When you’re writing scores for movies like The Dark Knight and you’ve got characters that are dark, or when you’ve got a wide variety of characters and you to capture the right tone, what happens when you don’t personally connect with a character, when you don’t really see what’s moving them? How easy is it for you to then write the music?
Hans Zimmer: “It’s much trickier. I just finished Frost/Nixon and trust me, it’s not easy to identify with Richard Nixon at the best of times. But within each human being there’s an element you know that you can sort of embrace. I think you just find your corner in their psyche that you can just go and play in for a little while.”
James Newton Howard: “That’s right. And at a certain point if you really despise a character or you really don’t like the movie the only choice you have is to become so invested in your own work that the music becomes a cause unto itself, and that’s what gets you through the project.”
Hans Zimmer: [Laughing] “I’ve written some really good music for some really bad movies.”
You’ve both worked with so many outstanding directors. How is working with Christopher Nolan? What sets him apart and how collaborative is he?
James Newton Howard: “Well for me what sets him apart is he obviously has a unique vision as a filmmaker. His tenaciousness and his commitment and his passion to the movie is about as strong as…”
Hans Zimmer: “Second to none.”
James Newton Howard: “Yeah, second to none. And for those of us who are working in post-production, to have a director who has not run out of steam by the time he’s cutting and finishing his movie is a great thing.”
Hans Zimmer: “You have to remember he and his brother are the writers on this movie, so it’s really nice working with somebody whose vision and voice goes all the way through this thing.”
