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Thomas Newman Quotes
Thomas Newman Quotes
Thomas Newman
American
Composer
Born:
Oct 20
,
1955
Me
Music
Think
Time
Work
You
Related authors:
Eubie Blake
George Crumb
John Cage
John Williams
Leonard Bernstein
Oscar Levant
Stephen Sondheim
Virgil Thomson
Part of me wants to stay hidden; it's no coincidence that I write movie music. It lets me stay in the shadows, in a way, but still lets me be expressive.
Thomas Newman
Music
Me
Way
Hidden
Stay
Shadows
Write
Part
Still
Movie
Wants
Lets
Expressive
Coincidence
There's nothing like desperation to sharpen your sense of focus.
Thomas Newman
Desperation
Focus
Sense
Nothing
Sharpen
Like
Your
With film music, endings are often more difficult than beginnings, because a beginning is an underline, a way of exciting a moment, and then you have to find a way to dissipate that.
Thomas Newman
Music
You
Beginning
Difficult
Dissipate
Way
Find
More
Exciting
Because
Than
Beginnings
Endings
Often
Then
Moment
Film
Film Music
The experience of a film is immersive, and music is supposed to underline and help that experience.
Thomas Newman
Music
Experience
Supposed
Help
Film
When you see an early edited version, you're not sure what it is. The movie is getting on its wobbly legs.
Thomas Newman
You
See
Sure
Edited
Wobbly
Version
Getting
Movie
Legs
Early
Music is such an odd thing when you think about it - behind an image until you take it away, and then you realize a movie sounds blank without it.
Thomas Newman
Music
You
Think
About
Blank
Take
Until
Without
Sounds
Odd
Odd Thing
Behind
Movie
Realize
Then
Away
Thing
Image
The rare opportunity of writing music for a movie about the making of 'Mary Poppins' was impossible to ignore. The fact that it could provide emotional content in relief of the struggles that the Sherman brothers and Walt Disney endured was reason enough to take on the challenge.
Thomas Newman
Music
Writing
Opportunity
Impossible
Challenge
Rare
Enough
Relief
Brothers
About
Struggles
Fact
Could
Emotional
Mary
Take
Mary Poppins
Content
Making
Provide
Walt
Walt Disney
Movie
Endured
Disney
Ignore
Reason
It's a practical matter. If you're useful to others, you'll be hired.
Thomas Newman
You
Matter
Others
Practical
Hired
Useful
There were certain things in 'Nemo' - just this low hum of ocean and watery sound - that was enough to imply water, as opposed to restating it over and over again.
Thomas Newman
Water
Ocean
Enough
Over
Imply
Sound
Opposed
Were
Hum
Just
Again
Low
Certain
Certain Things
Things
In live action, sometimes a mood or a feeling can go on for quite a while. Animation is a lot more effort. There are a lot more notes.
Thomas Newman
Sometimes
Feeling
Action
Live
Mood
More
Animation
Go
Lot
Effort
Quite
Quite A While
While
Notes
Live Action
You want to say as little as you can and get the most punch out of it, always with the knowledge that people are not in the theater to listen to your music so much as to respond to the movie. You're a part of that experience.
Thomas Newman
Music
Knowledge
You
Experience
People
Punch
Say
Respond
Out
Part
Most
Always
Get
Listen
Want
Movie
Theater
Little
Much
Your
I didn't listen to any of my dad's scores.
Thomas Newman
Scores
Any
Listen
Dad
I just want my music to involve an audience in what's taking place onscreen.
Thomas Newman
Music
Onscreen
Taking
Involve
Audience
Just
Want
Place
The golden age of Hollywood was the conceit of the movie and the style of the movie.
Thomas Newman
Age
Style
Conceit
Golden
Golden Age
Movie
Hollywood
I know what my taste is, and I do like my touch on the piano.
Thomas Newman
Touch
Piano
Like
Know
Taste
I flew to England to see the rough cut of 'Revolutionary Road.' I was quite moved. As a married man, it's kind of disturbing to see a couple try so hard to work things out and fail so miserably.
Thomas Newman
Work
Man
Try
Out
Kind
Married
Married Man
See
Disturbing
Road
Fail
Couple
Revolutionary
Quite
Moved
Cut
Flew
Hard
England
Rough
Things
The fun for me musically is that you never quite know what works and why. So why pretend you do? Why not just put things together and discover, in the creative process, if and why they work? That approach has served me well.
Thomas Newman
Work
Me
You
Together
Creative
Creative Process
Approach
Musically
Pretend
Never
Put
Know
Well
Discover
Quite
Just
Process
Fun
Works
Why
Why Not
Served
Things
The thing I don't want to do as a film composer is reiterate. I prefer to subtextualize or to underline rather than to say, 'This is what you should be feeling.'
Thomas Newman
You
Feeling
Say
Composer
Rather
Than
Want
Prefer
Should
Film
Thing
Movie music allows me to work with players as creatively as I can.
Thomas Newman
Work
Music
Me
Movie
Creatively
Players
What satisfies me most are those nonverbal moments with players, when I sense them thinking and responding. And I think, 'Wow, this is amazing.' Hollywood gives us the money to do this. I want to be grateful for that, and I also don't want to waste it.
Thomas Newman
Me
Grateful
Money
Amazing
Be Grateful
Sense
Think
Thinking
Those
Responding
Wow
Gives
Most
Also
Nonverbal
Want
Them
Hollywood
Us
Moments
Satisfies
Waste
Players
There was no way I could not do 'Finding Dory.'
Thomas Newman
Way
Finding
Could
When you go into something like a space movie, you think there's going to be no music or little music.
Thomas Newman
Music
You
Space
Think
Something
Like
Go
Going
Movie
Little
In 'Saving Mr. Banks,' the challenge was just transitions. Time transitions from 1961 to 1906; how do you follow a character in one environment to another? And sometimes these transitions were quick, so how do you do that?
Thomas Newman
Time
Character
You
Sometimes
Challenge
Saving
Follow
Environment
Another
How
Were
Quick
Just
Banks
Transitions
The thing about the creative process is it's so chaotic.
Thomas Newman
Creative
Creative Process
Chaotic
About
Process
Thing
Music is one of the last elements in the creative process. It can and hopefully should tie a bow around an artistic concept, how a story moves forward, the pace of that storytelling.
Thomas Newman
Music
Creative
Creative Process
Hopefully
Concept
Bow
Tie
Around
How
Artistic
Moves
Pace
Process
Story
Storytelling
Should
Forward
Elements
Last
Post-production is kind of the death of hope. The money has been spent. The grand ideas are either there or they're not there. So music oftentimes has to compensate if there are issues, or it has to stay out of the way if the movie is working really well.
Thomas Newman
Death
Hope
Music
Money
Way
Spent
Out
Has-Been
Kind
Post-Production
Stay
Ideas
Well
Issues
Been
Oftentimes
Movie
Either
Grand
Really
Working
Compensate
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