Composer David Fleming (Photo by Amy Peel)
It’s been many a blood red dungeons and dragons moon since we’ve been gifted with a princess and thunder fantasy score and film like Netflix’s “Damsel,” a grrll and lizardess power subversion of the likes of “Dragonslayer” as a wholesome, but down on her luck daddy’s girl (Millie Bobbie Brown) gets stars in her eyes upon being bestowed to a handsome prince under the stewardship of his Princess Bride mom. That is until she’s given a deceptive heave-ho into a sacrificial cave presided by an understandably pissed last-of-her-kind beast with no intention of letting this equally duped young woman leave alive. It’s a battle of wits and redemption with several wondrous surprises to offer by the direction of genre specialist Juan Carlos (“28 Weeks Later,” “Intacto,” “The Intruders”), let along its gloriously melodic, bursting to the themes music by David Fleming.
A protege of composer Atli Örvarsson and Hans Zimmer with additional music on the likes of “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” and the live action “Lion King,” Fleming ascended to his throne with music for “The Last of Us,” “The Blue Planet II,” “The Night Logan Woke Up” and now his ironic comic assassin beats for Amazon Prime’s re-imagining of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.” But if there’s a score that really lets us hear Fleming’s talent roar, its “Damsel.” A cornucopia of O.G fantasy scoring in a musical genre that doesn’t quite go for this kind of symphonic gusto now, “Damsel” is a stellar example of powerfully melodic sword & sorcery musical storytelling as old as “Krull,” “Harry Potter” and “Conan” time, replete with thundering brass, choral hosannahs and breathless excitement as the prototypical girl in need of saving ditches the dress for armor. But what really brings depth to Fleming’s “Damsel” is how nakedly out in the open it is for good stretches as the breathless heroine has to navigate her survival out of mountain that would give Sauron pause. The result is a score that not only pays off the costumes and effects, but more importantly the emotions of characters human in both shape and fearsome form.
(Photo by Amy Peel)
Tell us about your musical start
I’ve been fixated on how music and story work together since wearing out my neighbor’s “Phantom of the Opera” cassette tape as a 5-year-old. Growing up in New York, I was a tremendously undisciplined piano student, playing in bands and working in a video store, soaking up countless films. I ended up scoring a friend’s student film trailer, which made me realize that my love of story and music had a very specific outlet. Years later, I won a BMI fellowship which brought me to LA to shadow “Law & Order” composer, Mike Post. Mike encouraged me to take the leap into pursuing a film scoring career and it’s been a string of sleepless nights since then.
The Carnynx
You began doing additional music for such Atli Örvarsson scores as “Season of the Witch,” “The Eagle” and “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters,” which you could say set you up for “Damsel.” What was that experience like in terms of making your material work seamlessly with another composer’s?
That’s true, I suppose we spent a lot of time in magical realms. Atli is a fantastic composer, and I was very fortunate to be mentored by him, not just because of his talent but also his generosity in providing creative opportunities. I was always most effective writing for composers who gave me a long leash and let me really do my thing. With Atli specifically, I usually tried to find some identity or character within a score that I could help define and focus on. Getting on the same page was made easier because we got along so well and spent so much time talking about the scores and ideas we were working on. I also have to give him direct credit for introducing me to the Carnyx, an ancient war horn which we recorded on his score, “The Eagle” and which I’ve also used as a sonic characteristic of the dragon in this film.
Hans Zimmer and David Fleming work on “Hillbilly Elegy” (Photo by Netflix)
You might say that you’re a “third generation” of composers to come through Hans Zimmer on such projects as “Dark Phoenix” and the live action “Lion King,” and now “Dune Two.” What’s the trick to moving up there, especially to the point of getting your first major score with “Hillbilly Elegy?”
I think my experience playing in bands has been very helpful. Hans loves to talk about his music team as a band. He really views what we do as play, made better in the company of an eclectic set of people. It’s an environment where a “yes, and…” style attitude can end up leading the music in very interesting directions, and he’s always open to good ideas. I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to be a part of “the band” on something like 15 projects with him now, including several as a co-composer, and I’ve been surprised by what I learn on each one. Hans is always pushing things to be better than they need to be (which to me, is the highest compliment you can pay a creative person) and it’s never ever boring.
What’s it like working on “The Last of Us?” with the game’s original composer Gustavo Santaolalla? Were you a fan of the game, and what was the challenge of broadening its musical approach for an atypical “zombie apocalypse” TV show? Was there a favorite episode to work on?
Gustavo is such an artist and is very pure in the sense that he acknowledges what he does musically, and what he does not do. In the case of bringing “The Last of Us” to a new medium, that left a lot of room for someone like me to come in and fill in the blanks, especially when concerning moments that leaned more on action, tension and adrenaline. What was important to me was that even at its most chaotic, the score never felt further than a distant cousin to what Gustavo had created for the franchise. The trick was to try and elevate some of these moments so that even in a passive medium like television, the viewer still felt the same vicarious thrills as they would playing the game. My favorite episode to work on would have to be the first one, which had some great action set pieces, especially that insane outbreak sequence. It’s basically a ten-minute musical panic attack that really set the tone for what we wanted to do on the show.
I loved how “Damsel” was a twist on “Dragonslayer.” Were you a fan of that film, and did that strike you as well? On that note, what are your fantasy movies and scores?
I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t seen it, but I fully intend to. As far as fantasy films, is it boring to say, “Star Wars?” “Return of the Jedi” & “Empire” usually grapple for that number one spot, but “The Princess Bride” is right up there as well. A newer one I absolutely loved was “The Green Knight,” which also had a fantastic score by Daniel Hart. Since “Damsel” is a dragon film, I have to admit a soft spot for “Dragonheart,” which I watched dozens of times as a kid and I still remember that main theme by Randy Endelman.
David Fleming and Juan Carlos Frensnadillo
Tell us about your collaboration with director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.
Juan Carlos is such an emotive, passionate filmmaker, and his passion is contagious and inspiring. When I got brought on to the project, I was led to believe that they were going to want to subvert the genre with something of a synthy, sound-design laden score. When I had my first meeting with Juan Carlos, I was surprised to find out that he was after the opposite in many ways. He expressed to me his love of the orchestra, and thought this movie really needed a thematic score, something that felt timeless. I couldn’t have been happier to hear that I would be working with someone unafraid of melody and bold statements, who really wanted to harness what music could do for his film. Juan Carlos is a filmmaker of very strong convictions, which for me meant a partner unwavering in his support of making the strongest score possible.
While “Damsel” is a subversive fantasy of sorts, how much of the traditional tropes did you want to play into here – both ironically and honestly?
For me it was really about leaving irony at the door. It feels like a lot of films lately are bending over backwards to subvert expectations in every aspect, including the music. So, for me, taking the score down a more traditional route began to feel like a truly radical approach. By not winking at the audience, I think we are allowing them to get wrapped up in Elodie’s journey, and maybe remember why this type of story can be such a pleasure to escape into. I think fantasy by its nature is un-ironic, and there’s a real power in embracing the sincerity of these mythic kinds of tales.
How did you want to set up Elodie for her big fall?
My goal was really to keep the music locked in with Elodie and what she was feeling, and not telegraphing the turn. Hans often uses the phrase “protect your main character.” I wanted the score to highlight Elodie’s reticence about embarking on this marriage and to underline her intelligence, while still getting romantic enough to make her optimism understandable, that she could be swept away by this fairy tale fantasy. Even though she feels deep down that it’s all too good to be true, Elodie still wants it to be true. I never wanted the score to get ahead of our protagonist, so hopefully it still feels genuinely surprising when the inevitable happens.
Tell us about scoring the “wedding” ceremony, whose vocals and visuals make you expect something out of a Medieval Wicker Man.
Yeah, that shot when she first comes around the corner and sees all her in-laws in “Eyes Wide Shut” masks – never good. I actually was inspired a lot by Goblin’s “Suspiria” score when it came to that scene – it has a dark, ritualistic quality that feels both ancient and exciting. In my score, up until this point there have been ominous-sounding whispered female vocals, always lurking in the background. To me, they are the ghosts of dead princesses, telling Elodie to turn back. Once we get to this scene, they really come to the foreground, and the chance to turn back has passed.
Did you find it particularly fun scoring the very clever casting of “The Princess Bride’s” Robin Wright?
She’s fantastic, and I particularly love her scene with Angela Bassett, where she is just passive-aggressively delivering these absolute daggers. It’s actually the first scene I started scoring to picture. Her theme is sort of a sinister, quiet version of the massive warlike music we hear in the opening, playing as her ancestors ride to hunt the dragon. With the Queen, the theme is always built on this unrelenting rhythm of female whispers, just as her kingdom has been built on these maiden sacrifices through the generations.
Once Elodie is trying to find her way out of the cave, the music essentially becomes the storyteller as to what she’s figuring out, discovering and barely surviving. What was the challenge of that, and was there a particularly tricky segment in this ersatz dungeon with the dragon?
The challenges Elodie faces come right after another, and the music was really faced with the same thing. Staying glued to her experience and discovering the cave’s secrets as she does was key. In the absence of dialogue, the themes became all the more important in highlighting Elodie’s hope or despair at each turn. I will say that since the music so rarely stops, finding transition points was usually the trickiest – how to make it feel like it all flowed and had a building energy, keeping order of key changes and how one cue needed to inform the next.
Tell us about playing the dragon, who happens to be a female with a backstory to her rage.
The dragon was in some ways the trickiest character, because she needed to be so many things at different parts of the film. You need to find her absolutely terrifying one scene, then empathize with her in the next. I gave her this three-note motif, which represents her three lost children and her resulting obsession, forged in trauma. The three notes can exist in many contexts, from a brutal fanfare to a tragic lullaby. The number three infects everything in her music, including the rhythms underneath. She also has some sonic signifiers including the Carnyx when she is in full-on feral attack mode, as well as a portamento string drop, which I use with both her and Elodie, it’s the element that connects their characters – both victims of the Kingdom of Aurea.
Vocalist Monica Sonand
How did you want to use a female chorus here?
We actually used two choirs – a traditional choir for the larger scale pieces, and a 9-piece women’s ensemble which we called the “Phantom Princess Choir.” For the smaller group, we had them record together in a room but separated by barriers and mic’d closely so that we could emphasize individual voices and be able to get creative with the stereo image. The idea was that as Elodie goes on her journey, these voices of long-dead princesses can be all around her, helping and warning her. Sometimes they are a raspy whisper, sometimes haunted, bending chords, and sometimes a terrifying screaming chant. In addition to writing the lyrics for the choir chants, my wife Monica sang the solo “lullaby” vocal which opens the film and repeats throughout, representing Elodie’s internal voice, the part of her that she has to discover throughout the story.
What kind of “fantasy ethnic” elements did you want to bring to “Damsel?”
Since it’s fantasy, the real-world metaphor for the Kingdom is murky, purposefully so. That really frees you up to explore sounds, regardless of origin. Earlier, I mentioned the Carnyx, a war horn used in ancient Rome, fearsome both in sound and appearance. The head of the instrument where the sound emerges is fashioned to look like the head of a beast, almost resembling a dragon. Its player, John Kenny, is also a historian of the instrument as well several other ancient horns. To add a touch of renaissance era string sound we had Peter Greggson and Ari Mason add some Arpeggione and Viola de Gamba, respectively. By highlighting these featured elements, I don’t want to diminish from what is the centerpiece of the score, our incredible orchestra in London, recorded at AIR Lyndhurst, led by Everton Nelson, featuring cello solos by Tim Gill and conducted by Gavin Greenaway.
Do you think there’s a musical moment where Elodie “grows up” into warrior-ess stature?
Certainly when she decides to go back into the cave to save her sister, you see her change not only in demeanor, but in the literal stripping of her princess persona. She hacks off her hair and tears off the last vestiges of her identity as a bride. Her musical theme is juxtaposed onto a war-like, driving rhythm (which until that point has belonged solely to the dragon). Throughout the film Elodie has been a passive participant, a victim, and a survivor, but this is the first moment where she really chooses to fight. It was fun to begin to unleash that side of her musically.
Millie Bobbie Brown has had a pretty great track record on Netflix, from “Stranger Things” to the “Enola Holmes” movies, which she also produces – as she did on “Damsel” as well. What do you think about her persona as an actress, and did you interact with her as a producer here?
I think Millie’s got a tremendous screen presence, and I’m very excited for people to see her in this kind of role. I didn’t have any direct contact with her as a producer, but the whole project I felt really led by her performance. It’s a really tough role if you think about it – for a whole section of the film it’s basically “Cast Away.” Elodie is completely alone, trying to surmount challenges with only bugs and ghosts to interact with. It’s difficult to take an audience on a journey like that if they don’t find you relatable, and I think she did a wonderful job.
I particularly love your music over Elodi and the dragon’s triumphant “walk out.” Tell us about scoring that scene of “grrll” power.
That was very fun, and something I had promised Juan Carlos early on – I wanted a moment when Elodie and the dragon’s music could combine into something powerful and heroic. I see the Dragon as representing the parts of Elodie that she needs to face and ultimately embrace. To me the story is really an allegory for growing up. As Elodie prepares to go out in the world and find out who she is, she must first journey through the darkest recesses, confront a beast, and ultimately harness its power. When she does, she is able to full come into herself, and that’s why it was so important musically that the dragon’s motif be able to work in tandem with Elodie’s music. Plus, it’s got some walk-away-from-explosion swagger to it.
The orchestra performs “Damsel” at AIR Lyndhurst
You got a particularly good music mix in “Damsel” where the film’s symphonic approach really gets to shine, especially as so many genre films are now taking alternative approaches for better and worse. Do you think that’s old school is something to be proud of?
I certainly am proud we were able to do it so thoroughly in this context. I have to say, despite my delight at being allowed to make an unabashed symphonic score, I wouldn’t consider myself a traditionalist by any means. I really feel that every story demands a different approach, and what is right for “Damsel” is not right for “The Last of Us.” I think the real fun of doing this job comes with the variety, and I’m thrilled that I get to do scores like this that exploit the orchestra in all its glory, as well as scores like “The Last of Us” where I’m able to let my love of texture and production shine through. In terms of the mix, I have to credit Juan Carlos for pushing for a music-heavy dub, as well as the brilliant mix team, both on the dub stage and on the music side – engineer Geoff Foster and score mixer Seth Waldman, two guys I’ve worked with many times and trust with my life.
You’ve also scored the new Amazon Prime take on “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” which is getting great ratings. What’s the trick of channeling the offbeat musical tone that John Powell gave to that film into the tv version’s own distinctive take on the material?
The trick in this case was to not listen to John Powell, or risk crippling paralysis at the thought of having to be compared. Thankfully, I wasn’t being asked to repeat or reference anything from the previous film. What the filmmakers were really looking for was a fresh take on the story, the tone, and the music as well. In this case they wanted to key in on a very relatable Mr. & Mrs. Smith, a love story more awkward than slick. Add a touch of spy fun – some classic portamento strings and intense action scoring when appropriate, but never sanding the edges off of what is a very quirky, idiosyncratic take on the premise.
What’s up ahead for you?
I’ve got Ron Howard’s Jim Henson documentary set to come out sometime this year – it’s fantastic and I got do a really colorful, woodwind heavy score. I’m currently completing the score for Barry Levinson’s new film, “Alto Knights,” which is based on the true story of the mafia, and stars Robert DeNiro in dual leads. I’m also starting my first video game score which I’m very excited about.
How do you think “Damsel” will stand in annals of fantasy films and scoring?
Oh, I don’t know, I really just hope people enjoy the film. The score was made with a lot of love, and I’m very proud of it.
Watch “Damsel” on Netflix HERE with David Fleming’s score on Netflix Music HERE
Visit David Fleming’s website HERE
Special thanks to Jonah Foxman at Netflix and Kyrie Hood at White Bear PR