The Box score to be released with the DVD?

Extract from an interview Ain't It Cool News (Beaks) did with Richard Kelly.

Beaks: Were any of these jettisoned scenes scored?

Kelly: Yes. It's funny: Win and Regine loved the chase, but it kept going in and out of the movie. So they were finally like, "You know what? We're going to score it anyway." Just in case there's ever a longer version of the movie, they scored the whole thing.
[Kelly and I now go into a spoiler-heavy discussion of a cue from the end of the film. Basically, I thought a certain piece of music ended abruptly (not in a bad way), and wondered if there was more to that scene. Kelly said there wasn't.]

Beaks: That's interesting. Obviously, I love their score.

Kelly: The band pretty much had final say over how their score was edited. And I was more than comfortable allowing them that. When I cut their score in, Win had a few notes, and Regine had a few notes, but I was more than fine with their notes because they understood the story so well. It was the easiest collaboration. They actually helped keep me sane and emotionally grounded throughout the whole process. They were an extra set of eyes. The saw twelve or fourteen cuts of the movie, and they were constantly there to give me thoughts about the cut. They were really helpful.

Beaks: But if they had final say on how the music was cut, doesn't that mean they had some say on how the actual film was cut?

Kelly: That was something I promised them. I said, "Don't worry. I know you're signing contracts here, but, as a filmmaker, I promise you that you're going to be happy with how the score is cut. And if you're not, let me know." I trusted them with that. And at the end of the day, we were on the same page. We maybe had a short little debate here or there, but I trusted them. It's their music. They understand how to deliver, and they understand story. It was a very specific collaboration with people I have so much respect for as artists. This was not a traditional composer-for-hire situation. It was something where they invested a lot of their time and energy into creating this specific kind of music. They were really proud of it. And they just wanted to make sure that it was used and edited properly - and I don't blame them.

Beaks: So are they film buffs?

Kelly: Mm-hm.

Beaks: Could you, like, reference a cue from a specific Hitchcock film and know they'd pick up on it?

Kelly: When I met Win backstage after their show in September of 2007, before we'd started shooting, I handed him a script and a CD of Bernard Herrmann's VERTIGO. I was like, "If you get a chance, try to read it." I didn't expect to hear back from him; I figured it was just a long shot. But he called me the next day and said, "Regine and I read the script, and we had a really strong emotional connection to it. We think this could be really cool. Keep in touch." So when I wrapped, I sent them the rough cut. I don't think I sent them the three-hour rough cut, because... (Laughs) and that was really an assembly. I shouldn't say "rough cut".

Beaks: It was your "chaos draft".

Kelly: It was the "Talking Fox cut". The "Chaos Reigns assembly". (Laughs) But I think I sent them the two-hour, twenty-five-minute cut. Then they did twelve demos, and they were like, "If you don't like the demos, tell us you don't like them now because we're not going to keep going." And the demos were fantastic; they were so on the money. And then it was just about getting to the finish line, and making sure they were protected. At the end of the day, it was something everyone was happy with.
This was not a regular composer-for-hire job. This was a massive collaboration with an additional artist that had a significant amount of power - which I helped facilitate. They had creative control.

Beaks: Without you giving up control of the film?

Kelly: Right. Normally, when you sign a deal with a studio, they can use the score to sell vacuum cleaners with CGI cartoon characters and dead people; they can score a theme-park ride with it. We wanted to make sure that was not the case ever with their music. I was more than happy to give them as much creative control as possible.

And the score will get released at some point. Right now, they have a new album coming out, so their record label doesn't want to be throwing something else into the marketplace. I think they're going to put the score out in conjunction with the Blu-ray/DVD release, but I'm not sure. That's why I did the prequel music-video thing on YouAreTheExperiment.com. I just wanted to get the music out there, and give people a little taste of it. But they really want people to discover the music as part of the theatrical experience. There's something exciting about having to go to the theater to hear the score, as opposed to just having it on iTunes. You'll be able to get it on iTunes later on. That's actually a really cool philosophy that I agree with them on.

Because the music score business has become such a boutique thing. I don't know of any studio or record label right now that's excited about releasing a film score. The expense of releasing it doesn't even balance out with the income. It's sad, because I love film scores. I have them on my iPod. It's some of my favorite music. I wish there were more people who felt that way.

Beaks: So did they use 70s instrumentation?

Kelly: Yes. The score was recorded over four days in Toronto. It was two days of strings, a day of brass, and a day of percussion. It was recorded at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in downtown Toronto, and all of the musicians were obviously classically trained. But there was a specific style that they were going for: they wanted it to sound very vintage and raw; they wanted the strings to sound rough around the edges. And they didn't want everything to sound all glossy and... computer smoothed-out.

Beaks: They didn't want Pro Tools.

Kelly: Right. They wanted it to sound like a vintage 1970s score. And a lot of the additional instruments that were used were very specific to the 1970s. They used a lot of Mellotron and stuff like that.

Beaks: If I were to place the score anywhere in Herrmann's oeuvre, I'd say it's definitely reflective of his 1970s collaborations with Scorsese and De Palma.

Kelly: Yes. Definitely.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/42994

Richard Kelly talks about working with Win, Régine & Owen

So it seems it's definitely Merge Records, Arcade Fire's record label, that don't want the score out there just yet now that the new Arcade Fire album is only a few months away. Unfortunate but can't say I blame them since they are such a relatively small record label and certainly rely on good sales for the new album from Arcade Fire.

Bits & Bobs

• Richard was recording string arrangements for the forthcoming Arcade Fire album in New York it was revealed in this article.
• RockFeedback TV: Bell Orchestre - On Stage @ The Garage, London
• The Box director Richard Kelly blogs about Arcade Fire

Richard Kelly reveals The Box score will be released

Richard Kelly used his twitter to deny rumours the score by Win Butler, Régine Chassagne and Owen Pallett won't be released. This is what director of The Box tweeted.

I want to clarify a few things about THE BOX score by Win Butler, Regine Chassagne and @OwenPallett...

The band is hard at work recording the new Arcade Fire album.

They will release the score at some point, when it does not conflict with their album release schedule for their record label.

We all hope that their fans will discover the score the old-fashioned way: sitting in a dark movie theater on 11/6/09.

Until then, you can hear a sample of the score at www.thebox-movie.com - more information forthcoming:)

So even though I'm somewhat disappointed it won't be released in the coming weeks it's comforting to know it will at least be released sometime in the future.

First taste of The Box score!

Win Butler, Régine Cassagne and Owen Pallett have made the score for Richard Kelly's new movie The Box. Last night the official website was launched and playing in the background is a piece of music taken off that score. It sounds incredible! My mind is racing through all sorts haunting landscapes. So, head over to http://thebox-movie.warnerbros.com and listen to the music and check out the pretty cool website. Then when your mind has been blown you download the song here.

[MP3] Win Butler, Régine Chassagne and Owen Pallett - The Box (Website Theme)

UPDATE: As if needed, here's confirmation it's indeed their score music.

RT @owenpallett: Website for "The Box" is up here: http://thebox-movie.warnerbros.com and there's a Mellotron and an orchestra and Regine's angelic singing.

Richard Kelly om musiken till The Box

Richard Kelly berättar ingående om The Box för Mr. Beaks på den nästan alltid intressanta sidan Ain't It Cool News. Här är ett utdrag från deras samtal som handlar om musiken till filmen som ju Win och Régine från Arcade Fire tillsammans med Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy) har gjort.

Kelly: Yeah. But I spent a long time really working on the story, and hopefully turning it into something that is thought provoking. I guess I can show you the trailer. (Pulls out a laptop.) The music in the film was done by Win Butler, Regine Chassagne and Owen Pallett.

Beaks: That's the whole Arcade Fire collaboration we've been hearing about.

Kelly: Right. And Owen is a part of Final Fantasy, but he collaborates with Arcade Fire quite a bit. Marcus Dravs engineered the score with them. He did their last two albums and just did Coldplay's new album.

Beaks: That's a bit of a coup.

Kelly: It was a long, long courtship to get them to do it. The score from the trailer is not them. It's sort of trailer score, you know?

Beaks: And this is the score that will be on the final trailer?

Kelly: Yes, I believe so. Just so you know that, when you hear the score, it's not Win and Regine. You've probably heard the trailer score before. But in a weird way, when you're trying to broadly market a film... I don't question the science of it. Because they do have it down to a science. But the score that [Win, Regine and Owen] did is very Bernard Herrmann. It's very lush. They did eighty minutes of score.

Beaks: Really? Depending on the run time of the movie, that's a lot. Did you let them score long passages of the film?

Kelly: There's a sequence in the library with no dialogue for four minutes that's all music. It's a very score-heavy film. And there's pop songs in it, too. We have Eric Clapton, Grateful Dead, Wilson Pickett, Scott Walker and The Marshall Tucker Band. It's Virginia 1976, so I wanted to have that Southern Rock flavor.

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/41449

Det är alltså INTE deras musik som är med på trailern som kommer släppas snart.

Söndagsnotiser

• Richard Kelly, regissören till The Box, skrev detta i sin blogg.
  
  Win Butler, Regine Chassagne (of Arcade Fire) and Owen Pallett (Final Fantasy, frequent collaborator with Arcade Fire) recorded more than 80 minutes of score for the film.
  www.richard-kelly.net

• Nästa söndag den 12:e april klockan 10:00 kommer ARTE att sända hela spelningen med Arcade Fire från Rock en Seine 2007. Så om någon av er får in den kanalen kan ju tacka er lyckliga stjärna. Förhoppningsvis och troligtvis dyker den upp på det stora vida nätet någonstans så man inte blir utan. Kommer såklart lägga upp den på ArcadeFireTube i så fall. ARTE la upp den här lilla previewen från spelningen.
  
  PURIFY MYYY MIIIND!! Ska kanske tillägga att detta är hela spelningen, tidigare har ju ett 10-tal låtar visats som ni kan njuta av här. Den kommande sändningen kommer innehålla allt detta godis:
  

  01. Keep The Car Running
  02. No Cars Go
  03. Haiti
  04. Laika
  05. Black Mirror
  06. Intervention
  07. (Antichrist Television Blues)
  08. Neon Bible
  09. Age Of Consent
  10. Windowsill
  11. The Well And The Lighthouse
  12. Ocean Of Noise
  13. Tunnels
  14. Power Out
  15. Rebellion
  16. Wake Up

  Det lät väl inte så tokigt va!

Richard Kelly vloggar om The Box

Konfirmerar det som diverse intervjuer med honom redan sagt att Régine, Win och Owen verkligen har gjort soundtracket till The Box.

Richard Kelly pratar äntligen om samarbetet med Arcade Fire

Finns mycket och glädja sig åt i denna intervju! Joel blir mycket nöjd och glad.

Arcade Fire Score 'Donnie Darko' Director's New Movie
'I just have always felt that their stuff was really cinematic,' director Richard Kelly says of band.

By Eric Ditzian

What do you do if your first film became an unlikely cult hit and your follow-up was eviscerated by critics and ignored by audiences? Well, you adapt a "Twilight Zone"-style story into a suspense-driven morality tale and enlist possibly the most well-respected indie rockers in the world to record the score.

At least that's the approach being taken by "Donnie Darko" and "Southland Tales" writer/director Richard Kelly, who recruited the Arcade Fire to record 80 minutes of original music for his upcoming feature, "The Box," staring Cameron Diaz and Frank Langella. In an exclusive interview, Kelly walked MTV News through the origins, outcome and motivations behind the collaboration.

From the start, the director had only one choice in mind to score the movie. "They're just, like, my favorite band, period," he said. "I saw the Neon Bible tour. I went to, like, four shows. And I just have always felt that their stuff was really cinematic." At the Hollywood Bowl show in September 2007, Kelly went backstage and handed a copy of the "Box" script to songwriter/vocalist Win Butler.

"He read it pretty quickly and gave me a call back to say that they were really intrigued," Kelly said. "He and [singer] Régine [Chassagne] were interested in potentially doing some music for it."

What was it about the script that convinced the band — which, at the time, was finishing off five years of constant touring and recording — to take on the project? Kelly believes the band responded in a personal way to certain themes in the story. "They're really political," he said. "And I think with 'The Box,' it's a morality tale, and it takes place in 1976, but conceptually, there's a real message to the film in terms of what it has to say about the nuclear family, and about greed, or about what everyone is willing to do to achieve a certain level of happiness in their life."

Kelly adapted the script from a '70s-era short story by "Twilight Zone" vet Richard Matheson. The film follows Diaz as one-half of a miserable suburban couple (James Marsden plays her husband) who are approached by a mysterious stranger (Langella) with a creepy proposition: press the button on this box and you'll receive $1 million, but someone on the planet will die as a consequence.

After Arcade Fire signed on, Kelly, Butler, Régine and violinist Owen Pallet, along with engineer Marcus Jobs (who'd worked on both of the band's albums) met up in a Toronto studio and, for the entirely live recordings, they assembled a full orchestra, including strings, brass and a Mellotron, as well Régine's vocal elements. "It was really amazing to see them work," Kelly said. "They're really dedicated artists."

The band's focus was on a Russian style of composition, explained Kelly, with "the strings being really raw and emotional. I think they were able to create a score that feels like it's from another era."

He added, "It's kind of like ['Psycho' composer] Bernard Hermann on acid, what they did. It's very lush, and kind of a very bombastic, emotional score — and kind of Hitchcock. It feels like a score from the 1970s."

Of his reluctance to discuss the collaboration until now, the director admitted, "It's like when there's something really cool happening, you get nervous." But now the film is completed and plans are being worked out to release the score as a separate soundtrack. "I put that in Win's court," Kelly explained, "because it's his music, and I just feel really blessed that they were willing to score the film, so it'll be out there. It'll be a big release, I'm sure."

Kelly can only hope for the same for the film itself. After the triumph of indie darling and Jake Gyllenhaal launching pad "Donnie Darko," the director frittered away much of his Hollywood cred with alternate-reality head-scratcher and box-office bomb "Southland Tales," staring The Rock. Both films, incidentally, had killer soundtracks. With "Box," Kelly has promised to deliver a commercially viable movie — with yet more kick-ass tunes — that maintains a genetic link with the trippy sci-fi suspense of "Darko."

"I'm really excited for people to hear what they've come up with," said Kelly of the Arcade Fire soundtrack. The same is undoubtedly true for his latest film, which hits theaters late in 2009.

http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1603205/story.jhtml

Win, Régine & Owen gör musiken till 'The Box'!!

Inte så mycket och orda om. Läs istället bara den här intervjun med Win Butler (WB), gjord av Pitchfork.

Arcade Fire's Butler Talks Miroir Noir, The Box Score
"It's been super healthy for us to just stay at home, tend our gardens, and actually have a real life."

Pitchfork: Miroir Noir isn't a typical concert film. It doesn't capture a complete show or contain any sort of narrative, instead stringing together bits and pieces of performance and behind-the-scenes footage with all kinds of arty miscellany. Why did you choose to create the film this way?

Win Butler: I always find live shows on film kind of boring. Even my favorite ones, I kinda zone out for most of it. It's just so different seeing a band in the flesh and then watching a film of it, even if you have a hundred cameras and it's shot from every angle. There's just a communal, visceral thing that never translates very well. We were just trying to pick some bits of the live show. [Directors] Vincent Moon and Vincent Morisset were the only people really filming, so a lot of it was one-camera shoots, so the bits that were the most interesting are the ones we used.

Pitchfork: There are very few full songs in the film. Was that just the way the footage turned out?

WB: Not necessarily. That just wasn't what we were going for with the film. We were more into trying to capture a little bit of the energy. I find that if there are too many full performances, it doesn't really do that good a job of capturing the energy of the show.

Pitchfork: The film certainly captures that energy, but it can be frustrating when a song starts or stops in the middle.

WB: I know what you're saying. It just really wasn't what we were going for. I think, sometimes, it's better to be a little frustrated than to be bored.

Pitchfork: Miroir Noir features a lot of footage of the recording sessions for Neon Bible. Why did you include that in the film?

WB: There's a lot of home movies from when we were making the record. The parts, like, in the Rolling Stone documentaries, the only parts that I really like are the parts where you see a microphone in the background, and you're like "Ooh, that's where the microphone was." I'm kind of a nerd in that way, I guess. Those are the only moments I ever really find exciting.

Pitchfork: There are also quite a few voice-overs throughout the film-- these are voicemails left by people who called the Neon Bible promotional hotline 1-800-NEONBIBLE, right?

WB: Yeah. There were thousands and thousands of them. We checked the phone bill about six months in. It was pretty staggering, the amount we were paying.

Pitchfork: What are the extras on the deluxe edition of the Miroir Noir DVD? The press release mentioned that the DVD would include your "Friday Night With Jonathon Ross" and "Saturday Night Live" performances.

WB: Yeah. There's a BBC in-studio thing that we did with a bunch of full versions of songs that we shot at Maida Vale studio. The BBC always does a really good job, there's actual audio engineers. They actually really know what they're doing on the sound front. There's also this kind of infomercial thing that one of my good friends, Josh, made for us, that's pretty funny. It's kind of a video form of the 800 number. There's a longer clip of when [Arcade Fire multi-instrumentalists] Tim [Kingsbury] and and Richie [Reed Parry] went to "The Price Is Right". Our manager deserves a lot of credit for clearing that one. It blew my mind that he could actually get it cleared.

Pitchfork: So what's next for the Arcade Fire? We've heard you're working on a new album.

WB: Basically, the last five years have been pretty insane for the band. When we were recording [2004 debut album] Funeral, we didn't have a record deal or anything. We just kinda went in to make a 7" at the beginning. We recorded "Wake Up" and "Power Out" and the rest of it, we would kind of raise a bit of money and record. We never had a rehearsal schedule or anything, people would just come over to me and [Butler's wife and Arcade Fire co-founder] Régine's [Chassagne] house and we'd play in small groups and work on arrangements. I think our goal this year was to take enough time off that we would actually start playing together again because we were really dying to play together again. It's been pretty cool, the past couple months, the guys have been coming over to me and Régine's place. We have instruments in the living room, and we're just playing. It's a really exciting time. The first time you play a song is kind of the best part of the whole experience. It feels like a really natural process is happening.

I'm really relieved, because you get off the road after five years, and you're like, "Man, I don't want to play music anymore." But it's been really rewarding over the last couple months to not have to be like, "OK guys, we're gonna make a record, it's gonna take six months, we're recording in this studio." It's like, "We have no idea what we're doing, but I feel like playing with you this afternoon, so how about we have some tea and play songs for a little bit." I mean, I don't think any of us to spend three years making a record. But after the whole wild ride the last five years, I think it's been super healthy for us to just stay at home, tend our gardens, and actually have a real life. You can feel that in the music now. And fucking hell, what a crazy time to be living in. I think we're all really excited.

Pitchfork: Speaking of which, do you have any plans to perform at any Obama inauguration festivities?

WB: I don't know. There have been a couple emails going back and forth; I don't know if we have too many curse words in our lyrics or something. I'm not sure what's happening with it. We would obviously be totally stoked to play, but I'm sure there are a lot of political considerations. We were in Haiti about a month ago, Régine and I, which was a really mind-blowing experience. It was a couple days after the election. We were in Chicago for election night, and let me tell you, in rural Haiti, they were just as excited as in downtown Chicago.

Pitchfork: You contributed a song, "When Lenin Was Little", to the the forthcoming Red Hot benefit compilation Dark Was the Night. Is that a new song?

WB: No, that's actually the one song that didn't make it on Funeral that was recorded at that time, but it didn't really fit in with the rest of the songs.

Pitchfork: Are you working on anything else, besides the very beginnings of a new album?

WB: Not really. We finished that movie music, I'm not sure when the film's coming out, the Richard Kelly film, which was interesting.

Pitchfork: Wait a second! You did end up contributing music to The Box!?

WB: Yeah. So that will be out at some point.

Pitchfork: Did you write the entire score?

WB: Yes, me, Régine, and Owen [Pallett] from Final Fantasy. It's kind of Hitchcocky, movie, orchestral, Mellotron stuff. It's instrumental music. No songs. It's interesting. We didn't really think we were going to do the whole thing, and then it just kind of was easier once we got in. It was like, "Oh well, we'll just keep going." It has so much to do with the editing, and your job is just to help the director. It's a very different experience.

Pitchfork: What attracted you to this project?

WB: I could really imagine what he wanted for the music. It's based on a "Twilight Zone" episode set in the 70s. The guy works at NASA. It's got this kind of sci-fi, kind of Alfred Hitchcock feel. Those Hitchcock scores are some of my favorite movie music. We have a Mellotron, and since it's the 70s, it really seemed to fit. It was just really easy to imagine the type of music that would help the movie. It was a very ego-less project. The goal was to kind of bang some music out and not be, like, slitting our wrists over if the tambourine is too loud. That was a good experiment.

Pitchfork: "My Body Is a Cage" was recently featured in a commercial for the new movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Why did you agree to license the song for that?

WB: It was one of the fist things that's come down the pipe where... it didn't even really have that much to do with the movie, but just the trailer was very appropriate. Usually, people send us stuff, and if the song wasn't in there, it wouldn't really matter that much. It could really be anything. For this one, it makes sense. It's about a guy trapped in a wrong body...It was artistically done and it worked with the theme of the song. It wasn't a big deal. Everyone was like, "Yeah, it looks good." Most of the time, you get sent some commercial for something and it's just like, "Insert band here." It's not that interesting.

Pitchfork: Do you have anything else going on that you'd like people to know about?

WB: In the very short term, I have to go to the police department because someone broke into my car last night, smashed out the back window, and stole my iPod.

Pitchfork: Oh no! That sucks! I hope they catch the person!

Pitchfork: Arcade Fire's Butler Talks Miroir Noir, The Box Score

Richard Kelly bloggar

Taget från Richard Kelly's myspace-blogg:

The Box and Donnie Darko Tooo

Over the last couple of days, a few people have asked me what's up with "this Donnie Darko sequel."

So to set the record straight, here's a few facts I'd like to share
with you all - I haven't read this script. I have absolutely no involvement with this production, nor will I ever be involved.

I have no control over the rights from our original film, and neither I nor my producing partner Sean McKittrick stand to make any money from this film.

Now . . . I will leave you with some good news!

The last few months have been an amazing time for us on the editing of The Box.

We're starting to work with a very famous band who is honoring us with being the first fillmmakers they've ever scored a film with.

Hopefully there will be an announcement soon about who it is!

Keep the faith,

RK

Markus Dravs försa sig visst lite i förtid. Det tackar vi för! Filmen är f.ö. planerad att ha premiär någon gång i höst.