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The King of Composition - Sitting Down with Robert Miller of RMI Music

When it comes to music, Robert Miller has done it all: commercials, ballet, movies, television, even planetarium scores. This year, Miller will be going to Sundance with his sure to be fan-favorite film, The King, a musical adventure exploring Elvis Presley's cross country journey. Before his scores took the festival circuit by storm, I got a chance to pick Miller's brain.

TVM: How do you feel your work with the New York City Ballet informed your work in film and television?

RM: Certainly an interesting question. My ballet work is fairly new, whereas my concert music career dates back to the mid 1980's. The NYC Ballet creative staff had a similar question for me: How has my film work influenced work on the ballet? I believe that my dedication to music for the concert hall or concert stage keeps me growing as a composer. There is something so vital and fresh about live concert music, and when I return to scoring, I carry with me the rich experiences I have in these other forms of musical expression. I feel that my film music is deeply informed by the ballet and concert writing much more so than the other way around.

TVM: What role did music have in your childhood?

RM: I've been listening to and playing music since I can remember. I surrounded myself with instruments and listened to records constantly. It was everything to me! When I first met Aaron Copland, I shared with him my obsession for playing his third symphony over and over again!

TVM: Do you feel there is a great difference between composing for commercials and composing for longer works? If so, how would you define the difference?

RM: I was once asked this by a commercial industry trade magazine! They were surprised to hear that I said that although it's music to picture in both forms, they are distantly related in many ways. Commercials are challenging. I've scored so many through the years and continue to (and love it!,) but the idea is to create an entire satisfying story arc in 30 or 60 seconds. You simply must be good at choices that serve that parameter, but preserves a satisfying musical experience. Film repels truncated thinking for the most part; I know plenty of colleagues that only score films that find writing commercials extremely difficult. In addition, deadlines are tough in film, but even tougher in commercials.

TVM: What genres or artists have influences on your compositions?

RM: My principal mentor, Aaron Copland, is one of my main influences. I deeply love Bernstein, The Beatles, Stravinsky, Thomas Newman, John Williams, Brahms, Ravel, Hendrix and Motown among so many other artists: a very eclectic group!!

TVM: What would you say is required listening for any hopeful future composers?

RM: I'm not sure about "required" listening as much as I am in saying that whatever moves you so deeply that you simply must attempt to write music for yourself is important listening. I mentioned Thomas Newman before; I feel very strongly in his empathetic way to illuminate a story on screen. The theme and variations style of John Williams is something I hope composers listen to carefully for it's technical mastery. Listening to Ravel's masterful orchestrations is another thing high on my list for listening! The bottom line is be driven to create above all else, then analyze the craft of various tremendous musical talents as you develop, but keep your individual idiosyncrasies in tact. That is how you develop "your" sound.

TVM: What do you find is the biggest challenge for you when it comes to composing?

RM: The biggest challenge for me is finding the glorious sweet spot of a principal theme that connects to the story I'm scoring. Similarly, concert music is all about the initial idea, which is found mysteriously, and often in a flash. The challenge is being open to when that moment happens and crystallizing it.

TVM: You've been working on a lot of documentaries in recent years, such as "Atomic Homefront" an ESPN's 30 for 30 series. What appeals to you about composing for these stories?

RM: Documentaries are so incredible to work on; finding a way to make the story feel like a traditional narrative can be quite hard, but makes all the difference in a doc. I never like to hear scattered ideas thrown at a documentary. It makes the film feel incomplete as a work.
I have experienced being on the front lines with the director, influencing the edit and the shape of a story. Famed director Eugene Jarecki and I work that way quite often. With Jon Hock, who is the principal director that I've worked with on ESPN films, the narrative is fairly complete, but complementing it, like I would a fiction narrative, is the thing that keeps me feeling just a little nervous until I solve it!

TVM: Which film scores this year really struck a chord with you? Do you have any predictions for the Oscars?

RM: I was intrigued with Mica Levi's score for "Jackie," which was released in December 2016, but had enjoyed a nice run in theaters in 2017, I believe. The score is highly unusual and daring: very suited to the state of mind of Jackie Kennedy in the days following JFK's death. I also love Rupert Gregson-Williams' score for "The Crown", which served the classic elegance of the subject, but in a fresh and subtly modern way, (credit goes to theme composer Hans Zimmer, who also produced the score.) I am very shy about Oscar predictions. Awards are elusive things; often what I hope gets recognized goes unnoticed, and vice versa.

TVM: What makes a score successful to you?

RM: A successful score completes the experience of a story for the viewer, often goes unnoticed (which is a good quality much of the time,) and concentrates on the intangible spiritual and emotional values that are not obvious onscreen. I've explained often that a good score is the "over-soul" to a film.

TVM: What are you looking forward to working on in 2018?

I'm looking forward to a terrific series produced by Straightup films and written by my friend Reinhard Denke, a film called "The Bit Player" by director Mark Levinson, who I scored "Particle Fever" in 2014 for, and the release of Eugene Jarecki's "The King", which has a special premier January 25th at Sundance (Steven Soderbergh is the exec producer.) I'm engaged in one or two fun commercials for the Super Bowl at the moment as well.

Each year, there are exciting things that just spring out of nowhere so we'll see where 2018 takes me. I like where it's beginning.

And we like it too, Robert! We at TV Maze can't wait to see where the year takes your craft.

Written by rand01 on Jan 17, 2018

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