{"id":17282,"date":"2023-04-21T15:42:20","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T15:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockfishfestival.is\/?p=17282"},"modified":"2023-04-21T15:45:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T15:45:46","slug":"jan-forsstrom-in-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stockfishfestival.is\/en\/jan-forsstrom-in-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"“In Girl Picture, the music reflects more what the character is feeling.” Jan Forsstr\u00f6m in interview"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Opposite me sits an entrepreneur in his native country. There is no other so-called \u2018music
\ndesigner\u2019 in Finland other than Jan Forsstr\u00f6m, at least not one that has done more than one or
\ntwo projects. Jan has done eight. The term \u2018music designer\u2019 is not a common job title, and more
\nso a name that seems to fit Jan\u2019s line of work. The closest thing in Hollywood vocabulary is
\nprobably \u2018music supervisor\u2019 or \u2018sound designer\u2019, according to him.<\/p>


\nJan\u2019s first love was literature, which he studied, and film second. As he was graduating the
\nprospect of being able to work solely as an author didn\u2019t seem too feasible. So he chose a path
\nbetween the two, writing and film. And speaking of other career paths, Jan would choose to be a
\nwriter, if the film industry was off the table. He has written a collection of short stories and a
\nchildren’s book, alongside music design, but knows that if he were to try and make a living as a
\nwriter he would have to do novels, which he is not at all interested in.<\/p>


\nGetting into music design was a bit of an accident. Jan himself claims that he can not play any
\ninstruments, but would like to be able to some day. He has absorbed all genres of music ever
\nsince he can remember: \u201cI don’t have an education for being a music designer, I don’t even play
\nany instruments, I just have a very broad music catalog in my head […] But it\u2019s not really a
\ncareer, I never know whether anyone else is going to ask me.\u201d Jan\u2019s music designer career path
\nstarted with him working on a short film and being one of the more knowledgeable there on
\nmusic. It then progressed onward, from short films to full features, by people getting wind of his
\ntalent and insight. Alli Haapasalo is the director for Girl Picture and this is the first full feature film
\nthat Jan has worked on with her. They have however known each other for 25 years, and Jan
\nonce wrote a short film for Alli to direct quite a few years ago.<\/p>


\nSome 90% of Jan\u2019s work takes place before filming begins. He comes in at the script and pre
\nproduction stage, to be able to give the director and DOP his vision for the soundscape. For Girl
\nPicture, this included a lot of pre-existing modern music with a 90s\/early 2000s feeling to it.
\nInterestingly, only around 5% of the final score in the film was actually composed specifically for
\nthis project. Jan is most fond of that era, the sound of music he grew up with, along with modern
\nclassical. He felt that it would be relevant to the film’s characters, while also serving Alli\u2019s tastes,
\nwho is the same age as him.<\/p>


\nTo make a musical style for a character, Jan looks at them as a person. What is their
\nbackground, what interests them? In Girl Picture, he went with music that the girls themselves
\nwould actually listen to. For example, the character \u2018Emma\u2019 who is a figure skater has a score
\nmade up of violins, and French music, because she is half French. Jan also decided to add in a
\nbit of hard rap to shake up her musical image and make it more engaging for the audience. \u201cYou
\nhave to think about: How does the film relate to the character? Are we looking at them from the
\noutside, or are we experiencing the world with them from the inside? […] Is the camera close to
\nthe characters, or do they almost disappear in a wide landscape? All of this will affect the music
\nchoice.[…] In Girl Picture, the music reflects more what the character is feeling, rather than what
\nwe should be thinking about the character, because it is that kind of emotional film.\u201d
\nFor reference while preparing for Girl Picture Alli Haapasalo showed Jan the work of an
\nAmerican photographer who does imposing black and white pictures of teenage girls looking
\nfierce. With that in mind he started working out the musical landscape. It was clear that it should
\nnot be too \u201cpretty\u201d or \u201cgirly\u201d, and he would be allowed to try setting a romantic scene to pounding
\nmusic. Jan starts by making a \u201cmap\u201d of the music that will play in the film and then works on
\nacquiring the rights. Jan feels that a film will only be made better with a pre-decided score. He
\ntakes for example a scene in Girl Picture that happens on a club dance floor: \u201cFor the biggest
\nscene, very important musically, where the couple kisses for the first time, we got the rights to
\nthe music beforehand. Then the DOP shot the scene, he synced the strobe lights to this
\nparticular song.\u201d This sync that draws the viewer even deeper into the characters\u2019 world would
\nnot have been possible without the preparation. Jan also takes for example that he has made
\nplaylists for actors to listen to while in preparation for their role. Most of those songs are for the
\nactors’ private exploration of character, while a few end up being used in the final version of the
\nfilm.<\/p>


\nFor music design to be memorable Jan talks about opposites, or surprises. Speaking from
\nexperience, he has advice that all filmmakers can take note from: \u201cIf every department (tries to
\nconvey a \u201csad feeling\u201d in a \u201csad scene\u201d), the scene will end up feeling like you as a viewer have
\nno space to experience it yourself. […] It might be better if everything is \u201ccheery\u201d, but you have
\none element that is sad, like for example the music, and that can make everything much more
\neffective.\u201d For the crew, getting an idea of what the score will sound like, will usually liberate
\nthem in their work. Departments can then focus on a greater contrast and deeper meaning in
\nwhat they deliver.<\/p>


\nThe secret to being a successful music designer is being knowledgeable on every single music
\ngenre, plus making connections with contemporary composers will ease anyone’s work in the
\nfield. All his experience in the film industry, particularly extensive work as a script consultant on
\nnumerous films, has given Jan a broad perspective. He keeps it simple, intuitive and works with
\npeople that he sees eye to eye with.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opposite me sits an entrepreneur in his native country. There is no other so-called \u2018music designer\u2019 in Finland other than Jan Forsstr\u00f6m, at least not one that has done more than one or two projects. Jan has done eight. The term \u2018music designer\u2019 is not a common job title, and more so a name that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17286,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n"In Girl Picture, the music reflects more what the character is feeling." 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