Interview with Deborah Lurie, composer of the music for ‘Dear John’

By E. Corrado

Back on February 5th, we reviewed the film Dear John, which is based on the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name.

Below is a short interview about the scoring process for the film, with composer Deborah Lurie.

Enjoy!

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When did you find out that you would be doing the score for Dear John? It was shortly after I completed my score for 9, actually. I had just flown back from the 9 sessions in London, and before I knew it, I was back on a plane to meet with Dear John's director Lasse Hallstrom in New York.

Have you seen the finished film? Absolutely! And they give you free popcorn at the premiere - it's awesome.

Were there any challenges that you felt you faced while working on Dear John? It was MUCH different scoring an entire film via email with the director. The director was actually in Sweden during the time I scored the film, so communication was much more difficult than in past movies.

Where was the score for Dear John recorded? In Los Angeles, at the Eastwood Scoring Stage on the Warner Brothers Backlot.

Were there any instruments that you wanted to focus on for Dear John? Yes! I wanted the guitar to play out over the orchestra. This was a sweeping, but modern love story. I wanted that to come across in my score.

Did you play any of the instruments? The synths!

What was your favorite part of doing the music for Dear John? The people. The team was full of characters - and since it was a New York - based project, the team was completely new to me. Getting to know everyone was incredibly fun and rewarding.

Can you tell us about any other upcoming projects that you are working on? Sorry. Top secret.

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A big thank you to Deborah Lurie for taking the time out to answer these questions. You can also read a previous interview with her from September for the animated film 9, here.

Movie Review: Dear John

Dear John

http://www.dearjohn-movie.com/

Release Date: February 5th, 2010

Rated PG-13 some sensuality and violence.

Running time: 102 minutes

Lasse Hallström (dir.)

Jamie Linden (screenwriter)

Based on the book Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

Deborah Lurie (music)

Channing Tatum as John Tyree

Amanda Seyfried as Savannah Lynn Curtis

Henry Thomas as Tim Wheddon

Scott Porter as Randy

Richard Jenkins as Mr. Tyree

(l to r) Braeden Reed, Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum star in DEAR JOHN, an Alliance Films release.

Our reviews below:

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Dear John Review By John C.

**1/2 (out of 4)

Richard Jenkins plays a man with Asperger’s syndrome in Dear John. He is brilliant in every scene he’s in. The problem is, he’s not the focus of the story. The main plot of Dear John just happens to be an average, melodramatic and very predictable romance.

John (Channing Tatum) is a soldier going back to war in two weeks. When vacationing with his father, he spends lots of time at the beach. This is mainly just so that the audience can see him surfing. When he sees a bag get knocked into the water, he jumps in to rescue it. Turns out, it belongs to Savannah (Amanda Seyfried), a visiting student. Naturally, they fall in love. And naturally their relationship has to be kept going through the use of “Dear John” letters.

John has a rocky relationship with his father, wonderfully played by the aforementioned Richard Jenkins. The singular moment that rings most true in the film is a scene between John and his dad. It’s touching and beautiful. Some may argue against this scene, but it’s the one thing that holds an otherwise average movie together. Every time Richard Jenkins was on screen, I saw the movie that this could have been.

The combat scenes are well shot, but more played for melodrama rather than true suspense. I predicted nearly every plot-point. That’s not really a complaint, more just an observation. In these kind of letter movies one side always burns all their letters.

Though I’m sure it will be very popular around Valentine’s day, and it is worth seeing for Richard Jenkins, I think Dear John will play just as well on DVD. And that’s more where my recommendation would lie.

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Dear John Review By Erin V.

***1/4 (out of 4)

Based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks, Dear John is a romantic story of two people who fall in love with each other over two weeks together while on break. They are John, (Channing Tatum), and Savannah, (Amanda Seyfried). Unfortunately, Savannah has to go back to college, and John is only on a temporary leave from the army. Still, they vow to write each other as often as possible, in order to stay close while so far apart.

I found the romantic storyline in this movie to be fairly average as far as these kinds of movies go, but the part that really upped the movie for me was not the relationship between John and Savannah so much as the relationships between them and John’s father, who is a coin collector with Asperger's syndrome. He is played very well by Richard Jenkins - one of the most accurate portrayals of an individual with Aspergers’ in a movie I’ve seen. It is neither under, nor overplayed.

It was his elements in the story that I found created some of the most real and touching moments. It was these scenes that felt especially real, and it was interesting to see his relationship with his son John, and John’s relationship with him.

I have not read the book, although I am now interested to. I think that says something about a film to actually interest you enough to want to look at the source material. Both autism and Aspergers’ were represented well in the film, and that is one of the reasons that I’d really like to read the book.

I enjoyed the film, although it felt slightly long in a few parts. Still, overall, a good effort on the part of all those involved, and for the audience that’s actually going to buy a ticket to this film, I think they are going to really enjoy it.

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Dear John Review By Nicole

*** (out of four)

Dear John is a nice low-key romantic movie. Based on the book by Nicholas Sparks, the story relays the often long distance love between Savannah and John. From the day Savannah meets, John, they fall in love in only two weeks. When John, who is a soldier in the US army goes over seas, he expects to be back soon. But 911 happens, so John goes over to Afghanistan. While overseas, John and Savannah correspond through a series of letters.

I really liked the romance between Savannah and John. But some of my favourite scenes involve John’s father, who is suggested to have Asperger’s syndrome. He shares his love of mule coins with the people he cares for. The bond between John and his father is sweet and believable. Richard Jenkins is perfectly as an undiagnosed Aspie.

Another side plot involving autism depicts Savannah’s neighbour, Tim and his son Alan, who has mild autism. Both Brandon Reed, (7 year old Alan), and Luke Benward, (14 year old Alan), are very believable as a young autist.

I really liked Dear John. The story, while sad at times, is also very sweet. The acting is really good throughout. This movie will appeal to teens and adults of all ages.

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Dear John Review By Maureen

*** (out of 4)

Dear John is a touching romance based on the novel Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. As a Nicholas Sparks fan I was pleased with this movie adaptation.

The story follows the lead characters John Tyree (Channing Tatum) and Savannah (Amanda Seyfried) as they continue their initial two week spring break romance through a series of letters. Savannah is a college student and John is in the army. When 9/11 happens John’s stay in the army is extended and their love further tested.

Much of the plot is predictable in terms of romantic highs and lows. However Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried are really nice to watch in their roles as John and Savannah. The high point in Dear John is John’s relationship with his father, a quiet man who collects coins and has undiagnosed Asperger’s Syndrome. The father, Mr. Tyree is played beautifully by Richard Jenkins (from the movie The Visitor). Jenkins’ portrayal of Aspergers’ Syndrome is touching and accurate. Also portrayed accurately is Savannah’s young neighbour, Allan who has autism. There are some interesting plot twists involving Allan and his autism.

Overall Dear John is a really nice movie. Be warned there is more than one “keep the tissues handy” scene. However Dear John never descends into melodrama.

Dear John is a good movie choice as Valentine’s Day approaches for those of us who love a good romance story.

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Dear John Review By Tony

*** (out of 4)

Dear John is a sweet romance based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. In 2000, John Tyree (Channing Tatum) meets Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) while he is on leave from service in the Special Forces, and she is on spring break. Falling in love after two weeks, they promise to keep in touch by letters over the next year until John can come home for good. Just before finishing his tour in the Balkans, the 9/11 attack happens and his unit volunteers for active service in the Middle East. The succeeding several years apart threaten their relationship. What lifts the story from the ordinary is the theme of autism. John’s retired father (Richard Jenkins) is socially awkward, bound by routine and constantly tending his coin collection, i.e. an Aspie. Savannah’s family friend Tim (Henry Thomas, who was Elliot in E.T.) has an autistic son, so she recognizes the Asperger traits in John’s father. When she points this out to John he is at first defensive, unaware that this is not necessarily a bad thing. Savannah is then inspired to specialise in autism for her education degree and start up a horse camp for special needs kids after graduation.

Being totally inoffensive, Dear John can be enjoyed by the whole family, young and old, which may lead some to dismiss it as a Hallmark film in all but name. However, the autism theme, the attractive leads and strong supporting cast, particularly Richard Jenkins, raise it to a slightly higher level.

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Channing Tatum stars in DEAR JOHN, an Alliance Films release.

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Consensus: Dear John is a nice romantic movie to see around Valentine's Day. While the storyline is fairly average in terms of a love story like this, Richard Jenkins' portrayal of Aspergers', makes this one worth seeing. It is a fine film that succeeds in what it was trying to be. *** (Out of 4)

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Richard Jenkins stars in DEAR JOHN, an Alliance Films release.

“The Music of 9” - An Interview With Composer Deborah Lurie

By E. Corrado

I had the opportunity to speak with composer Deborah Lurie about the music for the new animated feature 9 earlier this week. 9 opened in theatres last Wednesday, 9.9.09. Enjoy!

When did you find out that you would be doing the score for 9? I can’t remember quite how long ago, but there was a nice amount of time. It was worked on off and on, over a year ago.

What kind of timeline do you usually have for a movie like this? I’m not sure what the average would be but sometimes it’s as little as 3 weeks, and sometimes it’s as long as 2 1/2 months.

Had you done any animated projects before - do you think there's more time when it’s animated? Not movies, but I had done an animated tv show for Disney. I don’t know about more time, but like with 9, I imagine there’s more back and forth with animated as it goes through various stages.

Had you seen Shane Acker’s award winning short film, before you agreed to do the score for the feature of 9? Yes, I had, and I had to promise myself not to watch it 20 times, or something like that, because the film was going to be different, so I didn’t want to influence myself too much like that.

Have you seen the finished feature film? Yes, I just saw it actually at a screening with my friends. I seem to be getting most of my feedback from the Bay area though. You never know how a film like this is going to be received, and I try not to worry too much about it, but it is nice when it is received well. I’m quite proud of this score, and I’m very excited to see that it is getting good reviews on iTunes.

Now, the credits list Danny Elfman as doing the themes for 9, and you doing the score, can you elaborate a little bit on how that came to be? Well, I worked on 8 or so other films with him, doing additional music. So, I developed a great working relationship with him. Also, for this one, he does a lot of music for Tim Burton, who is one of the producers on this, and one of the other producers Timur Bekmambetov, is the director of Wanted, which was a film I did additional music for Danny Elfman’s score on. So, somewhere along the way, it was decided that Danny would do the themes for the film, and then I would get to take them, elaborate and score the film around them.

I loved the scene where the song “Over the Rainbow” was used. Who’s decision was it to use “Over the Rainbow” in the film? Well, I was there when they decided to do that, but I wasn't part of the decision. It was in London, and the director and producers and everyone started talking, and it seemed like they were discussing something really important. Finally, they told us that they had decided what they wanted to do for that scene, which was to use ‘Over the Rainbow’. It turned out to be a great idea.

How did you make it work with the rest of the score? Well, I just scored the parts before and after, e.g. when the machine emerges again. I think a lot of that artistry is owed to the people who mixed the film. It was their decision where the music would start up again from the song, etc. They actually decided that it was more effective to use the song for longer when the machine was starting to chase, before coming back to the score.

What were the challenges, if any, that felt you faced while working on 9? Well, I think the biggest challenge would be the fact that this was kind of uncharted territory for us all. Now that the film is out, it’s considered a certain genre film, but no one knew what it would become when we started. Also, the music is very different in the feature then from the short, so we had to kind of figure out where we were going with it.

Where exactly was the score for 9 recorded? Well, it was recorded at the Air Studios in London, England. It used to be an old church, and it was an amazing place to do the music. It was always my dream to do something in London. 9 didn’t have endless funding, but recording there was one of the things that the filmmakers really wanted to do. It was an absolute thrill for me to record there, but it was kind of bittersweet at the same time, since I missed the musicians that I regularly record with in LA.

So, when did you know that you wanted to compose music? For me, it was a little bit later than some people. It was kind of a series of events. I was a junior at highschool, and we had a music theory class, which was pretty amazing for a public school. Anyway, the final project was to write a piece of music. I was worrying over the project for a while, but afterward, I knew that this is what I wanted to do.

Where did you study music after highschool? Well, I basically asked my highschool piano teacher where I should go. I started telling him what was exciting me about writing music, and he said that I had to go to USC. So, that’s where I ended up going.

When composing music, do you have favourite instruments to write for? I like to write for so many different ones, but I really like writing a lot for guitars, mandolins, electric guitars, piano, and all kinds of strings. The last score I finished was mostly strings. I also like to do things for brass and winds.

What instruments did you want to focus on for 9, or is that the director’s decision? I feel everyone was kind of on the same page in regards to the music of 9. It has a lot of brass and winds and we ended up getting a really big sound like we had a 100+ piece orchestra, when in reality there were a lot less people in it than that. There was also a lot of discussion about Danny’s themes, and whether or not we were going to have the budget for a choir. It finally ended up that in the very last scene of the film, we have a choir singing. It was a great choir in London, and it was amazing to record with them.

Did you play any of the instruments? I played a lot of the synthesizer parts, which is more of an experimental thing than just keyboarding skills. There are a lot of electronic sounds on this film, since it is about machines and technology, and the power it has over people. I also sometimes sing on some of my scores, but not on this one.

Do you use a computer to test out different sounds? Yes, since it is pretty standard in the industry nowadays. You usually end up making pretty elaborate instrument accurate mockups for the director.

Which programs do you use? I’ve been composing for orchestra with ProTools. A lot of composers start off with other programs, even though it all goes to ProTools at the end especially with ProTools 8.

I’m just kind of curious about this one; when you’re writing a score like 9 for an orchestra, do you lay out what instruments will be playing what, or is that the job of an orchestrator? I make pretty much all of the overall layout decisions. The job of an orchestrator is more to take those ideas, and from them add expression, dynamics, and things like that. Also I will say, for example, that a certain part will be played by strings, but then the orchestrator will say, ok, these notes here will be played by 1st violin, this here viola, here cello, etc.

I also noticed that most movies don’t list the orchestra members in the credits, and only sometimes the actual orchestra... What are your thoughts on this? Well, the question of how attached to the film the actual orchestra members are, is highly debated. It is not so much about the actual credits, as it is about whether the individual people are entitled to royalties for the performances. It’s debated whether they should, or whether they are individual people that were hired exclusively for that day. When working in LA, under union laws, players are forever tied to the productions they work on.

What has been your favorite project to write music for, and why? 9 was definitely up there as one of the most rewarding. Another one that was really great that I just finished, is called Dear John, which is based on a Nicholas Sparks novel. It is a romance, so that was a nice change from an action movie with machines.

What was your favorite part of doing the music for 9? I just loved being part of something so unique and new. It was very stressful at times, for those reasons, since it was uncharted territory, but it was fun.

Can you tell us about any other upcoming projects that you are working on? I’m not sure in regards to film projects right now, but I also work as an arranger for bands. So, I have some of those projects. I actually find it rather relaxing and fun. It’s really a different experience from film.

Thank you for taking the time to talk with me today about the music of 9. Thank you.

One Movie, Five Views thanks Deborah Lurie for taking the time to talk with us. Our reviews of the film can be found here.