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My Artistic Process as a Film Composer
And How I crafted the score of
Say My Name (2023).
Written by Quinn.
November 2023
Summary:
This article goes into my artistic process for composing music and gives you a glimpse into the story behind the making of the soundtrack score for the recent
award-winning, Australian short film, Say My Name (2023).
I consider myself to be a deeply spiritual artist. My inspiration comes to me in very vivid, colourful, powerful ways. I call them downloads, if you will, and sometimes, the experiences can be quite overwhelming, so it is important for me to take time to meditate and reflect.
It is not uncommon for you to find me sitting under a tree somewhere or digging my toes into some fresh soil drawing upon the ancient wisdom of nature.
Ever since I was a child, I have had a very active dream life, visually and aurally. There have been times where I have been known to wake up during the night mid-song, singing a new melody that came to me in my sleep.
When it occurs, it is as if the music or inspiration has no other choice but to flow free and there’s no stopping it when it’s ready to come through.
This happens with visual scenes too as if I were watching a film.
I used to wish that I could somehow find a way to immediately capture some of the beautiful and even dark scenes that unfold in my mind during the dreaming and cast them onto a screen with a type of magical projector and surround sound system plugged directly into my mind.
These dreams don’t always happen during the night. Sometimes, they come to me more as visions during the day, and after the “download,” I feel compelled to sketch out the inspiration on the nearest piece of scrap paper or a recording device for me to use at a later time.
As an adult, I have dedicated myself to finding ways of harnessing the power of these experiences and channelling the inspiration into my work. After going through a deeply traumatic time of life in my late teenage years, life gently navigated me towards the discovery of meditation as part of my healing process. This discovery completely changed my life for the better and has enhanced my artistic craft in profound ways. My “downloads of inspiration” flow more easily and naturally, and I can even guide them as they come when I am in what is known as the theta brain state, which is the vibrational frequency (4-8 Hz) of the brain just before the delta state (deep sleep). This brain state was what I was experiencing as a child, but I lacked the terminology or awareness at that time to know what I was experiencing.
I will go more into my discovery of brain waves and how this knowledge can influence and inform artistic discovery in another blog post. Enough “nerd speak “for this article!
During the scoring of Say My Name (2023), I composed the title track and the other soundtrack scores before the film was actually filmed. After meeting the Author & Producer, Dr. Mel Baker, during a serendipitous meeting at a radio interview in Sydney, Australia, I was invited to attend the official book launch of her autobiography, Sleeping Under the Bridge.
When reading the book, upon which the film is based,
I was inspired to write a piece of music for every chapter of the book. It flowed to me naturally as I walked through the journey of the powerful story of young Mel.
This is not the usual process when writing a film score, but I am an artist who works with my own unique process and I channel the inspiration as it comes to me without forcing it.
I drew inspiration from some of my own personal experiences of previous trauma. The melody line for the chorus of the title track with the same name,
“Say My Name,” came to me as a download when I was sitting in a café in Newcastle after spending some time discussing the film script with Writer & Director, Rhoyce Nova.
I asked the Universe for inspiration, and it came to me almost immediately in a simple melody consisting of three notes to the words, “Say My Name.” My intuition gave me the key of C Minor as the key the title song was to be written in as it is a key that is most easily sung by anyone regardless of vocal ability or vocal range. Not only did I feel the words had to be inclusive, but I felt the key signature also had to be inclusive.
It’s a song of the people.
From there, the rest of the song just flowed naturally from a place of intuitive understanding of the message the music had to convey. The title track is about making the invisible visible, the unseen seen, the voiceless heard. It is about rising from the ashes, stripping away the shame that is not ours to carry and finding even the smallest flicker of hope within us to carry on.
I wrote this song as an anthem for starting over, transformed and new. Not only does it speak from a place deep within me, it speaks the story of the character, Melissa Baker, whose story the music is about.
It is my hope that the music and film continue to resonate with my viewers and listeners who may see or hear a part of themselves within the story and know they are not alone. You are seen, heard, valued and worthy.
During the early pre-production stage of the film, I spent some time staying out in the Kangaroo Valley on the South Coast of Sydney, Australia, with the author and producer, Dr. Mel Baker. We spent a couple of days immersed in rich, soulful conversation that was restorative and inspiring for the both of us. I had the privilege of hearing more about her story and what her inspiring vision was for the film. One morning after breakfast on the balcony overlooking the golf course where a small mob of kangaroos were grazing, I played the musical scores I had composed whilst reading her book and she was moved to tears as she listened. She was delighted hearing how I had translated her story into the mediums of sound and song.
I had no idea how it would be received, but I just trusted my intuition and it resonated with her.
Due to a tight budget and time restrictions, the soundtracks were produced on an iPad, using two programmes to enhance the sound and timbre of the midi instruments (quite restrictive for a seasoned musician).
The title track, “Say My Name,” had three iPad drafts or sketches before it was produced in a professional, Sydney-based studio. Even with the limitations of equipment, budget and time, we still managed to craft a deeply impactful, moving production that continues to receive very warm reviews and recognition from international critics, judging panels and private audiences prior to its official public release.
Thus far, the score has made it into the Top Five Soundtracks at the Indie Short Fest, in Los Angeles, USA, and has been Officially Selected as Best Official Score in Sweden. The judging panel from One Reeler Film Festival in Los Angeles, USA, rated the soundtrack score numerically as 10, 10 and 9 with a comment of the score being “generally excellent.”
As a composer, especially given the fact we just did not have the budget for a full studio for the score, this was fabulous feedback.
The official full Say My Name soundtrack album, inclusive of all the music from the short film as well as some bonus track of the scores that did not fit within the film duration, is now available all streaming platforms.
Thank-you to each and every one of my supporters, friends and family.
