This post is part of a short series where I am sharing some behind the scenes info about the making of KING COAL
Bobak Lotfipour talks about his work on King Coal at San Francisco Film Festival.
Composer Bobak Lotfipour and I worked together to dream up a rich, challenging musical landscape that represented both the beauty and pain of the region largely through over 20 percussive instruments: drums, bells, crystal bowls, and playing non-traditional objects, such as sheets of metal. We sought to create two worlds for the music. The coal world being machine-driven, electric, with bass and darkness. The film in these moments has deep rumbles of uncertainty; the oppression that living in a boom-and-bust economy creates. In the non-coal scenes our palette was less mechanical; more human, animal, and textured. These natural sounds, including human whistles, were still mysterious and not too sweet. We sought a balance between the images and sound, imbuing calm visuals with an eeriness and mystery in the music. The musical landscape reflects the film’s focus on a community on the brink of change, with all its uncertainty and all the fears and joys.