ORIGINAL SCORE
The relationship between composer and director has been one of the most storied relationships in film history. Composer Paul Spaeth and Director Quinn da Matta solidified their friendship and working relationship on previous close collaborations, setting the stage for an intuitively created and inspired score for Into Temptation.
The process of creating the score started alongside the first written script, years before production. Spaeth offered feedback on the film and ideas on score instrumentation, tone, and structure.
Ultimately, all previous ideas converged upon seeing the initial dailies and rough cut, and the magic began. Spaeth took inspiration from the color and tone of the visuals and the immediacy of the actors’ performances. To Spaeth, visual texture and color directly correlate to musical textures and instrumentation.
The instrumentation was immediately birthed: flute was chosen to represent Michael’s innocent inner child, cello represented their love theme, and uneasy, out-of-tune synth bends signified the sickness inherent in their validation-love.
The first sequence that was scored, entirely in one inspired moment, was the end sequence — the point where Michael reveals the scars of a previous suicide attempt. The inevitable, tragic convergence of these two individuals was represented by a steady “heartbeat” rhythm, the innocence that birthed this “love affair” within Michael was introduced by eerie echoes of flute fragments, while their cello-love-theme plays over an uneasy synth bed, where the dark seed of validation and manipulation was planted decades ago.
Working backward, Spaeth then wove together these elements in a slow-reveal unfoldment throughout the film, almost as though the film discovers itself.
The final product culminated in a beautiful and haunting soundtrack that never leads the film's emotions but, instead, elevates it all.