Rolfe Kent

Mobile Victorian House

2010-09-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

Neverwas Haul- one of my favourite things at Burning Man- http://laughingsquid.com/the-neverwas-haul-project-party-fundraiser/

UP IN THE AIR backlash

2010-03-13T16:38:00.001-08:00

Here's a great article on how and why UP IN THE AIR got no oscars, despite being many peoples best film of 2009.

http://douthat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/09/in-defense-of-up-in-the-air/

A PROPHET

2010-03-13T16:34:00.001-08:00

Just saw this french film. Stark and really absorbing tale of one prisoner's life- it flew by. Music is sparse and minimal. Great filmmaking.

Score wins IPA Satellite Award

2009-12-21T10:04:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the International Press Academy in Hollywood awarded UP IN THE AIR best film score of 2009. The other nominated scores were PUBLIC ENEMIES, UP, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, THE INFORMANT, and AMELIA.

UP IN THE AIR snags 5 GLOBES nominations

2009-12-15T08:56:00.001-08:00

Great news today - the film got best pic and Jason got best director nominations. Nothing for the music, but the scores that did all look substantial- I haven't heard them all yet.

UITA: the whirl of publicity

2009-12-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

In the past I have felt uncomfortable at all the press gatherings around a new film, but for some reason I am enjoying the launch of UP IN THE AIR. Mr Clooney here was very gracious.

nice Variety mention for UP IN THE AIR SCORE

2009-11-16T22:03:00.001-08:00

http://bit.ly/NvdFK Kent's movie music fills in the blanks Composer provides back story for 'Air,' 'Goats' By LAWRENCE CHRISTON Rolfe Kent's jazzy score for "Sideways" provided the perfect accompaniment to a story about two guys on a semi-improvisational trip. His motif for George Clooney's corporate hatchet-man in "Up in the Air" is a drum rhythm with a soft-shoe bass tread, describing a man whose life has pace but no melody, a life that doesn't harmonize much with anyone else's. Film music is the "meanwhile" and "suddenly" of narrative; it steps in for the back story, all while remaining discreet. In fact, Kent says, "When I'm spotting a film with a director, looking for places where the music goes, I'll often ask, ‘What would be missing if we didn't put anything there?' Music should do something. We've developed this videogame mentality that says there should be a constant sound under the action. But you shouldn't be afraid of silence. There's a lot that can go on in empty space."

Itay Talgam on conducting

2009-11-08T13:58:00.001-08:00

I found this TED to be inspirational, and a real eductaion too. Always
interested in improving my conducting, but only getting real practise
a couple of times a year (I learned from a BMI summer nightschool),
this opened my eyes to some more of the possibilities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9g3Q-qvtss

The N&D tribe...

2009-10-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

When individuals come together and find something that unites them that is greater than their individual competence then something very important happens; the group gels, and it changes from a group of highly motivated but fairly individually centric people into something larger, into a tribe that becomes aware of its own existance. Stage 4 tribes can do remarkable things.
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_logan_on_tribal_leadership.html

Rolfe Kent to score action thriller ‘Killers’

2009-10-23T22:34:00.001-07:00

http://moviescoremagazine.com/2009/10/rolfe-kent-to-score-action-thriller-killers/

Two new Rolfe Kent scores coming on CD

2009-10-23T22:31:00.001-07:00

http://moviescoremagazine.com/2009/10/two-new-rolfe-kent-scores-coming-on-cd/

Two of Rolfe Kent's recent scores, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and 17 Again, now receive their official score album releases courtesy of Silva Screen Records. The label notes that Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, the fantasy comedy starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner that opened in the US in May, is "not just a romantic comedy score but also offers drama, as part of Rolfe's approach was to get the characters down in music, to give them musical motifs." Kent himself said that "For me Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past was an opportunity to do some big dramatic symphonic things." The same goes for17 Again, also a romantic comedy but with a big orchestral score. "The music called for a full orchestra, and the players delivered such magnificent and dynamic sounds it really was a wonderful experience," Kent commented. Starring Zac Effron, 17 Again opened in the US in April.

The UP IN THE AIR sessions by Dan Goldwasser

2009-10-23T09:24:00.001-07:00

A nice set of photos and story about the recent sessions for Jason
Reitman's new film.

http://www.scoringsessions.com/news/201/admin

And tweets

2009-10-21T07:43:00.001-07:00

And I am now twittering. I guess that should be easy to find,
something like @RolfeKent

So many things to tune

2009-10-21T07:41:00.001-07:00

Trying to get organised before really getting stuck into Robert
Luketic's film 5 KILLERS. So I am tuning up my zithers, hamered
dulcimer, tambors and numerous other things. So many strings! It's the
first two that have the most, and are the most fiddly of course.

Double Clooney

2009-10-18T01:35:00.000-07:00

Had great time in Toronto a few weeks ago. Actually it was Burning Man, then the TiFF in Canada for the premieres of MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS and UP IN THE AIR, then to the UK to see a bunch of people. Toronto audiences loved both films, and it was weird and great to have scored 2 Clooney films and have them both at the same festival.

5 KILLERS

2009-10-18T01:34:00.000-07:00

started work on Robert Luketic's film 5 Killers. Looks fantastic, and great op for me- lots of thriller music!

Jason and Twitter

2009-08-08T09:41:00.001-07:00

I'm feeling very lucky. No sooner do I complete recording on GOATS than I'm invited to spin some music for Jason Reitman's UP IN THE AIR. So far a minimal score, but with some lovely flavours and eccentric instruments. Incidentally apparently he has quite a twitter following, and his recent visit to my workshop was featured. Never been on twitter myself, so not sure what all that means.

GOATS and the KENTS

2009-07-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

I have been scoring Grant Heslov's "The Men who stare at Goats", based on the non-fiction book. It's going very well, and Grant is a wonderful director to work with. Imaginative and fluid. Work was interrupted by the loss of my mother, Alixe. A close friend and confident of mine, she was working with children, and planning her retirement when she was killed in an accident. It was a shocking loss for me and my brothers, and we still can't quite believe it. http://alixekent.blogspot.com So now I am back in LA, and working again, and very much supported by friends. It feels good to be busy, and focused on the business of living, even as I continue to process this all.

can you bow a tamborine?

2009-05-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

Well Bugger, it's been months since I updated this thing. So let's see, what has happened?

Well of course both 17 AGAIN and GHOSTS of GIRLFRIENDS PAST have been released (2 weeks apart). It was rather nice for a while to have all these billboards around the city with my films on them. These 2 scores were the first to be created in my new workshop, and I rather think something has changed in my writing. Or is it just that I am no longer working in my living room?

Meanwhile I have been working on Grant Heslov's new film, which we refer to as GOATS and has an incredible cast including George Clooney and Ewan McGregor. Grant is a very creative and open minded director, so we are having some fun exploring sounds and colors. It's also my first time using Omnisphere (which, for the geeks, is a plug-in synth) and that is both brilliant and baffling. The score is turning out to be lots of strummed instruments, twanged ones, bowed ones, shakers and tamborines and frame drums, and odd sounds from my collection, plus some textural elements and strings. I think. So far.

Reading material- I have 2 books on the go; Chris Jones OUT OF ORBIT about the astronauts that were stranded in space after the Columbia disaster, and Adyashanti's THE END OF YOUR WORLD - really suprised and delighted by this book- I'd never heard of him before reading it.

This weekend I am aiming to have a street strum, or a cappucino catterwalling, which is really just cruising from cafe to cafe with a posse of friends with instruments. Each time we land and get our lattes we can break into soft song; either a lovely sweet and melodious idea, or an intrusive and noxious one, but it's an experiment so we shall see. Culture needs more visceral and immediate experience, less passive, and I'm always interested in this stuff, creating interactions.

We are also aiming to put together a storytelling burlesque musical this year. It's in early stages.

Big Noises in the Hall; in the Bar

2009-01-06T17:20:00.000-08:00

2008 ended well for me, recording at the Lucas Ranch in Marin for the 2nd time this year. A superb place to record, with great players from the San Francisco Opera and Symphony orchestras. The film is Mark Waters' GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST, which I think will become a classic. It is out in May 2009........................ For me GGFP was an opportunity to do some big dramatic symphonic things; the story has some real drama to it, and lots of motion. I loved working on it, but I always have a great time working with Mark, he is such a master filmmaker.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> In January I shall be at the Sundance Film Festival, but without a film. Thing is I have often been to film festivals when I did have a film playing, and I never enjoyed it much. Too many official things to do I guess. So this time I am going just to explore, socialise, and play, and see if I can enjoy the fest. Somehow I also got myself a gig there, which is a big participation thing called the Magnificent Howling Audience Score-Shop. I love being in audience participation things, and so I have dreamed up this idea that involves several composers and a whole lounge/bar of audience, and it will be extrordinary!

sounds, noises, dances of defeat and triumph

2008-09-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

It's September, and having had a marvelous Burn in the NV desert, I am back to updating gear, installing new sounds, and getting to grips with Mark Waters' new film, The Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past. It's early stages, and I am searching for themes and tones at present. I like to find a lot of character in the music, rather than simply do a standard fill-in-the-blanks kind of score. So I am exploring interesting instrumental voicings- you know, bagpipes, ukuleles and such. It's fun, but so far I haven't figured out what sounds will really stick to the film (make sense with the movie without sticking out like a sore thumb). The studio gear has been a bit grumbly. I have one computer which always requires me to do a dance each morning before it'll work... you know, turn it on, launch an app, have the app crash, reset something, relaunch... and then it works! Same thing, every day! I should give the machine a name so I can talk to it. Meanwhile I did a gig in August which was great fun (thanks Christy Crowl), my first in ages, and played on Meredith Meyer's radio broadcast. And my musical mayhem events [http://notoriousdespicable.blogspot.com] keep happening, and there's another coming up in 2 weeks. So things are fun.

Hitting Marin to record SEVENTEEN

2008-07-01T22:58:00.000-07:00

A great trip to San Francisco to record the score to Burr Steer's SEVENTEEN. The adventure with the Team was great fun, and the orchestra sounded fantastic. We stayed in SF, and commuted up to the Skywalker stage in Marin County- beautiful country, and a world class studio. The music called for a full orchestra, and the players delivered such magnificent and dynamic sounds it really was a wonderful experience. Also got to see Wall-e at the screening room there; what an amazing and beautiful film. And a great score by Thomas Newman. Now back in LA, flown by my friend and fellow composer Stephen in a tiny plane. Happy after a marvelous trip. [Top pic- engineer Greg. Bottom- we jam in Burbank Airport as flight is delayed.]

More on 17

2008-06-02T21:39:00.000-07:00

SEVENTEEN (with Zac Efron) is turning out to be a suprise. I have done a few rom/com films, but this one has an air of adventure and mystery, combined with suspense, and I must say I am really enjoying composing for it. It's a much more substantial score than I was expecting to write, by which I mean there is a lot of interesting orchestral texture, and the emotions are full and passionate. Very satisfying (at least until the music is lost under the sound effects). Hope to be recording the orchestra early July.

Seventeen for the first time

2008-05-05T16:56:00.000-07:00

SEVENTEEN, a film by Burr Steers, is developing really nicely. I am several weeks into it, and the score seems to have some emotional weight to it, and feels substantial at times. Of course things often do as I am writing them, only to seem less significant when mixed into the background in the final film. But I am really enjoying the shape of this work, and the power of the images and the editing.