Grammy-winning composer Mateo Messina, who scored Juno and The Office, talks about choosing a musical genre for each project and finding inspiration.
Mateo Messina is a Grammy winning (“Juno”, 2008) composer who writes music for film, television, and the symphony. He composed many widely acclaimed scores for television (“The Office”) as well as for feature length films (Oscar winner, “Juno”; “Butter”, “L!fe Happens”, and more). He discusses the various ways in which he finds inspiration for his music.
SF: How do you decide on the genre of the music for a specific film, for example, the mambo you wrote for “The Office” or the rock inspired score of “L!fe Happens”?
Mateo Messina: That’s interesting. Coming up with the score is about finding the right kind of tone for a particular movie, for example three girls living in L.A. in “L!fe Happens”.
However, it’s also interesting to play around with the tone by juxtaposing genres that wouldn’t necessarily go together. In a comedy, you can choose to play a scene very straight, which gives it an extra effect. For example, having a mambo in “The Office” makes the scene slightly ridiculous, and therefore quite comedic. You also have to take into account that the genre is always a discussion with the director.
- Always serve the picture.
- Be relentless in your pursuit.
- Just go do it. People often think they need some kind of permission or some extraordinary opportunity to start working, but just going out and working on a student film allows you to gain experience, which is always good.
SF: How much of this is your personal decision and how closely do you have to follow the director’s directions and wishes?
Mateo Messina: You always have to follow the director’s wishes to some extent because directors have the vision for what they want in the film, but it’s also true that they hire you to bring something extra to the production. For example, I worked on two films last year where the directors basically told me “do that thing that you do”, so I had a lot of freedom. Other directors are much more specific because they know exactly what they want. It also really depends on their level of experience and their trust. Younger directors are often more prone to controlling everything because they want to make sure that everything goes the way they want.
SF: How familiar do you have to be with the material in order to compose the score? Are you inspired by the visuals or the story? What is most important?
Mateo Messina: I would say that the story is the key. It’s certainly what influences me the most. The visuals are important too in the sense that they effect and influence timing. For example, in a new film I’m working on, I read the script and immediately started brainstorming ideas. I’ve only seen the actual film once so far and I won’t be seeing it again right away. The script was enough to inspire me because that’s where the emotions are cued. With the soundtrack, it is my job to convey these emotions without the audience even really noticing.
SF: A lot of the movies you work on have a similar tone to them in that they are independent and deal with young, female protagonists. Are you drawn to this particular type of movie? How do you choose your subject matter?
Mateo Messina: I’m most drawn to anything that has a heart, anything that takes the audience on a journey and makes them feel. I’m not really into horror movies. I worked on something kind of like that a little while ago and it was fun but not really for me. I like subject matter that pulls on your heart strings, like a good coming-of-age story. I’m actually purposely seeking out this one story that’s incredible right now. I know the writer and I would love to be part of that project.
SF: Where else do you find your inspiration? From music that you enjoy? From your musical training?
Mateo Messina: Well, I don’t have any formal training, but yes, I’ll draw my inspiration from everywhere and all kinds of music and sounds. I like to go to hip hop shows, for example. Once, I even went to this construction site and just listened to the sounds for inspiration. I even got the guys over there to lend me some of their equipment so I could recreate the sounds in my composition. Inspiration comes from everywhere. I wrote my first symphony when I was 24, and I was much more influenced by Led Zeppelin than by any classical music.
SF: The soundtrack for Juno was widely praised, but which score do you feel most proud of in your body of work?
Mateo Messina: Probably “Butter”, a film that came out in 2011. It was a really funny movie and, at the last minute, the team decided not to do the whole promotional, big splash thing for its release. I had composed one score and Harvey Weinstein asked me to change directions. I ended up going with a Motown sound, which I recorded with people in Brooklyn. It came out sounding really alive and fun, in my opinion. There’s an exciting interplay between our work as creative professionals and our personal work as artists. Let’s focus for a moment on how to keep your eyes open to the lessons within the edit.
With music editing, there’s a curiosity and playfulness… as well as a deadline. In my process, I first establish my goals for the edit according to the filmmaker’s needs (for example: help the cue maintain movement, dramatic hit at 01.03.22.05, fade out smoothly, etc.). Next I allow an allotted time to ‘play’ and ask the ‘what if’ questions: What if I move this piece forward 5 frames? What if we reverse the music to help a transition? Once I’ve found the best solution, I do the job well and “ship” … on time.
As an artist it’s harder to have this professional approach to our creativity – it’s more fun to remain in that feel good space of playfulness. However, exploration can be a mask for indecision and fear. After working very slowly on my album I realized it was time to take the lessons from my work as an editor and apply them to my own music. For my most recent song, “Dreamtrain”, I played: incorporating train and ocean sound-design, etc. I did the job: making sure I got the right recordings, even if it took me several takes (and it did). And, finally, I shipped: releasing the song through a prototype for an interactive documentary/music video. The prototype needs more work of course, it’s not finished yet, but the song is – and it needed to get out there.
So as you work and create, pay attention. Your work for other people can teach you how to work better for yourself.
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