• About Us
  • Sasha Stone
  • Editor Ryan Adams
  • Clarence Moye
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Awardsdaily - The Oscars, the Films and everything in between.
  • Home
  • Oscar Predictions
    • Best Picture
    • Best Actor
    • Best Actress
  • Good As Gold
  • Forum
  • AD TV
  • Podcasts
  • FYC Gallery
  • Interviews
  • All News
  • Home
  • Oscar Predictions
    • Best Picture
    • Best Actor
    • Best Actress
  • Good As Gold
  • Forum
  • AD TV
  • Podcasts
  • FYC Gallery
  • Interviews
  • All News
No Result
View All Result
Awardsdaily - The Oscars, the Films and everything in between.
No Result
View All Result

Composer Paul Leonard-Morgan Brings Gorgeous, Haunting Score to Amazon’s ‘Tales From the Loop’

The composer partnered with Philip Glass to recreate the series' stark landscapes via music.

by Clarence Moye
April 3, 2020
in ADTV, COMPOSERS, Interviews
2
Composer Paul Leonard-Morgan Brings Gorgeous, Haunting Score to Amazon’s ‘Tales From the Loop’

(Photo: Amazon Prime Video)

Amazon Prime’s Tales from the Loop is like nothing else on television right now. It’s a sci-fi series with much more on its mind than gadgetry. Developed and written by Nathaniel Halpern, the series presents an isolated town in Ohio built on top of “the loop,” a mysterious machine designed to unlock the secrets of the universe. Through the run of the show, the audience explores a variety of characters whose lives are severely impacted by the loop. Here, character development serves as the main event, not science fiction wizardry (although there’s plenty of that).

(Photo: Diana Feil)

The series hails visually from the art of Simon Stålenhag, and composers Philip Glass and Paul Leonard-Morgan jumped at the opportunity to create an accompanying score that serves multiple purposes for the series. Their score aurally echoes the stark landscapes originally imagined by Stålenhag, yes, but most importantly, it serves as a gorgeous stand-alone body of music. It’s as deeply accomplish a score as I’ve heard in a very long time.

Here, Paul Leonard-Morgan talks to Awards Daily about the process of co-creating the score with the legendary Philip Glass. He also elaborates on the intent of the overall score.

Awards Daily: Paul, much of your body of work is peppered with scores for sci-fi themed projects. Do you gravitate toward sci-fi? Do you tend to approach sci-fi differently than a traditional drama?

Paul Leonard-Morgan: No, in the sense that, yes I’ve done a lot of sci-fi stuff like Limitless and Dredd, but I’ve also done animation and Walking With Dinosaurs. The world at the moment is geared up to sci-fi because its escapism from everything going on in the world. I’m not just talking about the last few weeks either. I think your approach is the same as any project. You look at the visuals and see what inspires you. I think that one of the things about Tales from the Loop which was quite unique was that Philip and I started composing for it before they’d even started shooting a frame. They were sending over visuals and Simon’s [Stålenhag] beautiful pictures. We were really inspired by the beauty of those visuals. They’re so descriptive. They just set your mind racing.

AD: Are those visuals what drew you into the project?

PLM: So many things drew me to this project. Mark’s [Romanek, director] vision – as well as other directors involved – was just unbelievable. I knew his work from One Hour Photo and Never Let Me Go, and his imagery is just spectacular plus the level of detail which I’ve never seen anything like. Then, the opportunity to collaborate with Philip Glass is not something that comes up every day. We started looking at the dailies they were sending in, and they were beautiful. They are really eight stand-alone films. The difference with this compared to a lot of other sci-fi shows or films is that most tend to rely heavily on visual effects. These stories are just so powerfully moving by themselves that, even if there were no special effects, the acting or the scripts are just so immersive that they barely need the visual effects.

AD: I was really mesmerized by the combination of the timeless, classic score and the set design. It doesn’t seem to have a period. There are aspects of the 1970s, but there are also robots and other evidence of modern technology. The whole series feels very out of time. 

PLM: You’ve absolutely nailed it. I kept asking, “When is this?” It almost doesn’t matter. That’s what I meant by it’s not a typical sci-fi thing. It’s almost like the visual effects don’t matter. It just is, and it is timeless. That’s one of the things that I wanted to show through the score as well. Avoid any kind of electronica and keep this very timeless feel to it. To keep that timeless or classic feel to it by using an orchestra with wood or natural instruments. The result is a soundtrack that doesn’t date. One that you can listen to without watching the series. It’s as nice listening to it as a stand-alone experience as it is associated with all of the images.

AD: That’s very true. I actually listened to the score before I watched the pilot. It is totally absorbing without knowing anything about that show.

PLM: Mark said that, and Nathaniel as well. Let’s create something that’s a unique thing. Music is so intrinsic to this series, and we identified opportunities to create something that you don’t get the chance to do in modern scores. We could write melodies and themes that people will want to listen to independently. Even after they finished filming the show, Mark and Nathaniel told me they’re still listening to the score by itself.

AD: Tell me about working with Philip Glass on this project. 

PLM: Where to start! He’s a genius and on a completely different planet in terms of the stuff he comes up with. The idea we started with was that he was going to write things and I would write things, and we’d meet in the middle to see what fits. It didn’t end up quite working like that though. It ended up that Philip would write some tunes, and I wrote some tunes. Then, Mark would listen and make some suggestions or some weird or wacky instruments. That inspired us to not make it this massive Hollywood soundtrack. In the end, neither Nathaniel nor Mark could figure out who had written what we were so in sync with each other. We’d email themes back and forth and change some of the chords or highlight the melodies. It really was a great collaboration.

AD: So, you’ve talked about wanting the score to stand on its own and about drawing from the imagery as inspiration. Was there anything else you drew from to create the score?

PLM: If you’re not aware of Simon’s fantastic works, then go and buy these books. You look at these things, and I’m reading stories that Simon put into the book. I had no idea if these stories were true or not. Did they actually happen? Was this really sci-fi? It sets your brain off in one direction, and then you read all the scripts Nathaniel wrote based on those stories. I think that was our jumping off point to go and write some music. One theme we pursued was innocence, the innocence of this unspoiled world. That was really what got us creating and writing.

AD: I’d read that you use a recorder to develop the sound for the loop itself. Tell me about that.

PLM: We started out with a few other instruments, but they weren’t quite right. We tried to come up with the most simple instrument that could carry a melody, and what is something that sounds innocent and untouched or unspoiled because that’s essentially what the loop is. The recorder just seemed to be a very simple instrument that sounds haunting when you cover it in reverb. It’s not used everywhere, but it’s used to signify the loop each time it comes around.

Amazon Prime’s Tales from the Loop drops today.

Tags: AmazonPaul Leonard-MorganTales from the Loop
Clarence Moye

Clarence Moye

Clarence Moye is an editor at Awards Daily.

Next Post
kill chain hbo

'Kill Chain' Director Sarah Teale Talks Not If, But When Election Day 2020 Is Hacked & What We Can Do To Combat It

Sign up for Awards Daily's Breaking News

* indicates required

The Dissident is an Urgent Film About Journalism, Twitter, and Dissent

The Dissident is an Urgent Film About Journalism, Twitter, and Dissent
by Sasha Stone
January 23, 2021
2

How Angie Wells Transformed Carey Mulligan into a Revenge-Seeking Chameleon For ‘Promising Young Woman’

Introducing the Sunset Circle Award Nominees for 2020

Photo courtesy of Focus Features

by Shadan Larki
January 22, 2021
1

Predictions Friday – Making This up as We Go Along

Predictions Friday – Making This up as We Go Along
by Sasha Stone
January 22, 2021
42

Zach Woods’ ‘David’ Gets Men to Talk About Their Feelings

Zach Woods’ ‘David’ Gets Men to Talk About Their Feelings
by Joey Moser
January 22, 2021
0

‘Palm Springs’ Cinematographer Quyen Tran on the Color That Plays a Prominent Role in This Love Story

‘Palm Springs’ Cinematographer Quyen Tran on the Color That Plays a Prominent Role in This Love Story

Courtesy of Hulu

by Megan McLachlan
January 22, 2021
0

The State of the Race: The Oscars in a Time of Division

The State of the Race: The Oscars in a Time of Division
by Sasha Stone
January 21, 2021
50

The Spirit Awards Push their Date Back from the Oscars

The Spirit Awards Push their Date Back from the Oscars
by Sasha Stone
January 21, 2021
5

Robin Wright’s Performance in Land Could Shake up the Oscar Race

Robin Wright’s Performance in Land Could Shake up the Oscar Race
by Sasha Stone
January 20, 2021
137

Cristin Milioti On What She Spent Hours On Reddit Researching about Her ‘Palm Springs’ Character

Cristin Milioti On What She Spent Hours On Reddit Researching about Her ‘Palm Springs’ Character

Courtesy of Hulu

by Megan McLachlan
January 20, 2021
0

Reframe: Minority Report

Reframe: Minority Report
by David Phillips
January 19, 2021
4

Fernando Garcia Named Executive Vice President of the Oscars

Fernando Garcia Named Executive Vice President of the Oscars
by Sasha Stone
January 19, 2021
1

Sam Feder On How ‘Disclosure’ is a Call for Action for Hollywood

Sam Feder On How ‘Disclosure’ is a Call for Action for Hollywood

(Photo: Netflix)

by Joey Moser
January 19, 2021
0

Monica Levinson On Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’s “Loveable Misogynist” Hook That Drew Her In

Monica Levinson On Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’s “Loveable Misogynist” Hook That Drew Her In

Courtesy of Amazon Films

by Megan McLachlan
January 20, 2021
4

Join us Facebook

AwardsDaily Crew

  • About Us
  • Sasha Stone
  • Editor Ryan Adams
  • Clarence Moye
  • Contact Us

ADTV Crew

  • ADTV Home
  • Megan McLachlan, Co-Editor
  • Clarence Moye, Co-Editor
  • Jalal Haddad, Senior Contributor
  • Joey Moser, Senior Contributor
  • Kevin Dillon
  • Shadan Larki
  • Ben Morris
  • David Phillips

Follow on Twitter

ADTV Twitter

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertising on Awards Daily

© 1999-2021 AwardsDaily.com

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Oscar Predictions
    • Best Picture
    • Best Actor
    • Best Actress
  • Good As Gold
  • Forum
  • AD TV
  • Podcasts
  • FYC Gallery
  • Interviews
  • All News

© 1999-2021 AwardsDaily.com