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Greg Danner, music professor at Tennessee Tech University, will have his score featured in a movie written and directed by Angus MacLauchlan during the 2023 Sundance Festival.
MacLauchlan - an established playwright and screenwriter with a number of films under his belt, including "Junebug" starring Amy Adams, and "Stone" starring Robert DeNiro - first reached out to Danner earlier this year. He told Danner he had heard his concert music and felt the style would be a good fit for his newest film, "A Little Prayer," that focuses on the family dynamics and inner workings of Southern towns.
"I'd never worked as a film composer, but liked the idea of doing something different, so I told him that if he was willing to take a chance on someone without the typical experience that I'd be willing to take on a new challenge," Danner said.
The challenge turned into a total of 14 cues from the film, ranging in time from about 20 seconds to over three minutes, that enhanced the dialogue or action, made smooth scene transitions and established the mood.
Danner found the project very different from writing concert music where the composer is in complete control of the style aside from general guidelines for length, difficulty and instrumentation.
"In writing for film, you are part of a collaborative process where the music has the function to serve the story," he said. "For example, if the music is too 'busy' for a scene then it can take the focus away from what is important in the acting or dialogue."
While working on the score, Danner was given a rough cut of the film and after discussions with the director about where the music would be used and what type of mood it should have. After creating the music, he sent it back to MacLauchlan who would then send it back with any notes for changes.
"While this type of collaboration is very different from writing concert music, I found it fascinating because both you and the director are trying to find the right expression to enhance the scene," Danner said.
Once they finalized the score composition, the music was professionally recorded at Nashville Music Scoring, which contracts musicians and engineers for film, video game and TV companies around the world. The ensemble used flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, cello, string bass and harp.
The whole process was fascinating to Danner, who is enthusiastic about being able to pass on what he learned to his music students at Tech. He worked with Tech professor of flute, Mary Matthews, who coordinated the School of Music Career Check seminars, and was able to bring in the Nashville Music Scoring conductor David Shipps, who Danner worked with to record his score, as one of the speakers.
"Connections like this are important for students to see some real-life applications for what they are learning," Danner said. "Many of my students are interested in writing for movies or video game music, which is similar to film but also has its own particular requirements. I stress to the music students who have this interest that they should look for opportunities to collaborate. There are often local opportunities, even on campus, where students in other disciplines are working on projects that need music."
"A Little Prayer" is now one of about 120 feature films selected from more than 4,000 submissions to be featured at the Sundance Film Festival, the largest independent film festival in the United States. There will be six screenings at the festival in Utah from Jan. 23-29, and tickets can also be bought to watch the film online from Jan. 24-30 at https://festival.sundance.org.
"Whether it's hearing your work in the concert hall or on a screen, it is a very satisfying feeling," Danner said. "I think part of it is knowing that you've made a contribution to something that is a larger effort. When I see a film now, I think about all involved, from the actors, producers, director, cinematographer, composer, editors, etc. It's really an amazing thing."
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