When The Royal Foundation puts their stamp of approval on a project, you know it must be special. In the case of the new documentary, Rhino Man, this is definitely true. Just last week Prince William and his aunt Sophie, Dutchess of Edinburgh made headlines for attending a private screening of the doc, hosted by United for Wildlife at Battersea Power Station in London. The film follows a group of young candidates as they strive to become the next generation of rangers, while Sergeant Anton Mzimba holds the line against poachers in the field. It’s an intimate telling of the rangers’ lives, highlighting the dangers they face, their passion for the work, and their importance in the global fight against illegal wildlife trade. One of the creatives involved with the making of the film is composer Simón Wilson (Gift of Fear, Celebrity Escape Room, Momentum), whom provides a heroic and introspective musical backdrop to the emotional story. In the below Q&A we talk with Simón about his work on the film.
What would you say people most know you for? Film or tv title wise?
As far as my own composing projects, Celebrity Escape Room was for a major network (NBC) so I think quite a few people watched that. But mostly it’s been work I’ve done for other people. I’ve gotten the privilege of working with some very experienced composers on their own film and television projects, and that’s where most of my “well-known” credits have come from. I’ve learned a tremendous amount by going the assistant route, and it’s been awesome to work with such professionals at the top level. I’m hoping that Rhino Man gets some distribution and soon everyone will be talking about that!
You scored the documentary Rhino Man. Can you talk about the sounds you created for the film?
I started by sampling a bunch of percussion instruments: a log drum, an ohm drum, an electric kalimba, and a metal table that I had lying around. There was also this Azzam Bells instrument that I was able to record some basic loops on and then affected significantly afterwards to come up with some awesome textures. I also recorded a brilliant violinist, Cansu Ozyurek, doing some cool fx: bird calls, harmonic sawing sounds, squeaky and gliss fx, stuff like that, and pulled all that in as needed throughout the film to give some extra tension and organic feeling.
What sort of direction were you given by the directors for how they wanted the film to sound?
I was given some pretty standard film music references: Thomas Newman, James Newton Howard, and John Powell were a few. They also gave me several African and South African artists to listen to. It was great to internalize that sound and kind of live with it for a while as I was thinking about the themes of the story. They use an instrument in South Africa called a concertina in some of their popular music, so I brought that instrument into a pad-like texture for a theme of one of the main characters.
Composers sometimes experiment with “found objects” when creating music. Did you do anything like that for Rhino Man?
Not explicitly. If I had some bones lying around I no doubt would have tried to sample them to get some stark and hollow textures, like that of the rhino carcasses displayed in the film. I guess the metal table was a bit of a found object, in that it was not intended to be an instrument, but I made it so. It’s definitely something I’m more attuned to the further I go in this industry.
Did you use an orchestra for the Rhino Man score? If so, can you talk about which orchestra and where it was recorded?
Not at all, the budget was very modest so unfortunately no orchestra was possible! The violinist I mentioned above added plenty of organic textures, and I tried to cover the samples wherever possible with stuff like that.
You are a multi-instrumentalist, but is there one instrument that you tend to go to when creating music for film and tv?
Typically, I do find myself sketching on the piano to start things. I play guitar and when it’s called for I will start a cue with that, but I feel much more comfortable on the piano. It’s also helpful to map out the cue tempo-wise with a quick piano sketch, so you can see where things land. I don’t use markers, so I’ll lean on an initial piano sketch to achieve that, and then it also helps to have all of the harmony in the piano roll so I can look at that as a guide while recording in the other instruments. I’m constantly finding new ways to streamline my process and this has been a great one.
On your website it says you are currently working alongside Craig Wedren on Showtime’s Yellowjackets. What has that experience been like?
I wish I could say more, but I just started the gig towards the end of last season! Craig Wedren and Anna Waronker are the composers, and I’m still wrapping my head around the genius and radical ideas and sounds that they implement in the score. It’s funny because I actually worked on the pilot of that show when I was working for Teddy Shapiro almost 3 years ago. He wrote several themes and we recorded vocals and strings with the incredibly talented Caroline Shaw. I chopped up all of that material way back then and I still see Craig and Anna pulling it into their sessions in the current season. I hope to be able to contribute in whatever technical and creative ways I am called to in Season 3!
In five years, what types of projects do you see yourself working on? Or what do you hope to be working on?
Hmm, that’s a tricky one because if you would have asked me 5 years ago I would have had a completely different response. It’s always been action-adventure and fantasy projects that I’ve wanted to score, ever since watching Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings when I was a kid. But in recent years I’ve developed a passion for documentaries, gotten pretty experimental with some electronic music, embraced my rock and guitar roots, and tried my hand at some animated projects that I had an absolute blast with. I think I get so much fulfillment from doing something that feels out of my comfort zone or different from anything I’ve done before, and I just want to keep chasing that feeling.
What’s next for you?
There’s a potential pilot I’m going to be working on with someone I’ve never worked with before, so I’m hoping that goes well. Honestly, it’s been a quiet year, I think for most of us, what with the striking and all of that. Keeping my fingers crossed that these irreplaceable writers (and actors!) get the treatment they deserve and we can all keep rolling doing what we love.
Learn more about Rhino Man at https://rhinomanthemovie.org/.
Learn more about Simón Wilson at https://www.simonwilsonmusic.com/