Bezold talks about his latest film, that of R. Ellis Frazier Daily work and much more in the interview below. Bezold’s music for the film is now available digitally.
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Editor’s note: The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
No Film School: How did you start getting into music? What was the score that sparked the fuse that pushed you to become a composer?
Chris Bezold: In fact, I started music very young. I started taking drum lessons when I was four. After many hours of watching Buddy Rick videos and trying to copy him by playing with my mom’s pots and pans, they decided it was time for some real lessons.
In fact, I didn’t have a direct path to becoming a composer. I started out wanting to produce, then my work turned out to be quite well suited to cinema, and then when I discovered writing on image, I fell in love with the process. I would say that one of the scores that really inspired me was that of John Williams for Hook. This remains one of my favorite themes.
NFS: What life experiences have had the most profound impact on your professional journey?
Frame : I could spend a lot of time talking about this. I had a very unusual journey.
As mentioned before, I started music at a very young age. I grew up playing in several different bands, then after high school I started working in technology sales. After five years, the company I worked at downsized and I was laid off along with many others. I was already exploring ideas about what I wanted to do next and eventually decided to get back into music. I attended Full Sail University and studied Music Production where I began to follow this path and was also introduced to composer Larry Groupe who mentored me.
“Daily work”Toric films
NFS: How would you say your Daily work Is your score different from some of your other scores?
Frame : What I love most about this score is my collaboration and working with my friend and incredible bassist, Chad Gutterud. Chad and I were in several bands in high school and I wanted to take the sound and style of his playing and incorporate it into this film. It’s a unique voice that I haven’t used until now and that absolutely sets this score apart from others I’ve done.
NFS: You have created numerous action film scores. Why do you think this is the case? Do you think your experience in the National Guard helps you better connect with the hardware?
Frame : Very interesting question! I’m not sure if my time in Guard contributed to the action scores, but it’s certainly a possibility.
As mentioned previously, I believe that all life experiences shape the way we express ourselves through our craft. So I know that my time in the military impacted my music and my songwriting to some extent. As for my action film compositions, it just started with ScoldSO Flight with Dolph Lundgren and others are just starting to gain momentum in this genre.
NFS: What advice would you give to a composer who is just starting out and composing an action film?
Frame : I would say take the time to study pacing and how it contributes to the emotional tone of a scene. Experiment with different rhythms using various orchestrations and see how this can shape certain scenes to make them more exciting and draw the audience into the suspense or action you want to emphasize.
For new composers just starting out: be patient and try new things. It’s easy to find a certain pattern that works and replicate it, but push yourself on each new project to try something new. Maybe a new instrument. New time signature, just something that takes you out of your comfort zone and helps you grow as a professional.
NFS: What do you think makes a good action movie score?
Frame : In my opinion, it should immerse you in the drama and help you really feel what’s happening on screen. You shouldn’t notice it either! That’s the key. If someone really notices the music and doesn’t get carried away by the drama on screen, then something is wrong. The music should draw the audience into the story and bring them to the edge of their seat, without realizing that it is the score that is doing that.
“Daily work”Toric films
NFS: You’ve already said that at the start of a new film, we bring together an initial palette of sounds. What did this palette look like? Daily work?
Frame : I love this question! As I mentioned before, it all started with bass guitar, using some of Chad’s slap elements for more action scenes, different effects for suspense, and nice melodic melodies for the more emotional scenes. In addition to bass guitar, we added acoustic guitar, violin, and lighter synthesizer elements.
NFS: Daily work follows a Latino veteran looking for work who finds himself caught in a battle for survival after being mistakenly dropped off at a private ranch in Texas to be hunted for sport. Does geographic location influence your score? If so, how did you create a sound suited to rustic Texas?
Frame : This is another very good question.
It’s possible, and sometimes not. It really depends on the director’s vision and how we’re trying to tell the story. Often we want to really engage the audience in the scene, and incorporating “local” type sounds can really help achieve that. But also, sometimes we don’t want to do that, and we want to direct the audience towards something else and in this case, we can use sounds and orchestration that are outside of the geographical location.
For Daily work we mainly did the latter, incorporating sounds and instruments outside of the geographic location. However, the melodic bass guitar and acoustic guitars give a sense of locality in parts of the film.
NFS: How much did that palette change from the beginning of your work on the film until its completion?
Frame : Just a little bit, at first we had a lot more percussion and bigger elements, but working with the producers we really toned it down and gave it a cleaner sound that really serves the film better.
Toric films
NFS: Daily work will be your fifth film with director R. Ellis Frazier. What do you think is the key to your collaboration with him?
Frame : I would say first of all it’s confidence. Frazier and I have great synergy and he really lets go and trusts me to react to my instincts. Frazier does a great job of stepping in and guiding the process when necessary, but he prefers to step back and let me execute with my initial judgments, and then we build from that.
NFS: When scenes give you trouble, what do you do to make them work?
Frame : It can be very frustrating, but also very rewarding, like putting together a puzzle. Some of the things I do might be to simply step away from it, find some clarity of mind, and then come back and listen with fresh ears. Other times I can mute certain tracks and listen to how it sounds without certain elements. Often, less is more! Conversely, I can bring in a new instrument and see if it fits the image better.
