Birds of Prey
After the divisive response to movies likeSuicide SquadandJustice League , the DCEU has find its terms with more critically acclaimed adventures likeShazam!andAquaman , to say nothing of unconnected twisting - off films likeJoker , which absolutely irrupt at the box office and won multiple Academy Awards . The former flick found on a DC Comics property isBirds of Prey ( and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn ) , a rollickingsemi - sequel toSuicide Squadthat focuses on the delightfully twisted worldview of Margot Robbie ’s Harley Quinn keep abreast a less - than - amicable breakup with The Joker .
Birds of Preyhas earned significant vital acclaim for itsaudacious charmand willingness to traumatize and surprise audiences with unparalleled action sequences , off - the - wall humor , and mirthful Good Book sensibility , all of which are let even furtheroff the strand by the film ’s R military rank . One component ofBirds of Preythat has been hold in particular regard is its score , by composer Daniel Pemberton . Rather than the bombastic orchestral cues that frequently specify the superhero genre , Pemberton lean more into a moreenergetic careen and peal manner , come in with unique subject for each character . He also co - spell original Song dynasty for the film , includingThe Joke ’s On You , which serves as the moving-picture show ’s de facto theme , incorporating elements of his score to create a Helen Wills Moody but empowering anthem that absolutely capture Harley Quinn ’s terrifying - but - fascinating brain .
bear on : Screen Rant ’s Birds of Prey Review
Pemberton speak with Screen Rant about working onBirds of Prey , from talk about his particular feeler to the realm of blockbuster superhero films to sharing a thrilling story about escape across the Warner Brothers backlot in an elbow grease to communicate his vision for the film ’s score . He also speak about working on original songs for the picture show and his sexual love / hate relationship with temp racecourse .
Birds of Preyis currently playing in theaters nationwide , and the soundtrack album is usable now .
Congratulations on the soundtrack passing , which just came out this calendar week .
Thanks very much !
Birds of Prey has such punk rock sensibilities . It ’s a real breathing place of reinvigorated air in so many way , and I think that extends to the music , which is such a rock - and - cast score that you do n’t often get from this character of motion-picture show . essentially , I jazz it and thank you .
I ’m beaming you bask it !
So , evidence me about working with Cathy Yan , the manager . Did she have a visual modality for the score , and how did you solve towards that end with her , even before you take up composing ?
I was slightly leery of this movie , originally . I ’m not a huge fan of comic book movies , in the sense of … So many of them finger very similar , and I do n’t finger like there ’s a lot of space for alternative forms of expression , or new room of doing thing . But chat with Cathy , within five minutes I realize she felt the same way I did . And she told me what she wanted to do with the film . She wanted to do a side of Gotham City we ’d never seen before . She did n’t want to do thing the same way they ’d been done . And that is always good newsworthiness for me . I ’m like , okay , groovy , I can really render to make something new . I sleep together making something novel , matter that are surprising . I think , a lot of meter with film , you see the card and you kind of bed what you ’re going to find out , and what the movie is going to end up like before you ’ve even see it ! And I want to do things where you have no idea what it ’s going to be like , where it ’s croak to be a surprisal , with every grade I do . With dame , it felt like a really full opportunity to do something different and open up the world of risible book moving picture to a more or less different pallette .
Kinda build off that , can you blab about writing Harley ’s very particular paper ? It opens up the movie and really set the stage for everything that ’s about to go down . It ’s a piece that says , like you said , " Hey , whatever you think you ’re gon na get in this kind of motion-picture show , draw a blank about all that . "
I ’m based in London . I had go over to America , to Warner Brothers , to commence count at the movie and talking about ideas . We were seeing the edit on the WB mickle . That scene , they had scored it like action , like an action at law moment . And I thought , hmm , it does n’t find right for what ’s happening . This scene is n’t about her blowing up a braggart chemical plant ; it ’s about her breaking up with Joker . So I think it should be a breakup Song dynasty . So I had the idea in my head , an idea , I call back it ’ll knead , but I did n’t know . And we ’re talk about it for a while , and I thought , there ’s not much point in just talking about it , it does n’t really help oneself .
So how did you phrase your thought ?
I said , " Is there a piano anywhere ? " And they said , " No . " But then I remembered there was a piano in the office of the Head of Music , which was on another side of the lot . So I phoned up his office , Paul Broucek , and he was out . So I was like , great , can I quickly break into his office ? And they ’re like , " certain . " So I ran across Warner Brothers , to the other side of the heap . I went into his office staff , put my iPhone there , and he had a piffling galvanic pianissimo there , and I just recorded these notes ( he play the introduction to " The Joke ’s On You " ) , you know , basically a prospicient version of that .
That ’s awing .
I take my iPhone and start to go back across the lot , and the music department were like , " Hey , do you desire to borrow this golf buggy ? " And I ’m like , " F * * * yeah , I want to borrow the golf buggy ! " So I got to take up a Warner Brothers golf roadster , which still , to this day , feels like the most I ’ve made it in Hollywood , in a golf batty labour around Warner Brothers . ( Laughs ) So I beat back , we just stuck on what I ’d done , it was n’t done to scene , it was was raspy , but it just lick so well . We find out it and were like , " f * * * , this is going to work ! " In my head teacher , I knew what I require to do to it , but nobody else be intimate . I be intimate it was blend in to ferment when I see to it that , and it was very exciting , and I knew that it would become the starting time of the whole film .
As a musician , you have an estimation , but no one else can hear it until , well , they hear it .
Yeah , that can often be a spot of a swearing , but the more movies you do , the more slack you ’re afford on that front .
The more religious belief they ’ll have in you by default . And by now , you ’ve get a lot of that good will make up .
The thing is , it ’s always about the work . I do n’t really manage how moving picture do . I just manage about whether the study ’s good . And I sense quite proud of with how well my movies have deform out , musically . I think the scores are all quite dissimilar , and every clip you do ferment like that , it buys you more freedom on the next motion-picture show , to examine and push it more . And people are take you because they require that . They do n’t want you to copy temp medicine . If they wanted me to simulate temp music , then why would they rent me ? They can go hire other people to do that . Eventually , you produce this world where you are encourage to be experimental , encouraged to try and do things other than .
I ’ve interview composers before , and it ’s a common theme , like , if they ’re not the ones draw up the temp music , they do n’t require to see about it !
Yeah . Well , I mean , temp music can be utile sometimes … Temp music is a nuisance in the a * * , but it can be useful for working out tone or come up with different estimation .
Birds of Prey is a spin - off , but it ’s very much it ’s own thing . Did you incorporate any influence from Suicide Squad or any of the other DC Comics movies ? Or was it completely not a cistron ?
I kind of mat up like this is a very different … Like , the whole point of it was that we were doing a dissimilar take on everything from the premature movie . This feels very much like we ’re live in Harley ’s world . The story is very much Harley ’s vision of the world . But Steve Price , who did the euphony for Suicide Squad , is a really in force friend of mine , and we talk a draw on the earpiece . He ’s an excellent guy and a very honest composer .
Are there any rule for your take on a mirthful Good Book movie ? In addition to Birds of Prey , you also did Into the Spider - Verse , so for both picture show , did you have any ego - imposed restriction of things to forefend ?
It ’s really hard to say what they are , because there ’s tons of thing you taste to avoid , but you end up doing them a wad of the time , even if you ’re try not to . But I always attempt really hard to not do the obvious thing . Sometimes , that just makes my life doltishly complex , because there ’s an comfortable way out sometimes . And I do n’t like taking the easy way out ! I like press and trying to make it dissimilar . The difficult affair is , even in the filmmaking unconscious process , load of the great unwashed want to take the easy way out . If you crusade back as a composer , all you ’re doing is upsetting those people you work with . But you have to attempt to convince them you ’re drive back for in effect reason . I liken it a bit to being a waiter at a restaurant . If someone come in and they say , " I want the burger and chips , " you say , " reckon , I can totally make you a Warren E. Burger and chip … But I think I can make you something style nice that you might prefer , and you might discover something new . " And they ’re like , " Yeah , perchance . " Your job is to try on to convince them to render something unlike , rather than to just go for the burger and chips with ketchup everywhere . And there ’s nothing wrong with hamburger and chips ! A well - made burger and splintering is an excellent , excellent repast ! But I do n’t want to make burger and chips every sentence .
Well said ! My preferred TV show of all sentence is Miami Vice , and–
Oh piece , that ’s so great . What a great grade ! Jan Hammer ! Like , f * * * * * * great grudge ! Again , such a great , out - of - nowhere score . Obviously , the vogue at the fourth dimension was raw synthesized scores , they were very much in trend , but again , you ’ve got something in there that is such an iconic couple of themes . They create a memory of that show , which is almost even heavy than the show !
For sure . And another matter that show did , which boo of Prey does as well , is it uses a lot of certify songs that diddle throughout , that flow of course into and out of the grudge . Are you involved in those choices ? Do you love already that they ’re going to put Barracuda and Black Betty during these cardinal scenes ? Do you frame with that in mind ?
shuttle of Prey is interesting , because there ’s a couple of songs in the film that I co - write . The Joke ’s On You , that was based on my riff from the beginning , and we were like , let ’s turn over that into a song . And the call , Danger , is based on Harley ’s musical theme . I always wanted to mash up the score with rock or rose hip - record hop . So we suffer Jucee Froot to tap on top of that . But some other choices , yes , I ’m sitting in merging with everyone , and we ’re going through everything , and it ’s like , right , with child , or no , this is s * * * , and some thing I might have inviolable tactile sensation about , others I do n’t , other things I think are groovy in the film , other matter I ’m not certain on , but that ’s the nature of filmmaking . And , you have a go at it , while I ’m not of necessity choosing all the track , I ’m definitely involved in the conversation about them . And I also necessitate to know because I ’m trying to make my scotch feel like it ’s part of the same world . You ’re seek to meet in the same sound world for the whole film , so all those things can feel like they belong to together . I also think that being demand in that songwriting process do a really giving deviation . We now have this theme , this emancipation theme that became The Joke ’s On You , and that play throughout the film ’s grade , as well . These things all feel like they really go together , rather than a bunch of disparate ideas . And so I think it ’s one of the affair that I desire happens more often . With me and other composers , having more communication and collaboration between original account and songs . I mean it really makes a big divergence about how you feel about a film and how everything fits together .
More : Okay , But Where Was Batman During Birds of Prey ?
