Interview John Ottman - Superman Returns

For the release of Superman Returns, Soundtrack Review.net was pleased to be able to ask the following questions of veteran film and television composer, John Ottman -

Soundtrack Review.net: "Did you ever in your wildest dreams think your name would be associated with the first truly original Superman film score since 1978?"

John Ottman: "Yeah, I knew all along this would happen. – Right! No, in fact when I would get bogged down and stressed out about this project I would have to step back and give myself a reality check, realizing that here I was scoring a film based upon one of my all time favorite movies, and adapting music from one of my idols – music that I played over and over on my record player when a kid. So I had to stop seeing the glass half empty and realize this was something that comes once in a lifetime. I had to just slap myself and say, 'Snap out of it!'”

Soundtrack Review.net: "It’s obvious in the Superman March that the orchestra players are giving it their all. Were the performers just as enthusiastic as you were to be in the position of recording a Superman score?"

John Ottman: "Oh yes. Even though most of them are very familiar with it performing in concerts like the Hollywood Bowl and such, they were still jazzed. It was also great having veteran musicians who knew it so well to have the rhythm down tight and guide the others."

Soundtrack Review.net: "The addition of a chorus adds a great epic feeling to the music. Was it your intention right from the beginning that a chorus had to be here, or was it a concept that naturally evolved from the  process?"

John Ottman: "I knew from the script that choir would be inevitable. At first I figured it would at least be a textural element as Williams did in the Fortress of Solitude music, and so forth. But, yeah, as the film grew in scope and I got a handle on the emotional needs of the film, the merely textural ideas were expanded to more glorious ones."

Soundtrack Review.net: "Don Davis seems to have set a pre-requisite for following in the footsteps of John Williams that at some point the main theme has to be performed in part by a chorus. Was this on your mind at all when you did the same for Superman?"

John Ottman: "Really? Actually I never saw the Jurassic Park film he did and never heard the score, but I guess we were thinking alike! It just sort of happened in a climactic scene where I needed more from the familiar rhythm than had ever been heard, and the choir really made the moment poignant when Superman lifts the island from the ocean."

Soundtrack Review.net: "At times the chorus seems to be commenting on the action, was this a planned idea or something that just worked itself out?"

John Ottman: "Well, it’s always planned. Choir is a tricky thing. If not done with tact, it can be cheesy and actually belittle a sequence. So it’s a fine calculated line on just how it’s written, arranged and dynamically treated in a cue. Even a well-written line can ruin a cue if not embedded artfully. One example is when Superman is kneeling over Jason in his bedroom at the end of the film, passing on the words of advice form his father. The choir comes in as underscore against the strings, and it really pulls the emotion and depth out of the scene. But it was tricky. Any more peaking over the strings could have been corn-ball. Similarly I created a sort of atonal overlapping “moaning” in the choir for scenes showing Kryptonite. The idea was a sort of Ligetti feel used in 2001: A Space Odyssey. I had some strange looks from my conductor when we were creating the layers, but in the end he admitted it sounded cool. I won THAT bet!"

Soundtrack Review.net: "What parameters (if any) did you set for yourself in using the Superman March throughout the score? Did you set any specific moments that would be good for it, or did you just let the creative process move you with its own will?"

John Ottman: "There were a couple obvious super hero moments that we all knew would be based on the march, but beyond those, I just felt the film as it went along as I would any other, and adapted it into the score in strategic places. The most fun was peppering little nods to it in the jet sequence. That was an exhausting cue to write!"

Soundtrack Review.net: "Did you develop cues from the script or did you wait until a rough cut was ready before really starting to put the score together? How early into the filmmaking process do you begin to shape the score?"

John Ottman: "I really don’t overtly think about the music while assembling the film except for the fact that it’s this big looming task ahead. When editing I’ll purposely let moments be drawn out that I know will eventually be score-driven, but what that score is going to be exactly I have no idea. I just know months down the line I’ll have to deal with it. When I have a cut that we are pretty happy with I then change hats and start writing the score. This initial time is tough because the editing job never goes away. The film is always in flux. So it’s particularly hard to concentrate on Bryan’s films when composing."

Soundtrack Review.net: "Had you already started work on X3 before Singer left? Were there any musical ideas that would have been found in that score that you instead re-worked for Superman Returns?"

John Ottman: "Well, when doing X2, I had surmised that an X3 would be a possibility, so I designed my themes in such a away that I could expand upon them in X3. Essentially I was laying seeds. Unfortunately I was never able to see them grow. They were so specific to X2 that no, I didn’t use any of them for Superman. Superman is such a different world."

Soundtrack Review.net: "Did you come up with any ideas through the process of scoring Superman Returns that we might see developed in sequels?"

John Ottman: "Heck I hope so. I always have had a fantasy since X2 to expand upon themes I set up; so I am hoping that themes born in Superman Returns will be able to evolve in the next one. I’m looking forward to doing that in Fantastic Four 2 for sure!"