MUSIC+SOUND AWARDS 2023 WINNER SPOTLIGHT
BEST ORIGINAL COMPOSITION IN A SHORT FILM
BEST ORIGINAL COMPOSITION IN A SHORT FILM
Drawback
Composer: Bob Thole
Additional Composer: Vincent Witte
Arranger: Myrthe van de Weetering
Music Production Company: Blurred Audio
Film Production Company: Exosphere
Directors: Caroline Bevaart + Harald Swinkels
The music on short film ‘Drawback’ was the score that came out top in this year’s Music+Sound Awards Best Original Composition in a Short Film. It’s very powerful stuff.
We hear from composer Bob Thole about the project…
“DRAWBACK is a silent movie directed by Caroline Bevaart and Harald Swinkels. As there is no dialogue, music and sound are crucial to the storytelling. The film’s music consists of a recorded orchestra – the renowned Metropole Orchestra in the Netherlands – together with creatively manipulated organic and electronic sounds. The process of composing the music started early in the production phase and played a key role during the filming, as the music was performed live on set (!) during the shooting of some of the most emotional scenes.
Before elaborating on the music, the logline of DRAWBACK reads: “Simon, a lonely comic strip artist, uses a gifted pencil with supernatural powers to win over his unattainable love. But is genuine love makeable?”
The process of creating the score for this movie was both a dream come true and the most challenging task for me as a composer to date. The goal was to develop two distinct melodic themes for the main characters, Simon and Rachel. Each act of the movie had its own unique sound and atmosphere. Despite the significant changes in the overall sound throughout the acts, the two themes served as a cohesive glue in the story. The biggest challenge was to keep both themes simple and easy to follow while adapting the sound for each act.
The first act of the movie features a small ensemble of string quartet, piano and vocals. The recording has an intimate feel, as if it was recorded in a small room. A distinctive element is the ticking sound produced by a pencil ticking against the wooden frame of the first violin, known as the “pencil col legno”. Various recordings of the pencil sound were used throughout the movie. The intention was to make Simon sound “incomplete” by deliberately giving the impression that the orchestra was missing several instruments.
In the second act, Simon's character feels complete, and the music reflects this change. The small ensemble is replaced by a full orchestra, resulting in a warm and rich sound. Both Simon’s and Rachel’s themes are shown to their best advantage and harmonize with each other. As we move into the third act, the story takes a darker turn. This section is called “The Farewell of the Orchestra”. Here the orchestra is replaced by either virtual instruments or synthesized / electronic sounds. The remaining organic instruments are manipulated to fit the atmosphere of the third act.
The final scene of the movie took several weeks to compose and produce. During this time, I worked very closely with sound designer Vincent Witte. The goal was to create a dark and gritty sound that still maintained some connection to the previous acts, but also brutally destroyed the delicate melodies of those acts. The resulting sound combines manipulated organic elements with electronic-based instruments. Many (previously) recorded elements were used to hint at earlier points in the movie. The climax needed to sound as aggressive and stifling as possible, so an electronic beat was introduced for the first time. An electric violin, which goes from eerily playing Rachel’s theme to underpinning the suicidal beats, was used to create its distinctive sound throughout the scene. The conclusion builds with a long riser of intense, aggressive sounds, creating a sense of urgency for the chaos to end, which is exactly the desired ending tone for the movie.”
