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A personal column for fans-024-eng |
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The latest pioneering work of Didier Thunus |
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He went through the whole process
of re-scoring the film "Nosferatu"
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Latest News on March 8,2020: IMDB
has listed Didier Thunus as a composer of "Nosferatu"
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In order that you can enjoy the music with the movie
scenes, I have asked Didier to send me his video and audio. Here is
the complete version of the movie "Nosferatu" was re-scored
by Didier Thunus in 2019 and stored in our space
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Above: Didier Thunus
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In order to introduce in detail the issues
related to the re-score of the film, At my request, Didier wrote a brief
article for this purpose on February 3, the first half of which is as
follows:
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"Nosferatu" (1922) is one of the earliest movies based on Bram Stoker’s vampire novel "Dracula" (1897), even though the name of the characters and parts of the storyline and of the locations were changed because the adaptation was not authorized. Nevertheless Stoker’s family’s attempts to destroy all existing copies made it difficult for it to have a strong following in its early years. It is only when surviving prints were re-discovered by scholars that the film grew in fame, and became one of the most celebrated movies of the German expressionism in the 1920s. The features of Count Orlok the vampire are not exactly the ones that have been popularized by folklore and by later adaptations of Stoker’s book. His physical appearance is wiry and inelegant, however beguiling. His powers are many: telekinesis (he can close by himself the coffin in which he lies immobile doors open and close on their own…), telepathy (when he connects from the distance to Ellen or to Knock), transparency, levitation, the faculty to cross closed doors, and he has the ability to spread the plague through the swarm of rats that accompany him. Maybe ubiquity is another attribute of his, at least in his first appearance where he seems to be both the coach driver disappearing in the distance, and the host inside the castle. He sleeps in a coffin during the day because daylight would disintegrate him into dust. It is never clear what he does to his victims: he bites them apparently they fall asleep and forget about what happened, and then wake up relatively unharmed afterwards. It is different for Ellen and for the ship crew, who eventually die. But still they don’t seem to come back as vampires, unlike in traditional legends. German composer Hans Erdmann produced an original score for the premiere of the movie, but it didn’t remain attached to the film for later screenings, due to the decoupling between image and sound at the time. Many composers have in the meantime proposed new scores, most notably James Bernard, regular composer for the Hammer production company, for a DVD release in 1997. The other artists came up with varied approaches, from improvisation to experimentation, to sound design. I recently specialized in writing film music or assimilated, but
like many beginners in the field I am a film composer without a film.
If I did find ways to associate my music to the world of the fiction,
by re-recording together with the Solisti e Orchestre del Cinema Italiano
the score to the television series “L’isola” (2018),
composed by Ennio Morricone, or by creating music for imaginary movies
for the album “Cronaca di un falsario – Italian genre
cinema 1967-1977” (2019), my wish is of course to apply my own
music to real movies. When I wrote the piece which is now called “Bird
of Death”, I immediately felt that it belonged to the universe
of black-and-white horror movies. The specificity of silent movies is that every second of it has to be scored, resulting in very long soundtracks (82 minutes in the present case). On the other hand, film scoring in general allows and even pleads for reusing ideas throughout the composition. The challenge here was to do both: propose the same ideas in different forms while not sounding too repetitive in the long run. It had to be a compromise between a unified film score and a compilation of varied and contrasting themes. In the end, my score contains up to 17 different themes, 3 of which being reused several times: “Bird of Death”, “Count Orlok’s Theme” and “That Precious Blood”. The movie (but not the album) also contains a repetition of two other pieces in exactly the same form: “Flowers for Ellen” and “The Land of the Phantoms”. A distinctive trait of this score is the obsessiveness of several tracks (“Count Orlok’s Theme”, “Bird of Death”, “March of the Dead”, “The Mad Fugitive”…), repeating endlessly simple melodic cells, as if to express the unescapable horror of the scenes they illustrate, like a nightmare from which the protagonists cannot wake up. Even if there are a few atonal moments, the score is essentially melodic and thematic. I always compose the music regardless of the precise timing of a scene, in order to be totally freed from technical constraints, and to only be influenced by its overall atmosphere. Then only will I modify the piece in order to suit the scene like a glove. Note that on the album, I have put some pieces in their initial structure, as opposed to the adapted one used in the movie, just because I felt they sounded better that way (like “Morning in the Castle” or “March of the Dead”). Even if some pieces are fully orchestral (“The Journey”, “The Rats”) or piano-based (“Ellen’s Tears”, “The Medallion”), I also allowed myself to be anachronistic in many places, in order for my music to be a complete departure from the orchestral scores of Erdmann and Bernard. Therefore, rock drums, electric guitars or electronic sounds appear several times, as in “Count Orlok’s Theme” or “The Mad Fugitive”. Some sound effects have been added as well, such as the flapping sound evoking the flight of a bat in the second version of “Bird of Death” and in all versions of “That Precious Blood” (talking to the listener’s subconscious because the link between the vampire and the bat is not present in that specific movie), or the dark claustrophobic atmosphere in two versions of “That Precious Blood”. Ethnic accents are also brought in, such as the cimbalom in “The Journey” or in “Homeward Bound”, evoking the Balkans, the frantic flutes and the tribal percussions in “Count Orlok’s Theme”, as an echo to the vampire’s animalism and barbarism, or the woman voice in “Homeward Bound ”, a kind of desperate call for help from Ellen to Hutter. The influences of Ennio Morricone on my work are inevitable, maybe less in this project though, which is far from the Maestro’s universe. Had he been asked to score this movie, it is very likely that he would have come up with a more arthouse approach, probably orchestral but essentially experimental, trying to respond to the expressionistic and heavily suggestive nature of Murnau’s film. My approach was more that of traditional film scoring, in the 1960s and 1970s sense of the term rather than in the modern one, but still very personal: I can’t think of another soundtrack that would resemble mine. I would say it is somewhere between Bernard Herrmann and Goblin, however still far away from the respective styles of those authorities in horror film music. Nevertheless I’m sure that the fans will recognize Morricone’s influence in many places. I see it in “Count Orlok’s Theme” or in the upbeat segments of “That Precious Blood”, and in the creepy way the harpsichord is used. (The following is the explanation of each piece of music, please refer to the following list) |
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A complete list of Didier's re-score
soundtrack
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(On
this page of our forum, you can browse and listen more conveniently
at the same time)
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About Didier Thunus
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Didier thunus is an old friend of ours. He is the
webmaster of CHIMAI
website in Belgium and the founder of "MAESTRO"
special electronic magazine for Ennio Morricone theme. He is known and
respected by Morricone fans in the world. Anyone who has paid close
attention to our website for a long time should be familiar with him.
As a deep-rooted western fan of Morricone, he has been following Morricone
since he was young. He has unique research and profound foundation for
Morricone's works, and can even be called the Encyclopedia of Morricone's
knowledge. As early as 2007,
in order to study the origin and development of the music "Chi
Mai", I got his warm help and established friendly relations
with him. In the following ten years, we have been in constant contact.
In 2013, he and Patrick Buster of France resolutely took over MSV paper
magazine, which was announced to be closed, and changed it to MAESTRO
electronic magazine, which is free for all members. It has been eight
years since then, and their dedication has to be admired by all fans.
Please refer to another
webpage about these past. Not much here
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At the beginning of 2020, in the process of our
mutual exchange about "2020
Morricone Resources Library", he told me a message in his
email: he has a new creation (See the email's
screenshot below)
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In the email, he mentioned his first album, which
reminds me that it was his
first CD--"Bridge of Illusions" CO produced and officially
released by him as EverKent in 2016
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There are 12 pieces of music on this CD, all played
by virtual instruments. It's beautiful and the mood is ethereal. Listen
quietly, it can really take you into the land of fantasy. From it, you
can also appreciate its music skills, which is extraordinary
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I'm really interested in his new work. I read his
email carefully. It's a great pleasure to know his new creationand and
hope, It's very happy for me to be able to help my old friends a little.
I read the screenshot and website he sent me. At first, I didn't understand
the title "Nosferatu". It seemed to be a personal name, maybe
a special term. Recently, the Internet is very bad. The links abroad
very difficult to open. It took an hour or two to slowly see
the YT webpage
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I tried to play the video, it turned on very slowly,
and after a few minutes It couldn't move any more. I have to look at
the following instructions carefully, and gradually understand that
this "Nosferatu" is a silent film with a total length of 86'09
, directed by Murnau, a famous German director in 1922. Now Didier has
composed new music for it again. There are 28 tracks in total, which
are named according to the time sequence of movie playing. The post
was released less than one month on December 30, 2019. There is also
a link to the original of the movie. After opening, you can see that
it's very active. Since it was released in December 2015, the number
of views has reached 173206, and there are 177 comments below. The poster
made a note that：HD remastered blu-ray edition of Nosferatu from 1922.
Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens (translated as Nosferatu: A Symphony
of Horror; or simply Nosferatu) is a 1922 German Expressionist horror
film, directed by F. W. Murnau, starring Max Schreck as the vampire
Count Orlok. The film, shot in 1921 and released in 1922, was an unauthorized
adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, with names and other details changed
because the studio could not obtain the rights to the novel (for instance,
"vampire" became "Nosferatu" and "Count Dracula" became "Count Orlok").
Stoker's heirs sued over the adaptation, and a court ruling ordered
that all copies of the film be destroyed. However, a few prints of Nosferatu
survived, and the film came to be regarded as an influential masterpiece
of cinema. As of 2015, it is Rotten Tomatoes' second best-reviewed horror
film of all time.
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According to my habit, I first went to IMDB to have
a look. When I
searched "Nosferatu", 107 results came out at once. It
make me feel that seems a heat wave. This one 1922 movie was at the
front.
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Then I opened
the webpage of the 1922 movie directed by Murnau and saw the film.
Its plot is extremely concise: Vampire Count Orlok expresses interest
in a new residence and real estate agent Hutter's wife. There are 410
commenters shown below, which shows that it is a popular movie
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Then I opened the cast and found that there were as
many as 16 composers for the movie from 1969 to 2006. I don't know if
this is a popular way for composers to show their talents in the West?
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I was impressed by the IMDB. This movie seems to be
very famous in the west, especially for composers and people who like
silent films and horror films. But I am with very limited knowledge
, so what about its situation in China? I search
for this Nosferatu in Baidu with the mood of exploration. To my
surprise, this movie is also introduced on many websites. Its Chinese
name is "诺斯费拉图". For example: 01，
02，
03， 04，
05，
06
......
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Douban website's introduction is as follows: Hutter
, an employee of a real estate company in Bremen, was appointed by the
company to trade houses with Count Orlok in an ancient castle, but when
he lodging in a hotel near the castle, people learned that his destination
was very responsive Strange. When he arrived at the castle, he saw the
haggard and eccentric Earl of northferratu. He also learned that he
had a habit of staying up in the daytime and at night. Hutter was suspicious
of his identity and finally found out that he was the legendary vampire.
Hutter escaped from the castle, and the count rushed all the way to
the house he had bought in Bremen. When Hutter returned home, he learned
that the count of vampires had arrived, and it was he who made the town
plagued. He and his wife Ellen, began to try to eliminate the count
of vampires
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The title of "Time" website is
"NOSFERTU: the originator of vampire film, classic insurmountable".
It has a high evaluation on this film: "the first vampire film
in the history directed by the legendary director, master Murnau, has
caused a sensation. Since then, this terrorist species, which only exists
in literary description and human legends, has entered the image era
and started to ferocious him Our face sucks human blood in front of
us. Murnau's classic position is unshakable, which has a very far-reaching
impact on later vampire films and horror suspense films. It is also
not too much to call it the ancestor of vampires.
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Then, I went to the video area
to search for this "Nosferatu". The result was even more
amazing, with nearly 100 related videos appearing. What's more, I was
overjoyed to find a movie profile with Chinese dubbing and Chinese subtitles
provided by Netease video with a duration of about 7 minutes. It's so
good! If you are interested, you can go
to this original web page to watch it
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Postscript
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The most important inspiration from Didier's latest
works is the innovative spirit that prevails among people in these developed
countries. As early as in 2013, when he was invited to write a special
article for us to publish "Morricone enthusiast's Handbook",
he had already revealed this idea of "innovation". He (Ennio
Morricone) said in the article: ".... it is not simply for humility’s
sake that he disregards his own gift: he simply doesn’t seem to
realize. He smiles at our fondness for Jill’s theme from C’era
una volta il West. It’s just a series of 4 consecutive manipulations
of 6 notes, he says. Is it really? Maybe I should
try to write one myself.... (See
the PDF file)
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At that time, I didn't fully understand his thinking.
It's only when he launched his new creations in succession that I realized
his valuable innovation spirit. This is the real driving force for the
development of a nation and a country. It is worth our serious thinking
and learning
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If you have carefully read this explanatory article
of Didier, and then carefully watch and listen to those music languages
without borders, you will surely have some insights and inspiration.
At least we can understand Didier's words: "this proves that there
is a certain kinship between images and music. Just like there are more
than 5000 languages in the world, a "hello" can be expressed
in thousands of voices. Although the most popular ones are commonly
used by people, the ones that are used less may be wonderful. Didier's
music has at least three characteristics for me: 1. It arouses my curiosity:
can such a friend of mine write music? What kind of music does he write?
I have to listen to it myself! 2. It makes me admire: Oh, he really
realized his dream and wrote his own music. What's more, it sounds decent.
This man is awesome! 3. The most important thing is: it makes me feel
close. We can see his explanation of music (even every song), and we
have the opportunity to talk with him (with the support of Didier, our
forum has opened a column of "dialogue with Didier", where
you can freely express your opinions, ask questions and participate
in the dialogue).
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The Analects of Confucius, which appeared more than
2000 years ago, recorded the teachings of Confucius: "those who
are born to know, first; those who learn to know, second; those who
are poor but to learn and to know, third; those who are poor and still
not learn, worst." there are still many things to learn for everyone.
Try hard, friend, can you (including me) try to do
more?
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I wish friend Didier a new chapter! May
all friends fly!
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The last important
discovery
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After a busy few days, the webpage seems to have finished.
But I always have a little intuitive feeling, as if there's still something
that's been overlooked.
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The man was old, really a little dull, thought for
a long time, finally pulled out that unfinished cue: I remember at the
end of the request didier to check the web page, there is a word at
his replied on February 5 in an e-mail : ““ I forgot to tell you: actually
EverKent is simply me and my computer. It's not a separate person or
group.”
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I didn't think about it at the time because of the
haste, but i changed that "Created by Didier
and Everkent" to "Created by Didier as
Everkent". When all the dust settled and i was ready to publish
this page, I suddenly remembered the phrase" As
Everkent" ??? This is not a simple question of a word, as I originally
understood: Everkent was a performer. So, doesn't that mean the music
is played (or directed) entirely by Didier? Does he have so many skills???
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Think it over and over again , although To postpone
the release of the webpage, I still would like to ask Didier, because
this is a very important, very curious question. On February 6th I emailed
him again (the day before, I was happy to tell him that the webpage
was about to be published and that he - and of course I - could relax)
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On February 8, he sent a reply
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Hello Han, Here are my answers to your questions: 1. Do you all the work in your PC (including forming symphony, embedding video, etc.) by yourself ? Yes, I'm on my own. Hopefully some day I'll be able to collaborate with experts, who knows! 2. How much time did these three events (re-score, virtual performance and synchronous embedding etc.) take each ? The re-score took me about 5 months (not counting the previously
existing pieces and some last minute rework I did months later). It
could have been shorter but I only do this in my spare time. 3. Which software is mainly used for these (e.g. where the sound of the bat comes from)? I use essentially StudioOne for creating the music, and sometimes Band-in-a-Box when I look for inspiration for chord sequences and background accompaniment. For the movie, I simply used Windows Movie Maker. Have a great weekend, Didier |
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Well, all the problems are clear: one
person, 5 months in his spare time, with 3 software. I don't
know what do you think , maybe I have too little knowledge, but my feeling
is still want to tell you: Great! Composer, Symphony Orchestra, Full
Sound Department. He did it all by himself! Well, have you thought about
it?
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"Numbers" change the world, it's not just
the world of scientists, it's really a world of ordinary people, but
for us, a small circle of Morricone Fans, Didier is an ordinary "civil
servant" (he's introduced himself in
the LinkedIn is "Project Manager chez European Commission”),
an amateur fans , did such an not-so-simple thing , at least to my surprise
and admiration . It also inspires me: live to the old, learn old! The
world is so big, scientific things are so much, don't waste God to give
you time, work hard! Thank you, Didier Thunus!
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Supplement on February 9, 2020 ( 2019-ncov
diagnosis 37251 in China)
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