To celebrate the release of Andrew Haigh’s latest film, All of Us Strangers, we sat down with Composer Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch to discuss her work on the acclaimed film that looks set to feature heavily this awards season. Emilie discussed working with Andrew Haigh and some of the unique challenges the subject and tone of the film presented in developing its score.
How did you first get involved with All of Us Strangers?
I came on board while Andrew Haigh (director) and Jonathan Albert (editor) were editing the film. As soon as I watched the cut, I knew this was a very special movie. I connected so strongly with the characters and themes that I knew I would be able to create a beautifully subtle score for it.
How involved was Andrew Haigh in the sound of the film?
Very, but not in a didactic way. There wasn’t any prescriptive approach in musical terms, but we did spoke a lot about what the scenes meant. I used his reaction to the music as a way to sense if I was communicating the right things with the cues.
What were some of the inspirations for the score?
There wasn’t really any pre-existing film music that we used as inspirations, but as the 80’s pop songs have a strong impact within the storytelling, the score needed to fluidly work with those synths sounds without feeling retro in any way.
Did you read the novel Strangers that the story is inspired by?
Not yet, I wanted to take Andrew Haigh’s version of the story as the only version, rather than having any imagery or expectations in my mind. I am planning on reading it soon though.
Were there any particular challenges for All of Us Strangers’ score?
Balancing subtle and emotional, as well as bridging moods that go from dreamlike to intense tension in a way that doesn’t take the audience out of the story. It all has to flow, to breath and feel both human and otherwordly.
Can you talk us through your creative process when starting on a project?
I most often start a score by spending some time researching the right instrumentation, which to me is not only the instruments themselves, but also the type of effect manipulations I might apply to them. I see it as a creative a palette of sounds with which I will paint my score. For this film, I knew I wanted to have some treated acoustic instruments, and there was conversations based on sounds I would send to find how far to push them to retain warmth while still making them harder to identify.
How did you get involved in film music?
Although I was already a film fan during my teenager years, I didn’t consider the option of creating film music until university. There were film students on my campus, and we started collaborated. I haven’t stopped since.
Can you tell us what you are working on next?
I recently finished a documentary about the life and work of painter Georgia O’Keeffe. It felt really great to create music for a woman who had such an incredibly long and fulfilling life. She was a successful artist (both creatively and financially) at a time where women artists weren’t really taken seriously. I have other projects in the pipeline for which I’m so excited, but will have to wait until later in the year to chat about.
SEE ALSO: Read our review of All of Us Strangers here
Many thanks to Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch for taking the time for this interview.
Chris Connor
