Lonely Place
(2003)
Score Information
Composed by John Ottman |
1. Lonely Place (3:56)  2. A Visitor/First Night (2:36) 3. Work Day (1:45) 4. Dessert (2:36) 5. Arguments (1:23) 6. Breakfast Chat (3:40) 7. Storm Coming (1:42) 8. Get-Away (7:15) 9. The Truth (1:58) |
John's Thoughts
The Score:
1949: A dark, sweeping bittersweet main theme reflects the subliminal despair and imprisonment of the main character, Stella. The years of wear and servitude to her husband Emery on his peach farm in the middle of nowhere are apparent from the moment you meet her, and the music adds empathy to her cloudy world. Stella is not even really aware of the lonely place in which she lives. One day, a mysterious stranger (Jesse) enters their lives, and he begins working for Emery despite Stella's objections. Jesse is the creep factor in the film, but who's the real villain -- Jesse or Emery?
The Saga:
About two years ago, a tenatious filmmaker and FOB (friend of Bryan Singer's), asked if I would take a look at the progress of his short film and give any editing comments. This soon turned into asking me if I would score the film. Kevin Ackerman has the skill of persuasion (must be from knowing Bryan!), and had already managed to get Oscar nominee Tess Harper (Tender Mercies, Crimes of the Heart), veteran actor Kurtwood Smith ("That 70's Show", RoboCop), and Tomas Arana (Gladiator, Pearl Harbor) to star.
Kevin, being from a photography background, made sure the film had a completely realistic look - beautiful, yet never too glossy. For a short film, I was impressed on how visually mature and sweeping it looked. Every shot seemed to organically reflect the drama, and even the bleakness of the story through some feature-rivalling master shots. It was therefore musically enticing to be able to score to these poetic and dramatic images.
But the only way it would be possible to write the score (about 24 minutes of music) would be to do it as I had the time, to which he agreed. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter I sold my house, and my studio was in a million pieces. I was searching for an office space to set up the studio again, and then it happened: I was offered to direct Urban Legends: Final Cut out of the blue. This soon consumed my time, and it was apparent that I wouldn't be able to score "Lonely Place." But Kevin was passionate about the score and would not accept no for an answer, and was willing to wait until I was done shooting UL2 - which was MONTHS later. So the plan was that upon returning from Toronto for post on UL2, I would somehow also write the score to "Lonely Place". This haunted me, because I was so leery about whether I could return to the post phase of my film and begin writing a score for "Lonely Place" of all things. As it turned out, it was impossible. My mind was elsewhere and there was just not the time in a day. I confessed I couldn't do it, but still Kevin persisted that I write the score, and that he would again wait. I then learned or realized that his film was actually his USC thesis project, and that he couldn't graduate until it was finished! I'm sure he had told me this, but I sort of missed this fact. I thought it was a completely independent production. Now I felt like I was holding up his graduation.
After the final dub of UL2, I bit the bullet and began writing the score - whew! The irony is that I was haunted by this student film at a time I really should have been writing the score for X-Men! (Result of the UL2 schedule.) No offense to "Lonely Place"! But I put my all into it, and think the score will really add to the soul of the film, as well as bring out the characters more succinctly and poignantly.
To get it recorded means pulling favors from the team (mainly Damon - sorry baby!) at a time everyone is busy as hell. The orchestration, copying and engineering will be big favors; so it's been hard to rally the troops to complete this long mission! But we're set to get over a major milestone recording on June 8th with a small ensemble similiar to what I used with Pumpkin, supplemented with synth, bringing this sleeping giant to life. Then there's the issue of mixing it and dubbing it onto the film, which if schedules are nuts again, might be yet another hurdle to get over.