In scoring “She Said,” the film about two New York Times reporters exposing the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal, and composer Nicholas Britell’s search for the right voice, and the right collaborator, has led him just steps away: to his wife, a classical cellist. Caitlin Sullivan.
“There was something about the sonic possibilities of what a cello could do that, intuitively, was right,” said the three-time Academy Award nominee. diverse. “And this might be a project where I was able to get Caitlin to co-produce the score. I would write the music, but Caitlin would not just record for me, as she has done in the past, but really sit down and talk to me about it, to get her instincts out.”
Britel conceived the score with cello as the primary vocal, but also with himself on piano and a 15-piece orchestra in New York—not only the film’s primary location but where Sullivan performs consistently in both chamber and orchestral ensembles.
Journalism films are always a challenge to score, as they are usually more about process and the pursuit of information, but there was a definite emotional element to She Said that required more. Director Maria Schrader said, “The music at the beginning of the film wanted to know more than we did.”
Journalists Megan Twohey and Judy Cantor’s (Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan) encounters with Weinstein’s alleged victims are traumatic, and this is reflected in Brittle’s score. The composer notes: “There is a search for truth here, but there is also a search for inner truth. There is a whole layer of music that talks not only about work and home life, but about inner traumas. It was very important to be incredibly sensitive, restrained Unbelievably “.
Britel says the film’s soundscape contains some “dark, ominous and disturbing” and “icier, coherent, more exciting” sounds created by advanced performance and composition techniques. “Our focus was really on the inner journey,” he adds.
Sullivan says, “I wanted to make sure we really explore more extended techniques on the cello, to get to the full spectrum of sounds, to get to the different emotions and bring out the shock that’s being portrayed.
In one particular technique, Sullivan plucked the strings in a way that was, she says, “so vibrating, you could hear the metal on the fingerboard. There’s an appropriate ugliness to it.”
In addition to Sullivan’s melancholic solos and experimental techniques, there are haunting string riffs played by the New York band and more studio-produced electronic and percussive textures that Brittle had set up in his studio. “Dissonance is the challenge of what [the reporters] They do this for many different reasons.
As reporters approach the all-important taped interview that will curse Weinstein, “there’s a twist in the audio,” Brittle explains. However, the conclusion does not reach any definitive meaning, as the story is still unfolding. “The music itself is discordant. These are ongoing issues. It raises a question, not an answer.”
The composer adds, “There’s soul in the cello. I’m always amazed at how different different cellists sound. It’s a very personal sound. I’ve always felt Caitlin had amazing musical ideas and instincts, and it was great to have a formal reason to sit here and say, ‘What do you think?'” And not just bothering her throughout her busy day.”
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