Experimental Band - Fantomas

Part of our work this year at AFDA is to make an experimental film, a film that eludes definition. Along with an experimental film the music must also compliment this. So in light of this I'm writing a short review of an experimental band, they are called Fantomas.

This relatively unknown band is the brainchild of Mike Patton, who was lead singer of experimental rock band Faith No More, the avant garde super-group consists of himself, Buzz Osborne, Trevor Dunn and Dave Lombardo.

The group is experimental in almost every facet, every album has a particular theme and this theme is taken to its highest potential. Suspended Animation is an album that uses cartoon music and fuses elements of metal, jazz, blues and electronic music to create something unheard of. Delirium Cordia is a one-song album of 74min that musically expresses a scene of a patient who is awake during surgery.

The band uses complex techniques including various polyrhythms, genre mixing, bar-changing time signatures and dramatic tempo shifts.

Fantomas continually blows my mind every time I listen to them, there is always something new to hear and it strays about as far away as you can get from commercial music, is that a good thing? You decide.

From Wikipedia,

"The band arrange albums around concepts or themes:

• Fantômas (aka Amenaza Al Mundo) is based on science fiction comic books, with every song simply given a page number (Page 1, Page 2 etc.). The artwork was mainly taken from the Italian comic Diabolik.
• The Director's Cut is a series of reinterpretations of motion picture theme songs. Some versions are rather loyal to the sources (such as the eerie lullabye from The Night of the Hunter), while others offer radical takes on the music (such as the theme from The Godfather tackled in part as a thrash metal song).
• Delìrium Còrdia is one extended song, with the concept of surgery without anesthesia.
• Suspended Animation (recorded in the same sessions as Delìrium Còrdia) is an album of twisted cartoon music, each track named after a day in the month of April 2005, and the limited-edition, first pressing of the album was itself (literally) a calendar of the month featuring the art of contemporary Japanese pop artist Yoshitomo Nara."

The only conceivable way to describe Fantomas is insane, the mental patient and just plain lunacy, but this is what makes them so beautiful at the same time. You will probably never hear this type of music anywhere else in the world. 

Here is a list of links with information on the band.

Track 6 off Suspended Animation: 04/06/05 Wednesday
Wikipedia Information: Click here
Ipecac Records: Click here
Album Review 1: Click here
Album Review 2: Click here

Michael Giacchino - The Next Super Composer

Who is Michael Giacchino? You might not know who this man is but there is a 99% chance you've heard his incredible music.

According to Wikipedia,

"Michael Giacchino; born October 10, 1967) is an American composer who has composed scores for movies, television series and video games. Giacchino has received numerous awards for his work, including an Emmy, multiple Grammys, and an Academy Award."

He began his musical career writing for video games such as Medal of Honour, Jurassic Park, Call of Duty and The Incredibles. This led to his entrance into film and television composing for Award Winning shows such as Alias, Lost and Fringe also venturing into films like Up, Mission Impossible 3, Sky High, Cloverfield, Super 8, Star Trek and most recently, the epic John Carter (which by the way was absolutely fantastic in every respect).

While Giacchino's list of work is impressive to say the least its not as impressive as the actual music he writes. His scores, even the shortest and simplest ones are vast and sprawling, they are imbued with real emotional value and longevity. They are careful thought out and contain expansive symbolism.

His latest offering, John Carter, is in my opinion a 9/10 score, stunning and emotive. Its done what many Hollywood score have failed to do to me in a long time, that is capture me. It drew me in so deep I forgot I was watching a film, listening to a soundtrack or even existing. The acted as another character, guiding you through the world of the narrative without you even realising it.

How does he do it? Giacchino uses a vast amount of techniques and motif's that its almost impossible to keep track of them all, I believe this expansive diversity and vast emotional information that Giacchino presents us is reflective of a human personality, I believe this is why I get sucked into his sonic world so effortlessly. Many scores can be over thought and alien in some ways but Giacchino always heads straight for emotion and narrative amplification without fail.

Here is a fantastic review and break down of the soundtrack to John Carter,

"What can I say about Michael Giacchino’s truly magnificent score for John Carter that has not already been said? This is one of the best orchestral soundtracks you could purchase this year, or any year for that. Every track rouses emotions to the core and creates a vivid sense of tone. Giacchino has outdone himself in his ability to capture the breadth and minor subtlety of each moment of Carter, making this perhaps his best film work I have listened to. In this edition of the Mouse House, I’ll analyze the John Carter soundtrack, what could be an early contender for a Best Original Score Academy Award if Oscar voters are listening…"

Michael Giacchino is becoming apart of a group of 'super composers', such as the legendary John Williams, the captivating Hans Zimmer and the enthralling Howard Shore, if his hasn't already.

Contagion - Beautiful Fusion

If you haven't seen this movie yet, I suggest it highly. Here is the trailer.

"Soon after her return from a business trip to Hong Kong, Beth Emhoff dies from what is a flu or some other type of infection. Her young son dies later the same day. Her husband Mitch however seems immune. Thus begins the spread of a deadly infection. For doctors and administrators at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, several days pass before anyone realizes the extent or gravity of this new infection. They must first identify the type of virus in question and then find a means of combating it, a process that will likely take several months. As the contagion spreads to millions of people worldwide, societal order begins to break down as people panic." - IMDb


This is a beautiful fusion of music and picture in its simplest form. The music isn't forcing you to feel any emotion or react in a certain way, it is merely setting an atmosphere for the pictures we are seeing. Despite this sounding like a lacking claim, the music is a moving giant (just like the virus) that doesn't draw too much attention to itself. 


The style is much like a cross of techno/dance and orchestral scoring, also introducing India Tabla drums at certain points, this is most likely demonstrating the virus' global capacity. It relies on heavy repetition and addition and subtraction of textures (that is, adding or taking away of sounds/instruments) This links heavily to the idea of the virus that spreads, gradually getting larger and larger. The score builds slowly, often in a grim fashion, then suddenly drifting into the background and returning again just as suddenly. 


"The film's electronic score was composed by Cliff Martinez. Soderbergh wanted to use the music to keep the pace of the film moving quickly. Martinez's other "mission was to magnify the fear factor", Soderbergh told Martinez from the start, "This is a horror movie".^[26] Martinez got direction for the score when Soderbergh sent him rough cuts of the film with temp scores from The French Connection, Marathon Man, andTangerine Dream in it. Combined with Soderbergh's guidance and older material Martinez wrote during the eras of The French Connection and Tangerine Dream the score for Contagion came together." - Wikipedia

The score often deals with dissonance and electronically generated clusters. There is a piano theme of 8notes that is played often but many times it is underneath another track that is playing, this creates more dissonance. The film is primarily grim and disturbing due to its realism which I believe many films seem to pass by or never try and achieve. Many scientists have praised the film for its accuracy.

Here is a track from the OST of Contagion

Check it out!

Drive Angry - My Views

So I just finished watching the film and overall I would give the film about a 6/10. This is for the unique concept and 'bad-ass' factor which I quite enjoy.

The music I wouldn't say was anything special, it fulfilled it's purpose of aiding the narrative but didn't tell the story through itself which I think is important for music to do in a film.


The film is about a father who escapes from the prison of hell to save his granddaughter and avenge his daughter's death. 


'John Milton is up against the clock: Jonah King, the leader of a Satanic cult, has murdered Milton's daughter and kidnapped her baby. In three days, King and his followers will sacrifice the child at midnight. Milton picks up the trail in Oklahoma as well as rescuing a waitress named Piper from her brutal, two-timing fiancé. There are odd things about Milton: his driver's license is out of date, he has a very strange gun, and he's being pursued by a man in a suit who carries FBI ID and calls himself the Accountant. Piper, who's lived a life on the sidelines, has to piece things together on the fly as they close in on King.' - from IMDb


The music, composed by Michael Wandmacher, comprises of entirely American Hard Rock/Blues. It is mainly used to 'fill' sections with no dialogue, such as time lapses, car chases and change of location. another task the music takes up is that of the 'bad-ass' factor (as I like to call it) where the hero does something crazy, such as shoot someone without looking or say a 'one-liner' and music comes in to make him look 'cool', make him look better than anybody else.


A great example of this can be seen in this Youtube clip from 0.58, the music enhances our perception of the character as better than the rest of the characters in the film, almost blatantly. 


The film I wouldn't say is a work of art but rather a Hollywood action film, and the music communicates that rather well, not to be taken too seriously.


More information about the film can be found here

Watch the film and enjoy the ride!

2012 Movies

Here are some movies I am excited to see this year! Song: Metal Gear Solid 3 Theme - Harry Gregson - Williams

Films: Prometheus, Safe House, 7500, Amazing Spiderman, Men in Black 3, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, Brave, The Avengers, 47 Ronin, Seeking Justice, The Hobbit, The Bourne Legacy

Student Life

So this is my first post and I wanted to speak a little about who I am and so on. I study Film Composing at AFDA University Johannesburg, South Africa. The University, I feel, was an excellent choice even though I had the option to study at UCT (A well known and highly commendable University) where I was to study a Bmus in guitar.

The choice to do film music gives me a chance to branch out and do something unique and something that would push myself in directions I never knew existed.

So far the journey has been rather fulfilling and I meet incredible people and worked on some beautiful films, I only wish to continue on that path. Working on films is an incredible experience, I find that I create better music the more constraints that fall upon me. A film entitled In The Interest of Time, was the first action film I ever did and the need to create thick, powerful and driving music was ever present. The end result awarded my crew Best Second Year Film and a flurry of high marks. Another film that helped me push the boundaries of myself was a film called Imagine, also directed by student director Cole Matthews. The film required me to create music for several different genres while retaining a central theme throughout. The genres were Western, Modern Day Action, Film Noir and Drama. Again the film did significantly well and I learnt a great deal from the pressure of working on it and the need to create music that wasn't just another track but one that contained depth and meaning within it. I think that is something that defines a film composer above other composers - the consistent pursuit of marrying music and picture, creating a meaningful connection between the two that amplify each other to the point where one can not live without the other... at least that's what I'm trying to do.

As for this year, I wish to create the highest quality music I have made so far, to push myself further and discover my own style. My weaknesses at this point are relying on the same techniques and patterns but, looking at the films I have lined up this year, they'll push me beyond that. I'd say my strong points are that I'm willing to gather inspiration from any source and that I don't force my opinions/ideas upon people. I also never give up until I'm happy with the outcome. By the end of 2012 I wish to be comfortable working with a myriad of live performers, from vocalists and cellists to beatboxers and organists, and be comfortable recording them with my equipment. 

I hope you enjoy the rest of my blog and the posts that will be arriving shortly!

My M-Audio USB Keyboard