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Zachary Rainville

Professor Lapoint

Composition II Honors

6 March 2013

Beasts of the Southern Wild Soundtrack

Music is a vital component in the equation of a good movie. The soundtrack of a film not

only amplifies the words and visual elements on screen, but also provides what the words and

visuals cannot. Furthermore, an effective score must emotionally connect a viewer to the journey

of a film. The music and visuals in a movie should work together to effectively convey the

concept of the film. To properly score a film, it takes a special creativity from its composer;

because unlike a composition made for the radio, a films soundtrack depends on the

simultaneous visuals. According to famous composer Elmer Bernstein, If youre writing a piece

for film, the film is the spine of the music, because if the music is properly done for the film, the

film becomes the form. Whereas if youre writing music on its own, it has to have a different

kind of spine, a tighter form that stands on its own (Morgan, 2). Essentially, the visuals and

music of a film are both dependent on each other. Together, their purpose is to convey a

directors overall concept for a film. Moreover, when scoring a film, the composer must clearly

decide on a concept that will properly serve the directors overall purpose for the movie. Famous

composer Elia Cmiral says, I think the most important decision for us is to find and choose a

concept. This concept must come from a complete understanding of the movie, and if the concept

is wrong, the composer and director will find out very soon (Morgan, 5). In the score for Beasts

of the Southern Wild, the prominent concept is to provide a sonic interpretation of the films

journey according to Hushpuppys (the six-year old protagonist) perception. During an interview
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about the films soundtrack, Zeitlin states The entire score is Hushpuppys point of view, her

thoughts (Ellison). In order to accurately produce a score unique to Hushpuppys perspective in

Beasts of the Southern Wild, co-composers Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin, tactically intertwined a

variety of musical components. Between their diverse influences and their talent for producing,

Romer and Zeitlins soundtrack for Beasts of the Southern Wild is a phenomenal creation.

Native to the southern Louisiana setting, traditional Cajun music is an obvious influence

on the films score. However, Romer and Zeitlin originally expected to compose a soundtrack

with stronger Cajun roots than what is actually present in their final product. They made the

choice, to divert from a dominant Cajun influence, because Hushpuppys thoughts dont solely

revolve around Louisiana culture. Zeitlin states, She is much more of an alien type of

thinker(Ellison). Therefore, even when live Cajun music is played in a scene, the score is

actually interpreting how Hushpuppy takes in that music and then re-harmonizes it in her mind

(Ellison). Zeitlin expresses this concept saying, We take this piece of live music the musicians

are playing on screen, a very traditional South Louisiana song. And then as Hushpuppy starts to

think about it, the actual musical score re-voices that Cajun song into her type of music; A

mixture of this traditional thing and a much more mystical thing (Ellison). The co-composers

interpreted this effect by adding textures with a mystical quality to traditional sounds. This

concept can be easily identified in the two songs of the soundtrack that are played by authentic

Cajun bands, The Balfa Brothers and The Lost Bayou Ramblers. The song Zeitlin took from The

Balfa Brothers entitled, Off the Wall/Valse de Balfa, stays on one chord for most of the song,

and goes to a second chord for only a moment. Having a simple structure made it easier for

Romer to re-harmonize the traditional Cajun song than if it had been a song with a lot of chord

changes. The rest of the score uses symphonic strings such as the violin. Determined to add
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texture to these symphonic strings, Romer and Zeitlin also incorporated traditional Cajun

instruments like the accordion and fiddle. Overall, Cajun music remains as a significant element

of the movies soundtrack, however, too much Cajun influence would not express Hushpuppy

effectively, because the Louisiana culture is just fraction of her personality. Therefore, Romer

and Zeitlin understood the need to somewhat divert from this traditional Cajun influence in order

accomplish their intent for the soundtrack.

For many composers, it would be a challenge to score a film that is intended to express a

childs mystic perspective of the world; yet still appeal to an adult audience. Hushpuppy is a

juxtaposition of naivety and wisdom. Both Romer and Zeitlin agreed that in order to translate

Hushpuppys young and mystical perspective into the score, they needed to incorporate pop

influences. Benh Zeitlin quotes, Knowing Quvenzhane (Hushpuppy), what kind of music she

likes, thats where this modern pop influence came from. We need to write a song that

Quvenzhane is going to dance to during the credits (Ellison). It was important for Zeitlin to

produce music that Quvenzhane would dance to, because Quvenzhane shares many universal

aspects of youth with her character Hushpuppy. Furthermore, Quvenzhane loves to dance, and

modern pop music was birthed by dance culture (Noyer). Rather than straight forward rhythms,

top 40 pop usually provides a funky dance groove through polyrhythms. A polyrhythm occurs

when two independent rhythms with different structural patterns are simultaneously played.

These polyrhythmic dance rhythms were a vital component when composing the films score.

Romer and Zeitlin especially incorporated polyrhythms like the 2 against 3 feel that can be found

in many top 40 pop music (i.e. We Found Love in a Hopeless Place or Single Ladies)

(Romer). Also parallel to modern pop music, the score is modular. Pop music often loops a four

chord progression while throwing other sounds in and out. Romer and Zeitlin often followed a
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similar pattern by introducing small pieces of the scores major themes into one song. Continuing

with their influence from modern pop, it was also important to both composers that their

melodies can be sung. Romer quotes, Benh and I always end up singing lyrics to the music

were working on. Its very important to us that our melodies can be sung, like a pop

setting(Ellison). Moreover, they intended to have catchy melodies like the majority of modern

pop. Furthermore, the influence Romer and Zeitlin took from modern pop is a very crucial

component of the score, because many elements of pop significantly serve the main concept of

the film. Moreover, their influence from pop was necessary to express the young, innocent side

of hushpuppys perception.

The process the composers used to record and produce the Beasts of the Southern Wild

soundtrack, had some unique circumstances compared to a usual Hollywood Blockbuster like

Jurassic Park. At 1.5 million, the budget for Beasts of the Southern Wild is a fraction of the 63

million dollar budget for Jurassic Park. Due to the significant financial restraints, there was no

chance Romer and Zeitlin could afford to record a live orchestra like a major Hollywood cinema

does. Instead the composing duo recorded musicians one at a time in Romers house. Every

single piece was placed on a separate track. Though much more grueling, this intricate recording

process granted them a world of freedom when editing the score. At one point Romer and Zeitlin

actually built a whole new composition out of recordings they had made for other songs. That

especially modular example of the score plays during the levee scene. The structure of the levee

song is symbolic to the climatic explosion because the song is an explosion of the films

emotions. Moreover, the composers may have had to tackle financial obstacles; however, due to

the quality of the final product, Romer confirms that he would not make many changes to the

recording process if he could hypothetically go back in time with a larger budget. Zeitlin is also
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quite pleased with the outcome of their financial restraints, he states as we got a very raw,

visceral, close-mices sound that I feel actually matches the film better than if wed been able to

afford a real orchestra(Blair). Rather than letting it hold them back, Romer and Zeitlin took

control of the restraints attached to a tight budget. Instead of a downfall, the recording process

became a defining characteristic of the films score.

Romer and Zeitlin incorporated a rich and diverse collection of instruments throughout

the score; each instrument bringing something different to the table. For the most part, the score

incorporates symphonic strings, horns, bells, and pianos. These instruments serve mainly for

traditional and classic themes. According to Romer We were trying to make the sound of an

orchestra using the smallest things we could, which was essentially one microphone up to one

string player at a time(Florino). After dubbing the core instruments over and over, the

composing team needed to bring in all sorts of other textures. Luckily, Romer has a skill for

mixing symphonic sounds with other unique textures. According to Zeitlin, Dan really is

brilliant at combining the symphonic strings with texture, like a banjo or fiddle player, or using

tables and chairs to create percussion, to keep this sort of rickety, swinging feel, and those more

messy instruments as part of the larger texture of the symphonic score (Ellison). One very

significant texture they incorporated is the celeste keyboard. The celeste keyboard is the most

foreign to all of the other textures used; it sounds similar to a piano but with a much more

mystical quality. More specifically, the celeste sounds like a cross between a piano and

xylophone. Zeitlin says that the celeste keyboard voices her most cosmic philosophies

(Ellison). It is used to help the score to convey a young childs perspective, which the film

intends to embody. Zeitlin says People associate that instrument with childhood and

innocence(Ellison). Examples of the celeste voice are most obvious in the song Particles of the
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Universe, which is the song of the score. The song actually starts with a celeste solo, and the

instrument remains clearly dominant for the entire song. Sometimes the soundtrack even uses

silence to voice what Hushpuppy feels. Zeitlin notes that when there is silence, Hushpuppy is

unstable and not somewhere she can analyze the world around her. Whereas the music

symbolizes those times she is analyzing herself, nature and everything else around her. As a

whole, the score incorporates an eclectic array of instruments to express Hushpuppys feelings,

and sometimes even uses silence to set the tone.

All of the elements that the two composers referenced, ultimately work together to

express different emotions and themes. Often times the score will introduce small pieces from

other various themes. However, Romer states in a direct interview, Its hard to say exactly what

we would consider themes and not consider themes, and some themes are very much related to

other themes (Romer). The two composers did however have eight distinct colloquial titles for

sounds, that they used when communicating with each other. Knowing these can help dissect the

soundtrack when listening. The first three (Traditional, Pop Song and Death Theme) can

be found within the song Once There Was a Hushpuppy. This is a prime example of how the

composers often put pieces from different influences up against one another. The other sounds

they coined are Hushpuppy Bells ,God Chords, Auroch March, Mamas Theme, and

Country Song. Most of these labels are self-explanatory after watching the film, and they start

to divide the score into categories. However, when asked to narrow a description of the entire

score down to three words, Romer answered, Heroic, sad, lo-fi(Romer). These three titles

narrow down the score into more inclusive themes. Furthermore, when it came to expressing

specific Hushpuppy emotions, the biggest challenge for the composers was translating her

anxiety. According to Romer, When she was supposed to feel worried, it often came across as to
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horror-y if we really tried to drive home hushpuppys nervousness(Romer). If the parts of the

score that express Hushpuppys anxiety sounded like a horror film, they would not serve Zeitlins

intent for the film. Ultimately they were tentative enough not to cross that line of portraying

horror vs. anxiety. In all, the score effectively incorporates many different themes and sounds

which usually have multiple exposures over the entirety of the score.

The soundtrack for Beasts of the Southern Wild is a gumbo of so many different

ingredients. Composers Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin faced many obstacles in order to create a

score that effectively connects viewers to the journey of the six year old star, Hushpuppy. To

accomplish this, the composers referenced different genres of music and blended them with a

diverse collection of instruments. All of their influences went into a giant melting pot. Zeitlin

states, We wanted the score to have an ingenious texture, but also have kick-you-in-the-face

energy that modern pop music is so good at, and we wanted to find a bridge to all those

things(Mermelstein). Each component brings something different to the table. Moreover, a

distinct mixture of voices and other musical elements work together to invoke certain emotions

and express certain themes within the soundtrack. Furthermore, it is sad that many outstanding

soundtracks go without recognition. Unfortunately the score for Beasts of the Southern Wild

follows this trend. However, this lack of recognition does not discredit the fact that Romer and

Zeitlin were successful with incorporating many influences to create a profound score that

effectively expresses Hushpuppys perception of her experiences.

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Work Cited

Blair, Iain. "A 'Wild' gumbo of sounds: helmer Zeitlin and composing partner Romer seized

baton on their feature debut." Daily Variety. Academic OneFile, 15 Nov 2012. Web. 12

Mar2013.<http://go.galegroup.com.db24.linccweb.org/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A310867230&v

=2.1&u=lincclin_spjc&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w

Crespo, Christopher. The Importance of the soundtrack. How the right score can make a film

better. The Examiner. N.p., 6 Nov 2010. Web. 18 Feb 2013.

Ellison Victoria. 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' Director and Composer: 'We'd Cry Together,

Then Write Songs' . Hollywood Reporter. 7 Feb 2013. Web.

http://wwwhollywoodreporter.com/race/beasts-southern-wild-director-composer-

418007.

Mermelstein, David. OSCARS: Beasts of the Southern Wild score. Deadline Hollywood.

N.p., 12 Dec 2012.Web. 9 Feb 2013.<http://www.deadline.com/2012/12/oscars-beasts-

of-the- southern-wild-score/>.

Morgan, David. Knowing the Score. New York City: Harper Collins Publishers, 2000. Print.

Paul, Noyer. The Billboard Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music. New York City: Billboard Books,

2003. Print.

Romer, Dan. Interview by Rick Florino. Dan Romer Talks "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Music.

Artist Direct. 14 Nov 2012. Web. 13 Feb 2012.

http://www.artistdirect.com/entertainment-news/article/dan-romer-talks-beasts-of-the-

southern-wild-music/10297541.

Romer, Dan. E-mail Interview. 16 Feb 2013.