When Executive Producer Jin-Theng Craven arrived at the intricate task of creating the music and soundscape for the film 'Being and becoming Chua Ek Kay ', her thoughts were for, "A poignant, dominant, string solo evoking the sounds of a traditional Chinese string instrument, the er-hu, with a Western element." Her music brief was to materialise into a seamless vibration for the story behind the film, an emotional journey of an artist with an extraordinary eclectic mix of traditional and modern values, and Chinese and Western influences.
Jin-Theng set out to portray the exceptional story of the artist Chua Ek Kay's life story and his unique struggles as accurately as possible, in both an editorial and musical sense. In order to best expose the visual journey, and the emotional conflicts in this sensitively documented human narrative, it was vital to examine what auditory perceptions would evoke this, and select a musical backdrop to reflect the fine details of the story. Accomplishing such a flawless musical match, can only be achieved by being able to step into the story, and live and breathe the characters.
The purpose of a film's soundscape is not just a space in which the characters live, it highlights and emphasises the ambience and events. It is somewhat of a more three dimensional depiction of feeling and depth of the characters, and vital that it is an accurate fit. The idea behind filming was to make a subtle documentary to reflect the artist's character, yet with an underlying strong emotional texture to the film, as Chua Ek Kay's character presented a quiet conservative persona to most of the world, but his interior world was extremely abundant and vibrant. For a film to work at all levels, it is imperative to "musically portray" the visual images as sympathetically as possible, so that the viewer can fully experience a rich smorgasbord of sounds and sights.
Joe Giddey, music composer, and Finn Curry, soundscape creator of 'Being and becoming Chua Ek Kay', were commissioned to create the background for the film. Both members of the duet come from a Western Classical background in music, and have known each other for over fifteen years, having played in classical quartets together, as well as modern electronic style bands. "Working together on something we knew less about (Chinese music) was fascinating, as it allowed us to go and explore some new musical territory."
During the documentary, Dr Ian Woo, an artist and academic at LaSalle College of Arts, talks about a particular painting of Ek Kay's; when first unveiled, it represented a radical new departure in Chinese ink painting. Ian recalls being "blown away" by seeing 'Song of Cicada' for the first time which he felt had more to do with poetry and essence than the physical world, the concentration of the white space in this work matching the quietness of Ek Kay himself, and yet on a parallel, there is a 'mad, bewildering intensity' about this painting. To emphasise this 'Song of Cicada', from the outset, Jin-Theng was keen to incorporate sounds from nature such as rainfall, and rustling leaves. During the same scene, the camera cuts to stylised shots of contemporary dancers on the campus, the movements of their limbs in the space around them symbolising brush-strokes and the pattern of nature on the empty page. For this particular scene, Joe and Finn composed a piece which was inspired by listening to a range of different music. "Traditional Chinese, solo string pieces from various classical and contemporary music, helped us to create a musical mood board. With this in mind, we did some improvisations, hinting at traditional Chinese music, like the er-hu, but using the Cello and Violin to represent this." The aim was to mirror Chua Ek Kay's own creative freedom and cross-cultural influences, also hinting at his love of western classical music.
The er-hu, which was a large part of Jin-Theng's initial brief, became a key element in ensuring the soundscape and music worked in helping to make the audience feel and experience the harmony and pitch of the story. This historical instrument is sometimes known as a Chinese violin, and consists of two strings, - it is incredibly versatile in both traditional and contemporary music arrangements, and even in today's music world, it has made mainstream appearances in renowned ways, such as Coldplay's'Clocks,' and The Cirque Du Soleil in their show 'O'. As far back as the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907), the er-hu was making appearances in an innovative era where the development of wood block printing would serve to spread and enhance the knowledge of literature, art and music throughout the Northern Song Dynasty (906 - 1279), where social life was vibrant, and music and art were a very important part of life. Following in the footsteps of ancient tradition and artistic practices carried down through the ages, Ek Kay trained under the ink master Fan Chang Tien, who schooled him in traditional techniques, including classical poetry, painting, seal carving and, at the heart of it all, calligraphy. In one of the scenes, the opening is with Mrs Chua at work interplayed with shots of beautiful calligraphy brush-strokes, in the background the er-hu on the film's sound-track depicts the fond yet sad memories of the artist. As the overall feel of 'Being and becoming Chua Ek Kay' is one of reflection and melancholy, the er-hu, with its haunting and prominent sound, was a perfect way to best reflect this. Joe and Finn chose a minor key to produce an er-hu like sound, but "We tried not to make it too sad, as there is hope in the film too."
Ek Kay's Singapore was a feast for the senses, and he aimed to capture the world, not in a representational way, but by capturing his own idea of it in his works. In the film there is a scene set at the local hawker centre, where Kwok Kian Chow, close friend of the artist, recalls how he shared meals and moments like this with Ek Kay, and how in Singapore, this kind of environment brings a sense of community and ease. There is a unique pulse and rhythm of life which Joe and Finn have conveyed in the loop based nature of the musical montage for the scene set at the hawker centre, a style in which Joe and Finn very much love to write. "Continuous musical loops can very much represent the ongoing cycle of life and continual movement of humanity in today's world - a kind of never ending feeling similar to Steve Reich (a pioneering composer of minimal music)". Joe and Finn chose different instruments for the hawker stall scene which could be added to build up the flavours of the scene, in the same way that one is viewing the people, the buildings, the food, "Our aim being to end up with a nice hustle and bustle feeling".
Chua Ek Kay was known to have classical music playing in the background as he painted, and with this in mind, Joe and Finn were inspired to record Joe playing some Bach Solo Cello Suites; the common theme of the cello was a great way to keep a style running through the whole film. To Ek Kay, music and nature were such important components of his life and work, that at times he was profoundly affected by the peace and tranquillity that both these elements brought to his art.
Chua Ek Kay's training in classical Chinese philosophy and calligraphy, opened up a world to him where Chinese cultural influences and music were very much a part of his daily life and art. With all these influences, Ek Kay's artistic direction should have been conventional, but he dared to challenge aesthetic and cultural patterns by being open to change and following his own artistic instinct. With its cross-cultural influences, the musical soundscape of 'Being and becoming Chua Ek Kay' reflects the artist's life and struggles, and his dreams to inspire other artists and musicians in Singapore to become freer in their own artistic expressions.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7765815
0 comments:
Post a Comment