Jessica Weiss reveals how co-scoring for the jukebox musical film ‘Cinderella’ was a thrilling experience, and what makes actor Billy Porter’s character Fab G a show-stealer
Composing for a jukebox musical proved to be an interesting challenge for Jessica Weiss and Michael Danna. Between the modern story and weaving in and out of tracks like Nico & Vinz’s ‘Am I Wrong’ and Jennifer Lopez’s ‘Let’s Get Loud,’ the Camila Cabello-starrer’s entire project cinderella was an exciting venture and career milestone for Weiss.
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Despite being the fifteenth remake of the classic leave-a-shoe-back fairytale, it was the most-watched streaming film over Labor Day weekend in the United States, as well as the most-watched film musical of all time in 2021. For the analytics company Screen Engine.
On a call from Los Angeles, the composer says that the first step was to figure out how to approach the score, explaining that he spent a lot of time experimenting with the palette to find out if it would be fully orchestral. Or if they should improvise some folk instruments . However, he eventually concluded that this hybrid folk-orchestra best supported the story. “We spent a lot of time listening to songs. The film is filled with these great contemporary pop songs so we wanted to make sure that our score worked with them,” recalls Weiss.
collaboration with cannon
Michael Danna, with whom he co-starred, “It was my first studio feature film and it was also the first time that Michael and I co-scored together from start to finish, even though we worked on some other projects separately. collaborated in ways,” she explains. Deanna and Weiss met the director’s canon together and the three worked out where and how the score would be placed.
‘Cinderella’ co-composer Jessica Weiss. The feature film stars Camila Cabello, Idina Menzel and Billy Porter, and is streaming on Amazon Prime Video. | photo Credit: Lindsey Barnes
Seeing Cannon also writing the screenplay, Weiss and Danna find the experience immortal. Canon, who produced major projects such as 30 Rock And this pitch perfect knew the vision for the movies, cinderella. “It’s a goal to work with someone who is passionate about the story, but the fact that this retelling of Cinderella draws attention to detail from the Kei show, shows a progressive version of the story.” It was an honor to work with her as Roop because she has so much depth and range – plus, she is one of the funniest women out there,” said Weiss lovingly.
Read more | Kay Cannon on Camila Cabello’s ‘Cinderella’: ‘I turned it on my head’
Although she was thrilled to work with Cannon, Weiss insisted on actor Billy Porter’s character Fab G. “He was such a beautiful wonder; his charm blows across the screen and he’s hilarious,” she says with a laugh, “and I remember when we first saw the movie, we all cheered for him.” It’s hard to top the 1997 Brandy and Whitney Houston version with those incredible actors, but Billy made the character his own with his fabulous self. Plus, his music number ‘Fab G’ is undeniably It’s unbelievable and you don’t want to end it. I remember when the music team was discussing how long this soundtrack should be and the general consensus was ‘the longer, the better’ because it was so much fun.”
Speaking of remakes, there are quite a number cinderella remake and many viewers often wondered why. So what was the fascination with the 2021 project? For Weiss, getting on board was a no-brainer, adding her theater background was a huge inspiration. “There are many levels to composing for a musical that differentiates the medium from other productions,” she elaborates, “and the idea of sinking your teeth into the story to find out what those lyrics provide.” So your partner-in-crime musical numbers are there to create them and the scores you create speak to each other. It needs its own language.”
Camila Cabello and Nicolas Galitzin star in ‘Cinderella’. Photo: Kerry Brown © 2021 Amazon Content Services LLC | photo Credit: Amazon Studio
The film’s reception has been divided, but audiences have been thrilled with the track ‘Perfect’ originally sung by Ed Sheeran. Weiss admits it was one of the film’s more exciting feature songs.
patience and perseverance
Balancing the visuals with the score was a central pillar of Weiss and Deanna’s strategy as composers and included a lot of dialogue with canon. She elaborates, “And this hybrid folk-orchestral meant that we had to think about giving depth and range to the characters while staying true to the story. We wanted to make sure there was a grounding element to the score amidst these colorful and bright scenes – even though there are moments when it’s too lush, romantic and orchestral, this charming element of using the guitar and harp makes Ella’s character. because these biological tools are true to his character. ”
Read more | ‘Cinderella’ movie review: Camila Cabello pops out of little millennial fairy dust
Contemporary musicians often lean into the idea that sometimes no music is the best music. Weiss – whose other projects include animated film Addams FamilyMILF action movie Shock and documentaries still working from 9 to 5 – Agrees, “We all joke and laugh about the musicians I talk to about work with how ‘the more silent, the better’, because when it comes to the moments where the music is playing, It makes the music more meaningful. If you have music running through the movie – and it’s more difficult with jukebox music like Cinderella – Then you don’t get the full effect of the music. So Michelle and I did a lot of work in this area; We watched the film over and over again and wondered what would work if music was placed in a specific scene. I learned from Michele that the more you sit with the picture, the more information you reveal about where the music is needed.”
cinderella Streaming on Prime Video.
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