There's a special brand of cinematic theme music we hear and instantly connect to a specific character or movie. Some of the most popular examples of this are James Bond, Superman, and Indiana Jones—or even Dewey’s theme from the Scream series.
Themes not only add to the story, but also help define a character, giving the audience a glimpse into their inner thoughts and feelings.
In Paramount’s latest horror/thriller, Depravity, character themes play an important role in navigating the story through its twists and unexpected turns. The film’s director, Paul Tamasy and composer, Joseph Metcalfe started brainstorming ideas about these long before the film was even shot, and once shooting commenced, Paul played tracks Joseph sketched for the actors so they could get a sense of what the tone would be.
When discussing the subject, Joseph says, “Paul and I both wanted each character to have their own theme, something that would link elements of their character to other key moments of the film. Being the writer and director, Paul knew every nuance intimately and often gave instructions of how he’d want two scenes that were apart from each other to connect musically, giving clues and nods to certain parts of the story without giving anything away.”
Joseph talks about this and much more in the below Q&A.
Editor's note: the following interview is edited for length and clarity.
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No Film School: How did you first become involved in the music business? Was there a particular film score that sparked your interest in the field?
Joseph Metcalfe: I started writing playing the piano at a very young age, learning mostly by listening. Composing was a natural progression, and I distinctly remember sitting in the theater watching Amadeus that I knew that’s what I wanted to do with my life.
In Mozart’s day it was all about the stage. In my era, the modern stage is the screen, and it was calling to me. Although I had written serval musicals in my teens, my first foray into screen was when I was asked to compose my first TV theme tune which we recorded at Abbey Road. Eventually I found USC’s scoring program where I was mentored by the likes of Jerry Goldsmith, Elmer Bernstein, Chris Young, Ron Jone, and Buddy Baker.
It was an invaluable gift of an introduction to film scoring.
NFS: What attracted you to the Depravity script?
Metcalfe: I was first introduced to the script eight or so years ago.
Paul and I played football (soccer) together and he asked me if I would be interested in taking a look. At this point Paul was a writer and producer and wanted Depravity to be his directorial debut. It’s a Paul classic, where he establishes a great scenario that then pulls you into the story as the twists and turns take you into unexpected directions. I promised him back then that I’d do the score when he makes it, and we both stayed true to our word.
It was great seeing Paul transition from writer/producer into director and following his own personal journey of development along the way. I was able to follow all of the progress of script to screen and when Jordan Gertner came along to produce the film, suddenly everything started falling into place and it all happened.
NFS: What was the initial inspiration for the musical score of Depravity?
Metcalfe: Paul originally referenced, The Shining, and we started laying down some ideas long before they flew to Thailand to shoot. He played tracks I sketched for the actors, so they could get a sense of what the tone would be. Music really can help convey emotions better than words sometimes, so that was a great tool that Paul wanted to have in his arsenal before going to shoot.
When cutting the film, Paul spent a lot of time meticulously curating a temp track that conveyed the feel of each scene. We then converted those temp tracks back into emotions which became the language of communication when scoring began. Knowing what the feeling would be allowed me to then turn off the temp tracks and get to work on an original score.
'Depravity'Paramount
NFS: Paul Tamasy is an accomplished writer garnering an Oscar nominations writing for The Fighter, and is behind such films as Patriots Day and, more recently, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Depravity marks his directorial debut. What sort of direction did he give you about how he wanted the score to sound?
Metcalfe: Aside from the answers in the previous question Paul and I both wanted each character to have their own theme, something that would link elements of their character to other key moments of the film. Being the writer and director, Paul knew every nuance intimately and often gave instructions of how he’d want two scenes that were apart from each other to connect musically, giving clues and nods to certain parts of the story without giving anything away. Paul is no stranger to filmmaking and communication was strong.
We’d bounce ideas backwards and forwards with each other until we both got to what the film needed to convey.
NFS: You signed onto the film early on, which allowed the cast to connect with some of the music during filming in Thailand. Did any of their reactions help influence the direction you wanted to take the score?
Metcalfe: I’m not sure as I wasn’t there during filming, but for me, the music takes direction from the film itself, so naturally their performances governed the direction of the score.
Composing for film is not about the music. It’s about the film. I don’t even look at it as "my" music. It’s the film’s music and I just get to be the one to contribute to it musically. As a film composer you give your 100 percent every time but I can’t afford to get precious about ownership or direction because the job of a film composer is to serve the film.
Paul would often ask for musical ideas and we’d have some good talks about it but no matter what, it was always his direction that determined the final outcome. That’s where I can attribute the success of the score.
'Depravity'Paramount
NFS: If you began working on the film before it was shot, was it difficult not scoring to picture? What did that process look like?
Metcalfe: I was once in a 48hr Film Fest where we were running out of time to score and the editor was not done, so I started scoring to the script. Miraculously, when the film came back, we put the music into the picture and aside from two minor beats the music fit immaculately.
I use that as an illustration to show that the emotion of the film lies in the script before it finds its way into the picture. So, using the emotions of the script I was able to sculpt ideas together before the shoot that set the tone. The goal of that early music wasn’t to score, but to convey the emotion.
These pieces of music didn’t really end up in the film but served as templates when approaching scoring to picture, a process which took on its own flow. I also didn’t start writing the motifs for the characters until I saw the scenes Paul would send over from Thailand. Because the themes were so pivotal they ended up helping the score fall into place.
NFS: Did you give each of the characters in Depravity their own themes? If so, can you talk about some of those and how you came up with them?
Metcalfe: Yes, those themes were only developed once we had the footage and saw the actual characters. I sat at the piano and worked out themes for each person, recorded them on my phone and sent them over to Paul. Fortunately, he has a great ear and imagination, so he could see how they would translate and loved them for each character. Without giving too much away the themes worked so that they could intertwine with each other as they all got embroiled into the other person’s journey.
As a little tip, I also wrote out each person’s theme in every single key signature so that when it came to scoring the theme, it was already on hand no matter the key the music was in. That really helped save time.
NFS: Composers have been known to use “found objects” to create sounds or use instruments in a different way than normally intended to get a desired sound. Did you do anything like this?
Metcalfe: Not ‘found objects’ per se, but I do have an erhu (a Chinese two stringed instrument) hanging on the wall of the studio. In order to create the tension in some scenes I took it off the wall and multi-track recorded some string scratches, harmonics and other techniques to create the uneasy, fluctuating feelings to make some of the scenes as uncomfortable as possible. Playing the strings without rosin (a special kind of substance rubbed on violin bows to help them vibrate the strings) very slowly gave this really nice ‘fingers down the chalkboard’ resonance that when blended with the other instruments helped us get the tension and feelings that we were looking for.
Joseph and director Paul TamasyKevin Parry
NFS: You have developed a passion for expanding musical resources for independent filmmakers, founding the first modern era Scoring Orchestra in Budapest and also the Simi Valley Scoring Orchestra.
Metcalfe: In 2000, I moved my studio to Budapest to use my collection of sample sounds for a TV show, as there were no scoring orchestras available at the time. I later discovered Budapest had five orchestras, none of which had experience in scoring, so I hired one and began training them. After the show, I returned to build a dedicated scoring orchestra by auditioning the best musicians. My goal was to make beautiful orchestral scores accessible to independent filmmakers. I initially planned to acquire a building to convert into a scoring stage, but due to financial setbacks after 9/11, we ended up modifying the Hungarian Radio Station for scoring sessions.
Now based in Simi Valley since 2023, I discovered a pool of talented but under-utilized musicians. We formed the Simi Valley Scoring Orchestra the same year, performing for events like the 50th Anniversary of Little House On The Prairie. The orchestra has since grown, providing opportunities for musicians to play regularly and offering live orchestral performances at local events, including the SIMI Film Fest. Our goal is to provide affordable scoring options for independent films, allowing filmmakers to experience the magic of hearing their scores performed live.
Depravity is available on VOD now.
