Some musicians do better with chaos. Others under deadlines and with teams. Tristan Clopet is a rare pro who’s done both, and because of it knows the value of working towards a greater goal with a big team (and bigger pressure).
Tristan’s prolific work on film and TV scores gives him a deep insight into the nature of that side of the industry (and how different it is from his touring days supporting X Ambassadors, Billy Bragg, Tove Lo, Glen Hansard, and The Weeknd). It’s a collaborative, deadline-oriented, large effort, with hundreds of creatives contributing to the final work. He shares how inspiring that journey is, and how knowing the boundaries can unlock even more creativity. I loved his story about scoring to Martin Freeman’s solo acting in a car. (Martin Freeman happens to be one of my favorite actors.)
His credits include:
Sony Pictures Television’s StartUp, created by Ben Ketai and starring Martin Freeman, Ron Perlman, Adam Brody, Mira Sorvino, and Edi Gathegi. In 2020, Netflix licensed all three seasons and it quickly became the streamer’s #1 acquired series around the world.
The Universal Studios feature film River Wild, for which he earned an HMMA nomination.
The Infiltrator, starring Bryan Cranston, City of Lies, starring Johnny Depp and Forest Whitaker, Sundance Film Festival winner Crown Heights, starring LaKeith Stanfield, AMC’s Pantheon, with Brandon Roberts, Marco Beltrami, and Buck Sanders, and CBS’s military procedural The Code.
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Put it into words. Putting those things together. Keep doing it. That progression. That magic energy. It’s a journey. A key to unlock the door. Creative parameters that do unlock other things. Just being in the room. Anchor points. Accepting imperfection. Discern so much emotion. Either direction’s profound. A nebulous cloud that shifts and moves. A rewarding effect. A wonderful exploration. This weird appetite for going further. Through that journey. The cut has a rhythm. A conversation of contradictions. The push and pull. Hilarious. Magnetizes back to. An apt question. Flowing from A to B, It’s timbre thing. A function for this music. A mix of craft and art. Room to play with. An array of options. Conveying goals. 🎬
Edited by Rebecca Sansom
Set Design by Max Horwich
Podcast Produced by Beformer