The Making Of… “Parody! — Movie Genre Cliches”
The first in a series of four launch albums for Gothic Storm’s newest label ‘Gothic Storm’s Comedy Works’. ‘Parody! — Movie Genre Cliches” features almost serious, over the top orchestral tracks which perfectly capture their intended genres with a feel of tongue-in-cheek comedy. We spoke to Amadeo Lopez, Pete Checkley, Carles Piles and Francesco Cerrato about their tracks and how they approached making the ultimate parody trailer track.
Did you have a particular cliched scene or character in mind when writing your cue? A well known moment in cinematic history perhaps?
AL: Yes! In my case I did a 50s music horror-style track, scenes from “Psycho” or “Vertigo” ala Bernard Herrmann came to mind.
PC: As a kid I was engrossed in Saturday afternoon vintage Westerns. The overacting, the bravado. Gunslinger’s Return is my homage to classic Spaghetti Western, designed to transport you to that place and time with authenticity and nostalgia.
CP: I tried not to, but thinking about general comedic moments related to those heroes that aren’t as strong as they look!
FC: I worked on a family adventure and a space adventure cue, where all the inspiration comes from all the great movies of my childhood. I grew up with the music of soundtrack legends like Williams, Horner, Goldsmith, Silvestri and there’s a lot of them in my compositions. It was great fun honouring these great musicians on these tracks.
Was it difficult to tread the line between over-the-top parody and traditional “serious” trailer music?
AL: A little, yes.. But after putting some hits, sub bass and sfx here and there, it started to sound like a modern trailer track
PC: As this genre is so full of cliches, I tried very hard to show a western parody without the over top cliches that you may expect. For example, there are no Morricone style “Good, The Bad and The Ugly” whistles, but big guns at dawn chimes and plenty of vibrato guitar. I kept to vintage production techniques and scored for as many traditional samples as I could find to compliment the live instruments. Structure is very important so the start quiet and build up to a big finale is there
CP: Absolutely. Some moments are clearly comical but the most used resource was exaggeration, which is not always obvious to everybody so it was hard to avoid the feeling of trying to go a step further.
FC: It was a challenge to parody these kinds of styles. I worked to create a composition that was over the top whilst finding the right solution of harmonic and melodic cliché, combined with an orchestration “on steroids”. I followed two sensations to find the right direction: exciting and fun.
How did you begin the composition process? Did it start with an instrument related to the genre or was there a melodic idea first?
AL: Because I love the “Bernard Hermann” composing style, I started of course with short string patterns making some poly harmonies.
PC: The guitar is my main instrument, and the general Grindhouse/B Movie genre is a favourite of mine. The whole piece started from a grungy vibrato chord progression and lead melody in that Grindhouse style. From then on, it was a case of development, slightly dusty Spaghetti Western instruments and working towards that big build!
CP: A bright brass fanfare was the first idea that came to mind, but in the end, the melodic material was the most essential content in order to keep a cohesive line amongst parts.
FC: Normally I always start thinking about harmonies and then the melody comes easily. My compositional process begins with a piano sketch where the orchestration arrives accordingly. For these ideas I only had a few orchestral flavours in mind before I sat down and started the real composition.
What would be your dream trailer usage for your cue?
AL: Well, definitely some parody from a 50s horror movie haha.. I don’t have any in mind.
PC: It’s certainly shooting high but any Clint Eastwood or Quinten Tarrantino movie would be awesome! That said, the cue would work great in a remake of Rawhide or Gunsmoke perfectly. Cliché but classy!
CP: Being a former CGI artist and animation lover myself, another usage on a Pixar campaign would surely make me really happy again. But indeed just any usage would be great!
FC: I would like to see my music in some great trailer productions dedicated to families and children. I compose this music with all the action and adventure of the adult child that is always inside me.
How much of your cue was live instruments and what are your go-to instrument libraries for everything else?
AL: All “In the Box” except the added live strings.. My go to for strings, for example, are a blend of cinematic studio strings and vista.
PC: In my opinion, it’s important to add as much live playing or custom sound design as possible. All of the electric guitars are live played, as is the string section. From then on, it was looking for sources of authentic percussion and using two libraries dedicated to Spaghetti Western music. The guitars feature a vintage twang spring reverb with plenty of tremolo! Vintage brass, wind, vocals and percussive sounds complete the ensemble. Finally, the old favourites whip cracks and angry mob choir provide the icing on the cake!
CP: Strings were nicely played and recorded by live players. For everything else, a collage of virtual instruments were used since every library has its own pros and cons. Every cue may need more or less contribution from one or more libraries depending on the needs of the piece.
FC: We had a great opportunity to have a live strings recording session in Vienna. This conveys a lot of human feeling and excitement which is very important for this type of music. Supporting it all is the sampled orchestra, which is my huge template of Orchestral Tools, East West, Omnisphere and various percussive elements.
