ tllt‘y \\;t!tlL‘tl Us (0 score sttlttc' ttltlstc‘ li‘t' it. not rust write a track and haye them edit something out ot it tor the setiiiencc.‘ says Barnes. ‘\\'e hadn't scored tor a tilin l‘elore. It was a new experience, working with a trlm instead or rust seeing a lilni and going away and writing something that you think tits the llltltltl.‘
Which you might hay e thought would lk‘ tttt L‘;t\_\ t'\L't'L‘1\c‘ l-tll' such an accomplished reinix team. ‘.\'o. it‘s a coinpletcl_\' dit'tcrent skill. hecause _\ou are dealing w itli dialogue and unageryf ietutes Barnes. ‘l’ei‘haps you nnght want the drums coming in at a certain point to coincide with the \isual image. rather than when you feel it is right tor the dancel'loor which is w hat you do with a remix. It's a yery dil‘l‘erent skill. hut we loy ed it.‘
Lemleld: “We hadn’t scored for a film before!‘