BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Think you have to graduate before you can gain industry experience?
Jacqueline Collyer would disagree. This emerging Tasmanian composer has teamed up with one of her state’s most iconic filmmakers to produce the score for a new fantasy series.
And she’s doing it all at uni.
The University of Tasmania Conservatorium of Music student is gearing up for an intensive recording session at the educational institution this week. It’ll see her working directly with staff and students to create the soundtrack for Rebecca Thompson’s Sisters Unearthly.
It’s not the first collaboration for these two artists; Jacky and Rebecca have also worked together on the popular Women of the Island web series.
Jacky brings to the project a wealth of personal and professional experiences; growing up in Rotterdam as the daughter of a harpsichordist and musicologist, she eventually moved with her family to Melbourne and went on to establish the internationally touring band KINS. She also released acclaimed solo album In the Eyes of the Other back in 2014.
While Jacky stations herself in Tasmania, we ask her about the experience of studying and working from within the state’s music institution — and why it’s possible for her to do both.
Jacky, tell us about why you wanted to get into writing film music.
It all started when I was a small child. We had a copy of Fantasia on VHS, which I would watch all the time, though I would have to fast-forward the Rite of Spring dinosaur section, as it gave me nightmares.
Despite this, my favourite films growing up were The Land Before Time and Jurassic Park. Both films are completely immersive, and their scores play an important role, sweeping you up and away into their fantastical worlds. So, perhaps it was really just my childhood obsession with dinosaurs that got me into film music.
I’ve always been a bit of a film nut. As an adult, I worked as a cinema attendant for several years and watched hundreds of films (for free!), but I always had a great sense of longing to be a part of these productions, not just standing idly by ripping tickets.
Tasmania certainly has a burgeoning screen industry, much of which involves Rebecca Thompson behind the scenes. How’d you meet her and come to collaborate on this project together?
Though the Tasmanian screen industry is growing, there are still relatively few female film composers around. I was just in the right place at the right time.
I was fortunate enough to be put into contact with Rebecca by the lovable curmudgeon, renowned genius and renaissance man Heath Brown. Heath is a highly regarded composer/sound designer and a lecturer at the conservatorium. Bec was looking for female composers for the Women of the Island series she was working on last year, and Heath kindly put my name forward.
Bec and I worked on two short films for the Women of the Island series over summer, and she had told me about an exciting fantasy series she was wanting to make called Sisters Unearthly. The idea for the series just stuck with me, so I asked her if I could write the theme, and here we are!
You went into the project with the idea of researching fantasy film scores from big-name composers such as Howard Shore and John Williams. How did their existing musical language for soundtracks influence your own style?
Both Howard Shore and John Williams are ingenious in their use of themes and leitmotif in their scores. They have undoubtedly given us some of the most memorable musical moments in cinematic history because of this. How would we remember the music for Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings without all that golden thematic material?! Howard Shore wrote over 100 leitmotifs for the LOTR trilogy. I mean, that is incredible! So, I knew for this project that I needed to develop a theme, a melody that could be instantly recognised, and really bring the listener into the dark Sisters Unearthly world.
It has been a challenge though, John Williams tends to score the action happening on screen down to the smallest detail, but as the Sisters Unearthly series hasn’t been made yet, I had to imagine what that world might look like based on the stories and images Bec had collected.
Why did you choose the instrumentation — you’ve planned for real string instruments but also sample libraries?
The original plan had been to record a real string quartet and use sample libraries for everything else. The piece includes a harp and celeste, and I also used a ondes Martenot in the original version.
Since then, I have endeavoured to focus on writing solely for the string quartet, allowing the piece to stand on its own without the need for any sampled extras, though the option is always there.
Sample libraries can be brilliant, but I still find them lacking when it comes to string libraries. Nothing compares to the real thing.
So talk us through your hopes, plans, and dreams for the recording session. You’ve already composed the score, and it’ll be recorded live by conservatorium musicians this week, right?
That’s right, I have finished the score and it is set to be recorded this weekend by four amazing strings players: Peter, Natalya, Finn, and Alex. For me, this is all just really exciting. I can’t wait to hear the score come to life, and to hear how the players will interpret it.
My hopes are that it all comes together on the day. There are some small, challenging parts within the score that the computer has no trouble in playing back to me, but can a human play them — we shall have to see!
Writing, recording, and releasing a film score is an enormous achievement, particularly relatively early in one’s music career. How do you feel about the opportunities the conservatorium has given you to undertake this project, and the way it’ll help you forge your portfolio career?
I feel incredibly grateful to have been able to do this project, but I think ultimately it would not have been possible without the support and enthusiasm from my lecturers. It is one thing to dream of composing and producing a score for a full orchestra, but to make that a reality is another entirely.
I have never written for orchestra, so I felt that writing for a string quartet would be a bit more achievable for a first time. I’m hoping to perhaps do something on a larger scale next semester.
This project has been completely eye-opening; I have learnt so much about composition and orchestration. It will definitely help to have it in my portfolio, as it will stand as an example of what I am capable of as a composer, and perhaps that will lead to future work writing for fantasy films.
When you first started at the con, did you imagine you’d be able to work so collaboratively with staff and students? Why do you feel such collaboration is important?
I definitely never thought that this kind of collaboration would be possible. Having now had the fortune to experience it first hand, I feel that it is absolutely essential for students to be able to collaborate with staff in this way. It really pushes students to work at professional level, and shows us how to go about achieving a high-quality result.
Before our interview, I was interested to read in your bio that you have a “rebellious streak [and] became obsessed with music that was different and interesting”. How would you like to see other music students branch out to embrace things that are different to what they already know and understand?
I definitely don’t feel like I’m in a position to dictate to anyone about how to think and feel about music. I will say this, though: I feel that in music, there is clear divide between those that follow the rules and those that refuse to.
Obviously, I am generalising, but at the con, there seems to be students who are completely anti-experimentation and do everything by the book; and those that dislike music theory because they think it will cramp their musical creativity.
For me, both these attitudes are extremely limiting. There is so much to be gained by being open to new ideas.
What do you most hope to learn from this project on its completion?
I hope I come away from this project with a more profound understanding of composition. At this very moment, I am putting the finishing touches on the score, and it’s frightening to think that every minute detail (every rest, every crescendo, every espressivo), is going to be interpreted and performed by the players. Every tiny mark on the paper is going to have a consequence. It’s going to be awesome.
Stay tuned as we bring you photos from Jacqueline’s recording session at the UTAS Conservatorium of Music. Follow on our Instagram @cutcommonmag!
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