From “Faye” to “Rock Hudson: All the Heaven Allowed” old school Hollywood documentary star power is having its streaming moment on Max. But no Diva can compare to Elizabeth Taylor in putting on the service’s triple crown for their lustrously done, thorn-and-all valentines. But nothing compares to the public mania, Vatican fist-shaking and paparazzi-creating tabloid chase of the Grande Movie Dame of multiple marriages, scandals and some pretty great films and Oscar-winning performances at that. Lost in the shuffle of celebrity is the actual human being beyond the artifice both created and foisted upon a beautiful girl-woman to the Hollywood manor born. Now with her own voice finally revealed with “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes,” that far more vulnerable, if still canny personality is allowed to be heard in far more tender, and sympathetic tones by “On the Ropes’” Oscar-nominated documentarian Nanette Burstein – a filmmaker who knows her way around great Hollywood docs (“The Kid Stays in the Picture”) as well as fiction (“Going the Distance,” TV’s “New Girl” and “The Carrie Diaries”).
Logan Nelson (Photo by Lauren Desberg)
Given the storytelling rhythm of a narrative film with its gripping, revelation-filled story and moving emotional heart, a big part of “The Lost Tapes” effectiveness comes from its sweeping score by Logan Nelson. Moving from the sweetness of “National Velvet’s” child discovery to the imagined homewrecker of Carrie Fischer’s mom and finally a swan song that changes a nation’s perception of the AIDs crisis that took her best pal Rock Hudson’s life, Nelson’s gorgeously melodic approach captures both the Hollywood dream world and the reality behind it, a playground that Taylor luxuriated in to the tune of a million dollars for “Cleopatra” to the heartbreak of a truly beloved husband’s death and the publicity circus of her tempestuous relationship with Richard Burton. Listening to the sweeping orchestra, jazz vibes and overall empathy that Nelson gives his iconic subject, one might mistake this for the soundtrack of a make-believe romantic suspense film, which is very much how Taylor lived an often-engineered life under a microscope.
These “Tapes’” music will certain shed much-deserved light on Logan, a protégé of composers Kris Bower and Carter Burwell with additional music on Netflix’s “Dear White People” and Seasons 2 and 3 of Apple TV +’s “The Morning Show.” Coming into his composing own with “Nothing Lasts Forever” and “Crows are White,” the documentary-centric composer now impressively expresses the pinnacle of Hollywood star power for all of its pleasure and tragedy with music that’s all about a woman who embodied the lush life and scandal of the dream factory like no one else.
(Photo by Lauren Desberg)
Tell us about your composing start, and what particularly led you to documentaries? Do you think the genre musically affords something that narrative films might not?
I grew up playing viola in orchestras and writing orchestral music. I played piano since I was 6 but I was never a fan of practicing so I would always make up my only melodies. At the same time, I was directing my own documentaries in school, so I’ve always loved working with that medium. Eventually I bridged my passions for films and music and became obsessed with learning the art of film music. My parents had a huge soundtrack collection which I listened to nonstop, and I started studying theory and composition at local universities. Eventually I went on to school at USC where I studied both film production and music and went on to work for other composers and on my own projects. Especially in recent years, I feel like the scale of documentaries have been so massive and incredible that I really treat the scores like those of narrative films; less atmospheric and more stylized and thematic.
What was it like to score food for “Chef’s Table?”
Scoring food for Chef’s Table is an incredibly challenging yet gratifying experience. Each episode is really like a mini music video where every musical beat is meticulously edited to the cuts. I always get so hungry when I’m working on “Chef’s Table.”
You’ve also done additional scoring with Carter Burwell on “The Morning Show,” as well as work with Kris Bowers (Netflix’s “Dear White People”). What are those experiences like, especially in creating cohesive scoring?
Working with Kris was one of my first jobs in the film music industry. Kris was just starting out in film music at the time and transitioning from the jazz piano world into film scoring and I remember when we were working out of his parents’ guest house! He’s certainly come a long way! I learned so much from Kris about the industry and building a career as an individual. It’s great to work under a huge name composer like Hans Zimmer, but learning how to build your own path from the ground up was something that I was able to discover and experience with Kris.
Carter Burwell understands story like no other. I’ve really been able to refine what perspective my music is taking while working under him. And his themes are incredible. He’s able to get to the heart of a character in only a few notes and then just be incredibly resourceful with that theme. All of which are skills I’ve honed under Carter’s guidance on “The Morning Show.”
Before taking on this project, what did Elizabeth Taylor mean to you?
Before this project, I wasn’t the most familiar with Elizabeth Taylor. I knew of her work in “Cleopatra” mostly and some of her more epic roles. I knew she was a huge movie star, but I had no idea what was going on beneath the surface. I remember watching the first cut of the film and just absolutely crying by the end of it when she’s talking about “being single for the first time” and doing all of her philanthropic work for AIDS research. There was so much that the world judged her for and was really unaware of that it was so beautiful for her to finally have a chance to tell her own story. Elizabeth Taylor was a phenomenal subject to score because there was so much depth to her. There was an inner darkness that I was able to shine a light on with the music. And telling her story was especially special because it was all in her own words, so the music was able to take on that perspective as well.
Once you got the gig, did you watch a number of her films for research? And if so, were there any scores from them that stood out to you?
Yes, for sure! I really wanted my score to be inspired by those films from the era. So I watched “Cleopatra,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and “Giant.” All such incredible films. The Alex North score for “Cleopatra” is truly iconic. I definitely tried to follow the orchestration styles from that time period and incorporate similar harmony and techniques.
Tell us about your collaboration with director Nanette Burstein. Do you think it helps that she’s directed fictional movies as well as documentaries?
Working with Nanette was a dream collaboration. She had such a clear vision of what she was going for and I feel like I immediately understood what she needed musically. On the first music I sent to her, I believe she responded with “Where have you been all my life?” A true composer’s dream. As I mentioned earlier, my approach to documentary music is really very narrative so I think that’s something that me and Nanette connected over. Developing themes and stylizing at a large scale. When making playlists and referencing ideas, we’re never referring to documentary music. Only narrative.
Did you listen to the tapes beforehand? And do you think it’s liberating to have this mostly in Elizabeth’s own, uncensored words as opposed to having the traditional documentary device of a first-person narrator?
I only heard the tapes as they appeared in the film. I came on at the very end of the process so by that point that tapes were all cleaned up and refined. I know a ton of the tapes were actually unintelligible. Either due to being recorded in loud party settings or just due to the tape quality having decayed over the years. So the production spent a lot of time cleaning them up before editing them into the film.
Did you want to capture Elizabeth’s fairy tale “star” glamour?
The star glamour was definitely an objective of the score, especially in the early parts of the film. I wanted to capture a “sparkly” part of Hollywood with celeste and harp glissandi and woodwind runs. When Elizabeth first makes her deal for $1 million, I bring back this “star” glamour in the form of celeste and harp. There’s also a high violin theme in doubled octaves that appears in these points and reflects this part of her life.
On that note, how did you want to convey the real human being behind the pr magazines and gossip tabloids?
Yes, the internal real human element was certainly the majority of what I was focusing on with the music. There was a darkness and intimacy behind a lot of what she was talking about. Often, I would really strip down the score to just solo harp and these points to reflect the fragility and give space for her to open up a bit.
Mike Todd and Elizabeth Taylor
How do you think the score conveys the trade-off of getting an unimaginably luxurious, jet-setting life?
This is where some of the jazzier elements come in. There’s a few drum solos or other Henry Mancini type jazzy cues that tackle these moments (often with Mike Todd) and feel cooler than the orchestral moments.
Oftentimes movie documentaries have to rescore classic film clips. Did that happen here, and if so, what was the challenge?
This was a huge challenge on this project. Often, I was weaving in and out of the audio from classic movies and into my score. I really had to study and analyze the soundtracks from those old movies and develop transitions that would lead out of them and into my score and blend together seamlessly.
Elizabeth oftentimes follows her heart to catastrophic public effect. How did you want to capture those flaws of her admittedly wanting to be “controlled?” – particularly in her relationship with Mike Todd – one that’s gets dealt with here in a way you haven’t given length before.
Her relationship with Mike Todd was really her true love. When we introduce him on the set of “Around the World in Eighty Days” I try to capture the playful psychosis to him and the excitement he brings to Elizabeth’s life. When he dies in the plane crash it’s a truly heartbreaking moment and score has to reflect that.
How did you want to capture Elizabeth’s “stealing” of Eddie Fischer from Debbie Reynolds?
Throughout a lot of these heavy relationship drama or paparazzi moments I play the score in a very “Succession”-y manner. It needed a lot of momentum and energy to drive us through those sequences. I focused mostly on just strings in those parts and kept it dramatic and propulsive.
Tell us about playing Liz and Dick.
Towards the end of Elizabeth’s life, the tapes from that first interview run out. She did the interview at the peak of her career so a lot of that early to mid-era is the focus. By the time we get to Dick we’re really propelling towards chaos and resentment. She’s royalty by that point so I do treat the score as a very regal thing during this chapter of her life. I use what I called the “Queen Elizabeth Taylor” theme.
Did you want to musically divide Elizabeth from her childhood to middle age and her senior years to reflect how she was changing as a person?
Definitely! The score is very different throughout each of these periods. In childhood there’s this Hollywood naivety that she brings to the industry with brighter orchestral cues. In the middle of her life there’s more of this darker reflection. Mike and Jimmy die so there’s some heaviness and the paparazzi is chasing her non-stop so there’s that element as well. The biggest shift is probably the last twenty minutes or so at the end of her life where I take a more contemporary approach to the scoring. The harmonies and orchestration really shift out of that old Hollywood style and into a more modern place.
What was your favorite part of Elizabeth’s life to score?
A lot of these darker more reflective sequences were very interesting to score. Although I did like the very Hollywood scores like the final cue or her main theme which comes back when she gets her deal for $1 million.
How did you want your score to be contemporary sounding in dealing with classic Hollywood?
That’s a good question. I think my writing and sensibilities are innately contemporary so I knew it would really feel like a modern score even if I tried to bring in a bunch of classic Hollywood techniques. The last 20 minutes certainly transition to more contemporary harmonies and techniques. The score and orchestrations are probably more lush and hi-fi than your classic Hollywood score of that era.
There are a lot of great vintage tunes in “Elizabeth Taylor.” How did you want your music to fit between them, particularly when it came to the score’s jazzier elements?
Yes, that was certainly a challenge as well. There’s an Eddie Fisher track in there that I had to continue the orchestration for and extend it a bit in length so that it could transition into my score. But it was fun to write a few jazzy saxophone cues around the “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” sequence as well!
How did you want to convey Elizabeth’s “redemption” at being one of the first celebrities to support AIDS victims?
This redemption is one of the most beautiful sequences of the film in my opinion. I wanted it to really feel like a breath of fresh air. Like the score had opened up and everything finally made sense for her. Piano becomes a big focus had the end of the film and I transition to a bunch more modern harmonies and really leave this old Hollywood feeling behind.
What was it like being at “Elizabeth Taylor’s” premiere at Cannes, one of the last truly “old school” star power festivals left? Do you think in a way she’d come home with it?
The Cannes premiere was truly a life-changing experience. And knowing Elizabeth had gone so many times was very special as well. It was also special knowing the estate of Elizabeth Taylor was there supporting the film as well. After the screening, the grandson of Elizabeth came up to me and thanked me for honoring his grandmother’s legacy; that’s truly all you can ask for on a film of this caliber.
Your score has an exceptionally recorded and lush orchestral sound that’s unusual for documentaries. How did you achieve that?
Thank you! We recorded with a 30+ piece string section as well as a 10-piece woodwind section. And then did harp overdubs at my studio. So, the live musicians really brought it all to life and it was mixed by the incredibly talented Phil McGowan. I also obsessed over the orchestration. I come from a classical background so as soon as my orchestration team sent over physical scores from my compositions, I was sketching on top of all of them with a red pen and coming up with new ideas and orchestration gestures that we could implement. It was truly meticulously orchestrated.
In a way, would you be happy if people didn’t realize this score was done for a documentary, but rather a romantic suspense film?
Most definitely! That’s the goal!
“Elizabeth Taylor” joins a bunch of new documentaries about Rock Hudson and Faye Dunaway. Do you think it shows that we’re missing that kind of “star” presence in Hollywood – let alone the boldly melodic scoring those films had?
That’s probably a keen observation! I do believe bold melodic scores are making a comeback which I’m more than okay with.
(Photo by Lauren Desberg)
What’s ahead for you? And what would be your favorite movie star’s life to score?
I just finished a Hulu docuseries called Mastermind that’s out now about the first woman that pioneered the psychoanalysis of serial killers. And then there’s a NatGeo docuseries coming out this fall about the Stanford Prison Experiments. I’m a huge fan of the James Bond films. If I were to do another film about a star, I’d love to score a film about Sean Connery and his life in Bond!
Watch “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes” on Max HERE, and visit Logan Nelson’s web site HERE
Special thanks to Christian- Gabriel Endicio at White Bear PR