Continuing our coverage from our visit to Pixar in anticipation of the release of Cars 2, we have our exclusive interview with Michael Giacchino. One of the most in-demand composers at the moment (and rightly so), Giacchino has been a bit of a mainstay at Pixar having scored The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and most recently Up, for which he won the Academy Award. His versatile work is undeniably brilliant, from the sweeping tones of Lost to the bombastic panache of Star Trek.In our interview, Giacchino talked about his approach to the score for Cars 2, what influences he used in creating the music, what the process of a composer at Pixar is like, and also gave an update on his scores for some highly anticipated upcoming films (Super 8, Mission: Impossible â Ghost Protocol, and John Carter of Mars). Hit the jump to check it out.In case you missed it, last week we posted our interview with Cars 2 producer Denise Ream which you can check out here. Each Sunday leading up to the release of Cars 2 on June 24th, we will be posting a new interview from our coverage at Pixar. So be sure to check back here every week.In case you donât get the chance to read the full interview, here are a few highlights:
- His inspiration for Cars 2 was British Surf music. He thought it would be a perfect fit for the spy theme of the film.
- As a composer, Pixar brings him in on the film when itâs at a stage where it can be visually seen. But he did have very early conversations after he worked on Ratatouille, though he didnât become intricately involved with the project until a year and a half ago.
- He actually starts writing music for a Pixar film once itâs finished going through the drastic changes and revisions. When they decide âThis is our movie,â he starts writing.
- Dick Dale was a big influence in writing the score for this film.
- He didnât decide if he was going to acknowledge Randy Newmanâs score for the first Cars until after seeing Cars 2, at which point he realized that this is a completely different movie so he decided to do his own thing.
- Says there are shades of that 70âs/80âs Spielbergian Amblin vibe in his score for Super 8, and heâs written about 90% of the score. He likens working on Super 8 with J.J. Abrams to making a movie with his next door neighbor as a kid.
- Hasnât started work on John Carter of Mars yet because theyâre deep in post-production/animation on that film. He will score Super 8 first, then Mission:Impossible â Ghost Protocol, the John Carter of Mars. Says theyâre all extremely different projects calling for completely different scores.
Collider: You talked earlier today about how you were going for a British Surf music feel for the film, was that always in your head?
Michael Giacchino: When I first saw the film I just thought, âOkay this would be so much fun to do this with.â I loved that music as a kid and whenever I listened to it I always felt like I was in the middle of something important or big or something adventurous, and when I saw this movie I said, âOh my God, that could be a perfect fit!â Iâve always wanted to do that sort of score, that sort of thing with that at the centerpiece, and when I saw this I thought, âThis is it, this is gonna be the thing!â and I was like âI hope John (Lasseter) agrees.â And thankfully he did.
Judging by the footage, it looks like itâs very much half spy-movie half racing-movie. Are you using a different tone when the genre kind of changes?
Giacchino: Yes. Yeah, well it depends on whatâs happening within the story. In some of the racing stuff, if itâs more just kind of showcasing racing, then yeah thereâs really no spy element involved at all, thereâs none of that kind of guitar stuff. If it is in fact a combination of the two, a race and something else is going on story-wise, then yeah it kind of creeps in. So it all depends on whatâs happening with the story, how much or how little you use of that element.
How early are you brought in? Are you involved in the inception phase or do they wait until itâs more visual?
Giacchino: They wait until they get it to a point where you can actually see it on reels. And I guess I came in maybe a year and a half ago, although I did talk to them very very early on about this, not long after Ratatouille actually I had a conversation about it. But I really didnât get involved until about a year ago or so. And Iâve watched the film go through different phases, you know it changes, it evolves. Itâs one of those things where the first version you make of the film isnât the one that you end up seeing, I mean you go through several versions of it to try and get to the best possible version of the story. So Iâve seen like four iterations of it as it goes. Itâs a great process because youâre constantly building it, youâre putting it up, you look at it and you critique it, you pull it back down, you re-build it, you put it back up, âOkay thatâs better but we now gotta change this.â Itâs a really great process as opposed to just shooting what you have, and then putting it out there. Itâs a great way to kind of make it as best as it can be.
When theyâre reworking, is there ever a time when you have to completely scrap an idea that you thought would be great but didnât fit anymore?
Giacchino: No, because by the time that I actually start writing music, the film is kind of what itâs gonna be. There might be small changes here and there, they might swap a scene or do something small, but the big changes are already done at that point. So by the time I actually start writing, everyone knows âYes, this is our movie.â So all of that stuff beforehand, I see it, I give my thoughts on it, but I donât really start writing music until it get to the point where âYep, this is our movie.â
You mentioned Dick Dale as an influence on your score for this film. What other specific influences did you have when writing this music?
Giacchnio: I always feel like my writing is consistently influenced by everything I watched and listened to growing up, so itâs just this crazy collage of everything, you know. But I feel like this score really is that surf thing, at its core, and around that itâs just fun action, itâs emotional, itâs about friendship, which I always loved. You know with these movies, especially at Pixar, the core of the film is usually something very emotional and something that feels really real that you can relate to, itâs not like done in a false way. You know a lot of films will treat emotion falsely and you can sense that very quickly, but these films have a way of pulling you in and making you care about these characters because theyâre treating them like real people, not like a cartoon or something to make fun of, they actually treat them as if theyâre real people, and I think thatâs great.
Coming into the film, did you want to kind of take-off Randy Newmanâs score for the first Cars or acknowledge that, or did you want this to be its own beast?
Giacchnio: I didnât know. I didnât have any preconceptions because I figured, âIâm gonna just watch it, and then decide what the answer to that question is,â because that was a question in my head. But ultimately I said well thereâs no point in thinking about it, just wait until you see it and then decide what you wanna do. And the first time I saw it I said, âOh, this is something completely different. This is a completely different idea.â
Are you currently attached to score any other Pixar films or do you usually just focus on one thing at a time?
Giacchino: Usually just one thing at a time, because the lead-time is so lengthy. They work on one of these things for 5, 6 years, sometimes longer. But actually right now Iâm working with Andrew Stanton on John Carter of Mars, thatâs not really Pixar but he is a big part of this place.
Whatâs it feel like to be the guy that everyone wants to date? Everyone wants you to do their movie.
Giacchino: (laughs) Well you know what, the way I look at it is I get to work with my friends. When I was 10, I had a group of friends that I used to love to make movies with, and we made them growing up, we did it all through high school. And I feel like I found my new group of friends that we all just like to do things together. So I donât really think of it in those terms, I think of it in terms of these are my friends and weâre just gonna make things, and weâre always gonna do it together and itâs really kinda fun to do that, I really love that. That makes me kinda the most happy, knowing that youâre really just doing stuff with your friends.
How far along are you on Super 8? The trailer seems like it has a very Amblin/70âs 80âs Spielberg vibe to it, does the score echo that sentiment?
Giacchino: Iâm going for ultimately what works for the film. There are shades of that for sure in the score. Iâve pretty much written probably 90% of the score at this point. And then Iâve gotta go and record Cars 2 on Saturday, finish up all that for a week, and then Iâll go back to Super 8 and then in three weeks Iâll record that. So itâs been a crazy schedule for the last couple months, but yeah Iâm excited about that one, thatâs gonna be a really fun thing. Iâm in a position where I get to go make something with my friends. Me and J.J. itâs like, the kid who lives next door, âOkay letâs go do this, thatâd be cool wouldnât it? Yeah thatâd be fun!â
Have you started work on John Carter of Mars yet or are you still in the discussion phase?
Giacchino: Havenât started anything on that musically. Theyâre working their butts off just trying to get that together. They shot it and now theyâre in post and dealing with animation and all kinds of stuff, so thereâs a lot to do before I actually sit down. Probably before I touch that Iâll be with Brad [Bird] on Mission: Impossible first. So itâll go Super 8, Mission: Impossible, and then John Carter.
Have you started any work on Mission: Impossible yet?
Giacchino: Nope. [I] donât even wanna think about it until I get through Cars and Super 8 and then Iâll go to that. Theyâre all like boom, one after another so I try to separate them as much as I can. But the good news is theyâre all extremely different projects, so itâs not like Iâm gonna write the same thing for this film that Iâd write for Super 8, this film is nowhere near like Super 8 and vice versa, so itâs nice that theyâre all so different.