{"id":513576,"date":"2022-11-21T21:16:03","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T18:16:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/the-menu-composer-on-kitchen-horror-comedys-score-and-surprising-influences\/"},"modified":"2022-11-21T21:16:03","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T18:16:03","slug":"the-menu-composer-on-kitchen-horror-comedys-score-and-surprising-influences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-menu-composer-on-kitchen-horror-comedys-score-and-surprising-influences\/","title":{"rendered":"#\u2018The Menu\u2019 Composer on Kitchen Horror-Comedy\u2019s Score and Surprising Influences"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2554dc34c40\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a2554dc34c40\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/the-menu-composer-on-kitchen-horror-comedys-score-and-surprising-influences\/#%E2%80%98The_Menu_Composer_on_Kitchen_Horror-Comedys_Score_and_Surprising_Influences\" >\u2018The Menu\u2019 Composer on Kitchen Horror-Comedy\u2019s Score and Surprising Influences<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%98The_Menu_Composer_on_Kitchen_Horror-Comedys_Score_and_Surprising_Influences\"><\/span>\u2018The Menu\u2019 Composer on Kitchen Horror-Comedy\u2019s Score and Surprising Influences<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    The twist of Searchlight\u2019s horror-comedy <em\/> is perfectly (under)scored by its music. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    That sound is courtesy of Colin Stetson, a composer with a background in woodwinds and a breathy <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>reciation for horror and tension. \u201cThere are certain things that I do with breath and with a semblance of breath to trigger the same sort of experiential reaction from an audience,\u201d he tells <em>The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>. \u201cAir is everything and so the manipulation of air, be it through actual literal breath recorded and manipulated or as it\u2019s being projected through an instrument, will do certain things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    Breath and manipulation are rather fittingly thematically aligned with <em>The Menu<\/em><em>,<\/em> his latest project from director Mark Mylod and co-writers Seth Reiss and Will Tracy\u2019s that is a part-hilarious, part-horrifying examination of hunger, elitism and the power of food. Set in a secluded, exclusive Michelin-starred dining experience gone awry, both the kitchen staff and the guests find themselves needing to catch their breath \u2014 and unpack their own relationship with power, class and more \u2014\u00a0within the movie\u2019s smooth 105 minutes. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    <em>The Menu<\/em> follows Stetson\u2019s notable work on one of 2018\u2019s most acclaimed horror entries, <em>Hereditary<\/em>, and according to the composer, was approached similarly with a narratively versus characteristically fashion. And like that film, the score is a layered endeavor, holding back its turns \u2014\u00a0horror or comedic \u2014\u00a0until the time is just right, while obscuring the film\u2019s real truth within its many musical layers. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    It\u2019s a feat that can be achieved because Stetson utilizes polyrhythms, or the simultaneous combination of contrasting rhythms. Their dualities ultimately help highlight the film\u2019s appreciation for the delectable joys of fine dining and the joylessness of the culture that can surround it. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    Ahead of the film\u2019s release, <em>THR <\/em>spoke to the composer about how he approached the score instrumentally by leaning into the kitchen; how he utilized the element of surprise with both horror and comedy to balance the film\u2019s multiple tones; why he didn\u2019t make compositions that were character-driven, despite the ensemble having many personalities; and the \u201cmath-y\u201d influences that guide his score. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    <strong>How did you think about imbuing tension and fear musically into this score, bearing in mind how horror is intertwined within the film\u2019s initial narrative and where it unfolds pacing-wise?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    <em>Hereditary<\/em> is probably the most well-known of any of the films that I\u2019ve done. That one, from the get-go, was no veiling \u2014 no gradually parsing out and meting out the fear and the story. It was all established that what we were entering was this place of dread, unrest and ultimate doom. There\u2019s no secrecy in the beginning. This one is very different in that regard. The score in a certain sense is similar to <em>Hereditary<\/em> in that it plays a part of the narrative of <em>The Menu<\/em> \u2014 the fact of that plan being set in motion right from the very start of the film. But it does so by almost goading the audience and the diners. So where I started to introduce fear throughout is moments where I\u2019m using little subtle harmonic things and tongue-in-cheek gestures, where I\u2019m affecting certain melodies in certain ways. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    I find the film to be nudge-nudge, wink-wink throughout the beginning, but it is rationing fear in subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle ways before there is a moment, as there are in most films, where all of that questioning, secrecy, mystery is very much massively magnified, and the cat gets let out of the bag. The way I saw the whole film is, as contained in the script itself, was really that the music there is not innocent, but it definitely is cleverly secreting itself throughout the first act. And then there was that moment where I really, as a composer, could go apeshit, as it were. (<em>Laughs<\/em>.) When I read it, I got the kind of excited that I get for really good scripts, because I realized I could hold back everything. I could have this whole other sound world that I would have on reserve and then when that moment hits, the floodgates open and I could let the torrent out.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    <strong>All these characters have the potential to be villains in their own right, but it\u2019s not initially clear if there\u2019s a main \u201cbad guy.\u201d Was there a character or characters you wrote to whose moral truths and horrors would be unpacked by the story and your score? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    There is one character that gets most \u2014 it\u2019s not like the themes are theirs \u2014 but they do get most of the very personal interaction with the themes. There are certain things that really belong to certain characters. Then there are overarching themes that I see more as the \u201cthe menu,\u201d\u00a0more as the plan that was set in motion in the very first scene and goes to the very last scene. The majority of the themes are really that and then they interact with certain characters in different ways, given what that character is now privy to or going through at any given moment. And that\u2019s the way that I\u2019ve approached a lot of scores. <em>Hereditary<\/em> is entirely that. The score itself is really just the plan as coming to fruition. It\u2019s really just mocking everyone throughout the course of the whole thing until it gets to be turned on its head and reveals that it\u2019s been here the whole time. That said, there are certainly moments \u2014 certain elements, musically \u2014\u00a0that belong to certain people. But the bulk of it belongs to the menu.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    <strong>Some horror composers lean into the settings of their films for inspiration on how to drum up fear and tension. Did you think about that with the kitchen at all? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    I certainly thought about it and have done it to a certain extent. I didn\u2019t want it to become a novelty or to become too much. But there are literally glasses \u2014 a whole array of pitched glasses \u2014\u00a0that we used in percussion, and then used sometimes in a more conventional way and other times in a less conventional way. One of my best friends and collaborators, Greg Fox, is a very incredible metal drummer. He is one of the fastest, tightest players and can create a maximalist ambiance by playing just incredibly rapid. So one of the things that we did was record him several times over and then use that as a cloud of sound. There are moments throughout where this kind of sparkle happens in particular tunes and it grows and grows and grows. Rather than synths or effects or anything like that, that\u2019s just several Greg Foxes on an array of water glasses. I always try to come up with unconventional ways to utilize a sound source. And then if I\u2019m trying to do something that\u2019s a little bit more conventional, I try to figure out a backdoor to get at that trope, at the utility rather than just going straight for the very well-trod path. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    So if it\u2019s something like suspended strings \u2014 although I do use strings in ways that I think are conventional \u2014\u00a0I usually try to start with something that is a less obvious way to get at that sound and at the kind of function that I need for it in music. That\u2019s one of the things I did. I looked at unconventional ways of using things like glasses and pans and pots. There\u2019s quite a bit of that in the score, but it\u2019s also not necessarily all in the places that you\u2019d think. Most of the more rhythmic driving nature of the whole score is actually through strings. There\u2019s a lot of very harshly plucked Pizzicato strings. There\u2019s a lot of Pizzicato piano strings, and not just plucked but struck. Mostly that happens in that moment that I spoke of. The delightful pomp and excitement of the score going into that moment, it\u2019s all plucked polyrhythmic viola and violin strings. The character of the sound massively changes at that moment and that\u2019s when these pianos come in and it becomes much more metallic, much more aggressive and anxious.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    <strong>The kitchen is a rhythmic place, but it can also be chaotic when you overlay everything that\u2019s happening at the same time. I\u2019d argue eating is also similar \u2014 the scraping, clanking, tinging, biting, breathing of it all. How did you think about your score in terms of crafting melodies compared to maybe less melodic, or more naturally cacophonous, sounds?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    It\u2019s more of a very polyrhythmic driving sound, and when so much of the DNA of it is that \u2014 when I let that hit a wall and there be moments of static, to me, those static moments really stick out and have a lot of weight to them. Their kitchen for me is: what do you hear if you really just sit and ambiently let that all come out? There\u2019s repetitive rhythm, but it is not basic rhythm. This is not four-on-the-floor. This is massively chaotic, but there are patterns there. So if I was to then approximate \u2014 or to take the essence of that \u2014\u00a0and run it through a filter of musicking, what my mind did was to make this score very much the result of all these overlaid and disjunct and juxtaposed polyrhythms. It\u2019s very math-y. But it will not feel that way because there is that drive to it. I\u2019m gonna note the band Meshuggah. One of the things I do listen to a lot of is more math-y, very intricate metal. I\u2019d probably be hard-pressed to find a person who listened to this score and went \u201cOh yeah! That\u2019s Meshuggah!\u201d (<em>Laughs.<\/em>) I definitely can say that my steeping in that world and in bands like that specifically, it\u2019s very obviously there in the DNA of this score. It\u2019s a confluence of having a very heartbeat-esque rooted-in-humanity driving pulse to the music, but at the same time, overlaying a rhythmic complexity to create anxiety, disjunctiveness and a sense of being a loft while still tumbling towards something. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    Those are all in play and you\u2019ll hear it, especially when you hear the music in the film, but then also the standalone score by itself on record. There\u2019s always things that are quieter in film that are more laid bare on the record themselves. Also, this is the most conventional theme-forward score I\u2019ve ever done. There\u2019s a kind of pretentiousness to the entirety of the subject. It\u2019s both [elitism of food] and its antithesis. It\u2019s a celebration of a certain appreciation on an artistic and naturalistic level. There are moments where I went very, very hard into the perspective of this chef, where you\u2019re really playing up the wonder and natural sort of majesty of food. The love of it. I think that it can be\u00a0a mixture of all those things. There is massive pretentiousness to it all, but it also is true. All of the things that he says about\u00a0food, and I\u2019m thinking of one scene in particular. These things are truly wondrous and profound. The experience of it as living beings and the ability to discuss and to share and to refine \u2014\u00a0all of that, there\u2019s a gorgeousness that you can begate, just because there\u2019s this pomp aspect to it. Those things exist together in tandem throughout this score.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    <strong>You were dealing with both a comedy and horror narrative, which genre-wise in terms of narrative delivery, both kind of delight in the turn or the surprise. How did you approach writing for both of those genres? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    I think one of the things about going hard in a rhythmic direction is that you do have that light, bubbly sense of a lot of what propels the score throughout. The fact that these polyrhythms are laid over one another, they can all propel one another and they can also undo one another. These rhythmic motifs like that can almost operate like train tracks when you switch them over, and then all of a sudden the train veers to the left. Where you have a certain rhythm that\u2019s there and the audience is being projected on that track and then just by a little stroke of math, we\u2019re thrown to the left. When I\u2019m reading the script, I start to see all of the music \u2014\u00a0what\u2019s going to work, what it needs, where things are going to be introduced, where certain things are going to happen and where things are going to change. The rhythmic aspect of this allows for all the different things, including the tension that allows for a lot of the abrupt horror moments. But it also builds in this perfect mechanism for many of the jokes. So it\u2019s then juxtaposing certain things that add a little bit more horror with elements that are lighter. The first act gives me all this delight and fun to play. Then later on, I can use the delight and the fun and it has a different weight to it because now it\u2019s funny. You hear it in the context of knowing what we know now. That moment becomes more absurd.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script type=\"text\/plain\" class=\"optanon-category-C0004\">\n!function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {\nif (f.fbq) return;\nn = f.fbq = function() {n.callMethod ? n.callMethod.apply(n, arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments);};\nif (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;\nn.push = n;\nn.loaded = !0;\nn.version = '2.0';\nn.queue = [];\nt = b.createElement(e);\nt.async = !0;\nt.src = v;\ns = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\ns.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s);\n}(window, document, 'script', 'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\nfbq('init', '352999048212581');\nfbq('track', 'PageView');\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-features\/the-menu-composer-colin-stetson-twist-1235264487\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018The Menu\u2019 Composer on Kitchen Horror-Comedy\u2019s Score and Surprising Influences The twist of Searchlight\u2019s horror-comedy is perfectly (under)scored by its music. That sound is courtesy of Colin Stetson, a composer with a background in woodwinds and a breathy appreciation for horror and tension. \u201cThere are certain things that I do with breath and with a&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":513577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/The-Menu-Colin-Stetson-Inset.jpg?w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[73703,135760],"class_list":["post-513576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-colin-stetson","tag-the-menu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}