Christmas came a bit early last year for young Netflix fans when one of its original series, Trollhunters, debuted on the streaming service. Produced by DreamWorks Animation and created by Guillermo del Toro, the animated adventure-comedy has been very well received by critics, and it holds an impressive 8.6 rating on IMDb.
Series composer Tim Davies had a large part to play in bringing the 26-episode first season together. Tim's bibliography is extensive, and he has been involved in the music department of many big-name films and television series, including La La Land, Frozen, Revenge, Empire and Teen Wolf. He kindly answered a bunch of questions for us on a range of subjects, and here's what he had to say.
Trollhunters is an animated project but the score is still very epic like and grand. Was this a conscious choice by the show’s creator Guillermo del Toro?
Yes. To match the grandeur of the animation, we needed a grand score.
How closely did you work with the sound designer? It seems like the score and sound design are very much interwoven, especially in scenes like the one in the premiere episode where the suit clings to Jim?
I wish I got to work with the sound designer! But unfortunately with the way the schedule worked I only worked with the temporary sound design. Around the same time as I would write, the actual sound design team were at work. After a while we have learnt how best to work together, which bits I leave to them, and vice versa.
If you could describe your score for Trollhunters in a few words, what would they be?
Magical and darkly mystical!
There is a lot of music in the show. About how long did each episode take to score?
I spend about two weeks writing the scores for each episode. But I tend to be working on more than one episode at a time, scoring one, programming another and final edits on another.
The opening sequence is very reminiscent of Transformers. Did this come to your mind at all?
Wow! That’s a cool observation, but I hadn’t even thought of it. I’m very humbled that we are compared to such a popular saga.
How did you come up with the idea for the theme music?
The main title was actually written by Alexandre Desplat. Alexandre and Guillermo had been trying to find a project to work on together and this came up at the perfect time. I incorporate Alexander’s theme into my score. I am a big fan of his work and the theme works in so many different ways, it is a pleasure to use it.
Are you planning on doing anything different musically for Season 2?
We’re currently working on Season 2 now. At the end of Season 1 Jim goes to the Darklands, so I got to pick up from there and write some really dark and brooding music. But I’m not deliberately trying to be different, just being inspired by the different environments in Season 2 will make the music different too.
Was a specific episode harder to score than the others? If so, why?
Episode 1.13 was the midseason finale and the story was coming to a big climax point. Musically it was not harder than other episodes, but technically it was more challenging as it required much more action music than any other episode.
Because the show is streaming on Netflix and not week to week did this change how you composed it?
It doesn’t change the composition necessarily, because the action and the story is what affects the score, not the suspense week to week. The suspense should always be there, regardless of how this is going to be watched by our viewers. This model does present challenges, however, because it means that we are working year round and often working out of order. Often I am writing for a character that I don’t know well. For example we might meet them in Episode 2.02, but I might be writing 2.06 first. In 2.06 they might have a just a little part, so I come up with something for them, but then later I have to score 2.02 and I realize that I need something much more than the little snippet I came up with, or I might not be happy with what I came up with. But I generally commit to my first instincts.
What kind of equipment, software and instruments do you rely on for your scoring work?
I actually start by writing scores in Finale and the final programming is done in Cubase. The samples are all coming off a slave PC hosted in VE-Pro.
Since you started out, what do you think are the biggest changes that the film and television industry has experienced from your point of view as a composer?
Technology has taken a huge role in the industry. We can produce full blown orchestral music on our computers rather than having to record it live. This has also changed the expectations of the producers as we can do all of that, so where do we stop? Once upon a time you were limited by the orchestra or players you could afford. But I find it important to impose my own limits and palette for each project.
From your unique perspective, where do you think the film and television industry is heading in the near future. Are there any new innovations that are in their infancy? In particular, what do you see as the biggest opportunities and obstacles you'll have to face as a composer?
There is so much great TV being made right now, on cable as well as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon. There is more work to go around at the moment, a lot of jobs for people. I think that the opportunities are great and with new products and technology coming out there will be more tools to make better quality music. But the downside is that anyone can buy the tools and call themselves a composer.
To finish up, what are the most challenging, and the most rewarding parts of your job?
The most rewarding part is when people tell me their kids watch the show or they watch it themselves and they really enjoy it. The most challenging is definitely meeting the timelines as I’ve previously mentioned. I’m always trying to keep up with the vision and be creative. Every episode has a new character and a new place and finding new music takes time. I sometimes wish I had a week to doodle before I had to start writing. But in reality it is minutes!
It's always great hearing about an aspect of the film and television industry that is more behind-the-scenes in nature than other aspects of production. Tim's answers are very interesting and insightful, and we thank him for his time. Season 2 of Trollhunters will likely land near the end of the year, so keep an eye out for it!
Thanks for reading. Let us know what you thought of the interview in the comments below! We've interviewed several composers for various series here on SpoilerTV, so search for 'composer' in the search box to find them.
