Highlight is ComingSoon’s interview collection with below-the-line and/or up-and-coming expertise on the earth of tv and movie. Our goal is to shine a highlight on the various positions that make the leisure you like doable relatively than focusing purely on actors and administrators.
ComingSoon’s Jeff Ames had a chance to talk with composer Philip White about his rating for A Madea Homecoming.
His different credit embody The Loud Home Film (2021 HMMA nomination for Greatest Unique Rating for an Animated Movie), Jexi, A Madea Household Funeral, No person’s Idiot, Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, and Alex & Me. In tv, Philip has had the pleasure of engaged on Supernatural at some stage in its historic 15 seasons on the CW. Different main TV credit embody Fraggle Rock, Misplaced in Area, Ray Donovan, What/If, Bates Motel, Agent Carter, When We Rise, Revolution, and Dallas.
ComingSoon: What led you to turn into a composer?
Philip White: One of many first films I keep in mind—I used to be most likely 5 or 6—was Disney’s Fantasia. A lot about it stayed with me, however largely how nicely the animation labored with the music. After I was 16, I watched it once more, and it felt like reconnecting with a long-lost good friend. It’s such a piece of genius. That soundtrack (which incorporates excerpts from such seminal items as Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 6,” Stravinsky’s “Ceremony of Spring,” Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” amongst others), together with the music of John Williams, had been enormously influential throughout my childhood.
My entry into music started with guitar at age 13. By my senior yr of highschool, I started gravitating in direction of the piano. I’d provide you with quick tunes and melodies, and shortly realized I loved creating music greater than performing it. In faculty, I enrolled in a dual-degree program with Tufts and the New England Conservatory, the place I earned levels in Drama and Music Composition.
I moved to LA shortly after and joined a theater firm, the place I acted for a number of years. I missed music and felt I might contribute extra as a composer than as an actor. I enrolled in USC’s movie scoring program, and after graduating was really helpful to Chris Lennertz, an exquisite composer who would turn into an awesome mentor and good friend. We’ve collaborated on quite a few initiatives all through the years, together with Supernatural, the James Bond: Quantum of Solace and Starhawk video video games, HOP, Id Thief, Misplaced in Area, Revolution, Agent Carter, The Smurfs: Misplaced Village, and Jexi, to call a number of.
What was it about A Madea Homecoming that made you wish to work on it?
I’ll leap at any probability to underscore Madea’s antics! Joel Excessive, Sami Posner, Johnny Caruso, and the remainder of the oldsters at Tyler Perry Studios are incredible—to say nothing of Mr. Perry himself. It’s at all times such a pleasure to work with that workforce of individuals. It was additionally an awesome launch to work on a riotous comedy like Homecoming after two years of a pandemic and a fraught political atmosphere.
What was essentially the most difficult side of engaged on A Madea Homecoming and the way did you overcome it?
With Homecoming, there have been a number of locations the place the timing of the music was in flux, even through the sound combine. It helps to have an skilled music editor like Johnny Caruso on board who could make changes to the rating at this late stage and make it sound prefer it was deliberate that approach all alongside.
Extra typically—and Homecoming was no exception—one of many greatest challenges in any undertaking is discovering your approach in. I’m going by means of numerous makes an attempt at first, rejecting concept after concept. I remind myself that this isn’t solely regular however mandatory—the inventive equal of flushing out the sewer traces. Finally, if I preserve improvising, making an attempt completely different sounds, completely different concepts, or typically simply occurring a stroll, I’ll discover one thing. It might or might not find yourself within the closing rating, however it’s sufficient to maintain me centered.
When you’ve zeroed in on an concept, the second problem is to make it sound as polished and as true to what you need inside budgetary and time constraints. That’s at all times a little bit of a Tetris recreation, however it may be enjoyable in case you’re excited in regards to the uncooked materials.
Do you will have any enjoyable, behind-the-scenes tales in regards to the making of A Madea Homecoming?
Whereas this isn’t a lot a behind-the-scenes story per se, there may be one flashback scene that required a drastically completely different method than the remainder of the rating. We determined to attain it with a nod to 50s noir, very similar to the scores to North by Northwest and Vertigo. The remainder of the rating sounds nothing like this, so it was nice enjoyable to carry that musical language to a 3-minute scene. I used sweeping, harmonically dense string passages and in addition featured low winds, like alto flute and bass clarinet.
What had been a few of the belongings you realized about A Madea Homecoming that you simply’re excited to use to future endeavors?
One thing I really like about writing for movie is having the ability to pivot to drastically completely different kinds. With Homecoming, I went from a funk-adjacent, R & B ensemble, to Herrmann-esque, noir strings, and again to fashionable strings and piano—multi function movie. I can’t consider one other medium the place a composer will get to do that and have it make sense. Any probability to do extra of this musical hopscotching can be a dream.
Do you will have another initiatives developing you can share with us?
Whereas I can’t point out something particular, I’m enthusiastic about two very completely different initiatives developing later within the yr. I’m simply so thrilled in regards to the launch of Homecoming. I feel we will all use an excellent stomach chortle proper now.
