One of the biggest recent surprises in the film world has been Wonka’s phenomenal financial fortunes. The film, which revolves around the story of the prominent chocolatier, was intended to be successful, but bucked the trend of musicals failing to find an audience and a very warm reception. The hilarious story has so far grossed more than $600 million at the global box office, and just a few months after its release, there were probably already rumors about the character’s future.
Wonka achieves great success thanks to the charm and skill of star Timothée Chalamet, who has been a real movie star lately. The actor took on a different type of role than he usually played, one that required more preparation and work than many of his performances later.
“I trained Timothy every day for 8 weeks before we started filming,” said James Taylor, Wonka’s music supervisor. He shared that the two not only practiced vocal and other exercises, but also sat together around a piano and figures. Find out how to create the melodies, almost all original to this movie, for Willy Wonka. universe classics, like “Pure Imagination”, the best for your voice.
Taylor’s role was much more complex than that of most music supervisors, but, again, Wonka was no ordinary movie. “Wonka was a big challenge,” the reigning Guild of Music Supervisors Award nominee said on a recent call. He also shared that from “It All Started From Scratch,” he had a lot of work to do to make sure that the newly written songs were ready, that they were suitable for each actor, and that whatever was captured on set was the best. be used. Covers are too expensive in most cases when it comes to musicals.
Obviously, the hard work, years of attention, and endless determination have paid off. Wonka may not be a unique origin story, based on the world’s love of the image. When asked if quick publicity was good fortune. Meaning that there may also simply be a sequel, Taylor replied, “I guess it probably is. Yes,” adding that about the reception of the film, “everyone was very surprised, but very happy. “
I spoke with Taylor ahead of the Guild of Music Supervisors Awards this weekend in Los Angeles about making Wonka, rehearsals with Chalamet, and the long-term of this exciting new (potential) series.
McIntyre: I enjoyed Wonka, I had a lot of fun, I went to a screening at the academy right when it came out and everyone brought their kids and had a great time. Can you tell me exactly what you had to do?
James Taylor: It varies a lot between pre-production, production and post-production. [In] pre-production, piano demos are sent through the composer and my task is to take them from demo to full pre-production. -Record, under production conditions. That’s part of the problem, working with the orchestrators, the director and the producers and finding a sound for the film.
Then he runs with the actors, making sure they can get the key right and the right version. Then they rehearse with the choreography and it’s almost in pre-production, like on Broadway or in the West End. It’s musical and troubling and I play the piano and do vocal training. I trained Timothée every day for 8 weeks before we started filming.
McIntyre: Eight weeks?
Taylor: Yeah, every day was a full workout to make a song. And then I’d come by and do some choreography. He literally worked hard. I’m at Abbey Road at the moment and we used to come here to do the pre-recordings and get all that stuff ready.
Then we move on to production. I was on set every day with the director checking that the music was working in the scenes. Especially for a musical, each and every day is a music day. I am the representative of each and every one of them. I care about the music on set and I can make some pretty big and complicated resolutions on set. You make the resolution which then affects post-production much later. So it varies dramatically, because once you’re on set, it’s absolutely different. job. And you want to have the wisdom of Pro Tools and know what can be edited on set and what will work later when editing with the image. You are moving your brain from the direct mode to what will happen later. .
And then once the filming is done, you go into post-production and fix everything and put it all together. So it’s a varied job.
McIntyre: The task described is that of a music director, a vocal coach, and a literal music producer.
Taylor: Yes. Yes, exactly.
McIntyre: And directing the music branch on a movie with a huge budget and working with some big names. You have a lot of features. So, it’s not the kind of job an average music manager could take on. You need to have a certain set of skills.
Taylor: I got a bachelor’s degree in music, then I trained in theatre and music directing for theatre, and that’s how I transitioned into film. However, you’re right, the classical musical director wouldn’t necessarily be on set and wouldn’t necessarily have the artistic skills of one. Then they would probably hire someone to do those things if necessary. I guess with me they were given an all-in-one package that can take care of all that other stuff, and I think they, especially the producer, the director, and the actors, as a single user overseeing everything.
McIntyre: If you take piano demos of the original songs and help shape them, do you also act as a producer/writer of the songs?
Taylor: Ouais. I mean, you have a lot of artistic input. There are music manufacturers who, in front of the computer, do the programming and arrangements. But my conversations with the director and crew then translate to the other people who paint the tracks and build the sound. He’s kind of a global music producer.
In other movies, I might have been credited as an executive music producer, or I might have been credited as a scorer or something. But as a music supervisor, it’s all-encompassing. It’s a fun job, but there’s a lot going on.
McIntyre: All of those songs are originals. The music is original. Have you ever worked on movies where you were just licensing old stuff?Is it like that or more difficult?
Taylor: Yes, I do. I have 3 other films that will be released in the next six months and that are in the process of obtaining a license and arranging the subsequent registration. One of the films is with Alexandre Desplat, so we worked with him on the music and there were two titles in the works. This is the classic position of music supervisor.
That, in my opinion, is less difficult because you play a more directive role. You are guilty of the day-to-day running of the department. On the musical side, you’re taking on another role on the artistic side, and there are a lot of other people who do that.
Wonka was a very, very big challenge, because it wasn’t even like one of the Disney movies, to reshape a cartoon or a cartoon. [With] Wonka, the only songs we knew we were going to use in the last edition were “Pure Imagination” and “Oompa Loumpa”. It all started from scratch and there was no Broadway musical to build on, either. It was a commission that consisted of starting from the back and building to the end.
McIntyre: Speaking of those two songs, I guess since they were the same company as the original, it was easy to get a license for those songs, but was it straightforward?
Taylor: It was easy. As you can imagine, there are the writer’s heirs who take care of the curtains; everyone was very willing to quit, but it’s not just a “There it goes, you can keep the songs!”You still have to go through the same procedure of getting a license and setting a fee. We’ve also replaced the lettering, so the adjustments are approved.
McIntyre: With a movie like this, you have 3 categories of music. You’ve been given the original songs, the original sheet music, and some licensed antique clothing. Can you tell us a little bit about the fine changes or re-recording you had to do to make sure everything had a good mix and match?
Taylor: We did some pre-recordings to first locate what we call the sound of the band, which was the rhythm segment and some brass and percussion. We’re looking to get a Kurt Weill vibe [composer of Pure Imagination] and use that influence and put it in [Neil Hannan’s band] Divine Comedy that Neil Hannan writes. It was a lot, let’s take a lot of other concepts and upload them.
And then we’d go through the set, things would happen that would change. Then we went into post-production and brought in a composer, Joby Talbot, who also had a history with the Divine Comedy. He composed Sing and made film scores and film scores. It was a matter of remodeling all of that.
We did a lot of recording sessions with other original tools, like the musical saw, and then with big very classic string sections. They were layers. That’s the most productive way to describe it: it’s just adding layers every time.
For something like “Pure Imagination,” it started when I played piano with Timothée playing the beginning almost a cappella of the song. And then, Neil and Joby would have their influence on things faster. It’s about immersing ourselves in what we thought as if it were the Wonka sound.
McIntyre: When you go into something like that and you start from the back and you create that Wonka sound, you have to stay true to the sonic identity of the original that other people expect, but you also have to bring something to the table. new for this. It’s another movie, it’s another era. Can you tell us about the procedure you followed to replace and create this sound that was compatible with this universe?
Taylor: [Director] Paul King’s idea of the film is similar. Obviously, he sought to stay true to the original ideas, but he was also creating this whole new world. However, we also talked a lot about our inspiration in the Gene Wilder era, which was almost like the Beatles. Before that, it was Broadway and a bit of cabaret influences. That’s how we started building the journey.
When Wonka arrives in town, he brings with him the influences of this new era. When you get to a song like “World of Your Own,” it becomes a lot poppier. There are influences from the ’60s and things like that. Whereas the big Broadway acts are much more traditional. Hopefully, that also reflects in the movie the other sounds we were using.
McIntyre: You just mentioned that at least one of the songs has a more pop sound. Nowadays, in the music industry, you can’t anticipate what’s going to happen. We’ve noticed a lot of movie songs in the afterlife. A couple of years, at least, minor successes. Timothée Chalamet appeared in the UK with one of Wonka’s songs. When you’re working on this, do you think about what could simply be a success?
Taylor: There’s some discussion about that. There’s the classic grand duet number, there’s the big central number of the movie number. You take any wonderful musical and it has those standards. And of course, when you’re doing a musical, you need the end credits song and you need the best song is the one that other people are writing with. So yes, all of those considerations are taken into account.
We’re encouraged by films that have performed very well in terms of music, because it doesn’t just seep into the world of cinema. Like you said, it’s infiltrating global pop. I think the clever thing about Wonka is that he’s not too pop. There’s the duet between Willy and Noodle. There are pop elements there that today’s young kids could identify with more. The release of “Pure Imagination” ends up being pop.
McIntyre: How long were you in this? When did you start?
Taylor: I started in June 2021. I was involved almost full-time until the movie came out in December 2023. It’s a big investment of time. You are immersed in this world.
McIntyre: Do you have any favorite musical moments from the movie?
Taylor: Oh, smart question. I love the edit number in the middle because I know how long it took to shoot each individual segment. For me, building and filming each segment and then seeing the finished product in five minutes is incredible.
It’s that moment in the movies when everyone needs to stand up and applaud, almost like it’s a Broadway show. I also like the beginning of “Pure Imagination” because Timothée and I filmed it live with me on the piano. Before the beat started. At that time it was just me and Timothy. I had headphones to hear him sing live and accompanied him on set. So it’s also a special moment that was a lot of fun to experience.
McIntyre: I hope that leads up to Wonka 2?
Taylor: I suppose so. Everyone is very surprised, but very happy.