I’ll never score a film. My musical talent capped with the half a dozen alt-rock and pop-punk bands I was in throughout high school and college, but as a lover of music, film, and Danny Elfman I was driven to take Danny Elfman Teaches Music for Film on MasterClass.
The new MasterClass from four-time Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman gives aspiring composers a look into his creative process while sharing bits of advice and wisdom he’s amassed over his nearly 35 years in the business. I won’t spoil any of the lessons he shares when it comes to composing for film here, but I did want to share some of the anecdotes that came up during the lessons that I found fascinating about Elfman and some of the films he’s worked on.
He Collects Hands
Throughout his studio, Danny Elfman has a collection of hands, an obsession that started thanks to the film The Beast With Five Fingers. Elfman explains in his MasterClass that the film was the first to really scare him as a child and has been the root of a lifetime of nightmares about a disembodied hand trying to kill him. That fear lead him to begin obsessively collecting hands. “I collect hands,” explains Elfman in one of his lessons. “Hands that are human. Hands that are not human. Anatomical hands. Wax hands. Real hands. Mummy hands.”
He felt the Edward Scissorhands Score Was a Failure
It’s by far one of his most known scores, but when he finished it, Danny Elfman felt like he had failed on the Edward Scissorhands score. The hangup came from the fact that he never composed a theme for Edward.
Over the course of scoring the film, he had developed two themes for Edward “Storytime,” which captured the fairytale aspect of the character and the iconic track “Ice Dance,” which was a sadder, more bittersweet them for the character. Both themes wound up in the film, which was something Tim Burton who wrote and directed the film encouraged Elfman to do, but since Elfman set out to create a theme for Edward and couldn’t he felt he had failed.
He has since come to terms with it and see’s the project as a learning experience.
He’s Been Involved in More Than a Dozen Lawsuits Over Edward Scissorhands
The project he once saw as a failure has been at the heart of over a dozen lawsuits as other composers have leveraged themes from the film in their own works for commercials, television, and the like.
Some of the suits were dropped based on the context of the creation and how it differed from the original work, but if it’s played over snow falling, you can bet your ass Elfman is going to come after you.
He’s Built a Number of His Own Tuned Percussion Instruments Out of Items Found at Hardware and Army Surplus Stores
During one of the session videos, Elfman tells the story of how he began creating some of his own percussion instruments using things that were more or less junk. He used to carry a wooden mallet with him and would tap on things at hardware and army surplus stores to find new sounds.
Over the years he has created percussion instruments out of beer cans, old miners pans, measuring cups and the like.
He Wrote the Batman Theme in a 747 Bathroom
The theme for Tim Burton’s Batman came to Elfman on the way home from visiting the film’s Gotham City set. Unfortunately, the trip home was on a 747. Stuck next to a passenger he knew would have nothing to do with Elfman piecing together his thoughts on a Sony tape recorder, he instead made multiple trips to the plane’s bathroom to record his thoughts. Getting up every five to 10 minutes to record his unusual behavior alerted flight attendants and by the end of the flight he had the entire flight crew watching him. Luckily this was pre-9/11 or Elfman would have likely been taken in for questioning with his recorder confiscated once he landed in L.A.
He Scrapped His Original Score of Beetlejuice After Seeing Michael Keaton’s Performance
The iconic score for Beetlejuice was initially much different, and we can thank Michael Keaton for the final result. Elfman completely scrapped his initial score after seeing Keaton’s performance in the film. “I saw what Michael Keaton was doing. How crazy he was acting and the way he moved, the way he spoke, the way he kept shifting his tones. That told me what to write. I’m not writing something smooth and gentle,” explains Elfman in one of his MasterClass sessions. One example of this was in the opening credits, which they initially wanted Elfman to write as light and flighty the way the sequence was shot, instead, Elfman reworked it to telegraph the second act and the personality of Beetlejuice.
He Snuck in and Studied the Gamelan at CalArts Despite Never Being Enrolled as a Student
During a lesson on education, Elfman apologetically tells the story of how early on in his musical journey he wandered into the gamelon room at CalArts and began playing and learning the instrument despite never enrolling as a student. “I wandered into the gamelan room and I sat down and I started to play and learn and I continued going for almost three years,” shares Elfman. “And I was never a student. Nobody asked me and I just kept going.” His three years of stolen education are the only formal musical training he has ever had.
He and Tim Burton Used to Joke that They Wound Wind Up Like Alfred Hitchcock and Composer Bernard Hermann and it Almost Happened
Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock and Composer Bernard Hermann famously had a huge falling out over the score for Hitchcock’s 1966 film Torn Curtain. After the incident, the two never spoke again.
Burton and Elfman had a similar falling out during the production of Burton’s 1994 film Ed Wood. Elfman doesn’t go into detail about what happened he simply put it that he “felt totally dissed” and he left the film. Ed Wood would have been the fourth consecutive film for Elfman to score for Burton following Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Batman Returns.
After leaving the film the two wouldn’t speak again until two years later when Burton began work on Mars Attacks. Elfman wasn’t originally hired to work on the film, but one night Burton and the film’s producer were sitting in a hotel room and Batman Returns came on and as they were watching it Burton turned to his producer and said, “Danny should be scoring this movie.” The producer agreed and shortly thereafter Elfman received a call asking if he would ever work with Burton again. The two of course did and the rest is history.
The Most Fun He Had Working with Tim Burton was on The Nightmare Before Christmas
Elfman has worked with Tim Burton on over a dozen films, but during his MasterClass he shares that the most fun he had with the filmmaker was on The Nightmare Before Christmas.
While creating the songs for The Nightmare Before Christmas, Disney was completely hands-off and let Elfman and Burton go off on their own and create the film’s songs without any outside input. “Nobody came in, nobody asked to hear anything,” explains Elfman during one of the lessons. “They were just like ‘Ok, you know what, we’re at the point now where let’s let Tim and Danny do their thing. Let them go play.’ And play we did. And since we had no one to answer to, this is where of course we had our most fun working together.” In hindsight, Elfman admits it was very uncharacteristic of Disney to be so hands-off and whether it was the pair’s good fortune or somehow Disney’s foresight he’s grateful for the experience and how it worked out.
He Lost a Piece of Music Due to His Daughter’s Wedding
While discussing the topic of themes and melodies that get away from you Elfman shared a story of how he had a spark of genius during his eldest daughter’s wedding right as the ceremony was starting. At that moment he pondered whipping out his iPhone and recording the idea, but being that he was was in the front row and the father of the bride he knew all eyes were on him. “Nobody’s going to be going, ‘Oh look there’s a composer and he’s got an idea. There’s a writer who’s got an idea and he’s trying to get the idea down,'” explains Elfman. “They’re going to go ‘The bastard couldn’t even not turn down a phone call at his daughter’s wedding? What an asshole.’ And I couldn’t do it.” Consequently, he forgot the idea and was never able to get it back.
As a lover of film, a lover of music, and a lover of Danny Elfman I really appreciated this MasterClass even if I wasn’t necessarily the intended audience. As a former musician, I could see the incredible value this MasterClass would bring to an aspiring composer beyond these fun anecdotes about Elfman and the film’s he’s been involved with. Elfman brings a breadth of wisdom and experience to this class and whether you’re an avid fan like myself or the next big film composer I can’t recommend this MasterClass enough.
You can learn more about Danny Elfman Teaches Music For Film and enroll on the MasterClass website.
