Facts about Danny Elfman

Occup.Musician
FromUSA
BornMay 29, 1953
Age71 years

Summary

Danny Elfman is a famous Musician from USA, he/she is 71 years old and still alive, born May 29, 1953.

Zodiac:
He/she is born under the zodiac gemini, who is known for Communication, Indecision, Inquisitive, Intelligent, Changeable. Our collection contains 30 quotes who is written / told by Danny.

Related authors: Carter Burwell (Composer)

30 Famous quotes by Danny Elfman

Small: So Ive learned in the past, if a company approaches me and they want something like this, or something
"So I've learned in the past, if a company approaches me and they want something like this, or something like that that I've done and I turn them down, they're going to do it anyhow"
Small: I cant get that live and I dont have the time to take the tape, after Ive finished recording it, into a
"I can't get that live and I don't have the time to take the tape, after I've finished recording it, into a little studio somewhere else where I can get a different kind of percussion sound"
Small: Or certainly I would need time - which I would love to have but there almost never is on a film - to ju
"Or certainly I would need time - which I would love to have but there almost never is on a film - to just spend a week with a roomful of guys laying down these patterns"
Small: In Tims films, more than most, if you miss the tone, you dont get the film
"In Tim's films, more than most, if you miss the tone, you don't get the film"
Small: I would have to say I might do some stuff, but its the film thats appealing. I was raised on film.
"I would have to say I might do some stuff, but it's the film that's appealing. I was raised on film. My musical experience is all via film, it's not from classical music"
Small: I had to do this very aggressive, big score in a very short time, and knowing that in the beginning, mi
"I had to do this very aggressive, big score in a very short time, and knowing that in the beginning, middle, and end would be this very, very famous theme, but I still had to weave a score around it and make it work as a score was really challenging"
Small: The first thing I do is lay out that melody and figure out how it has to hold here and then finish to l
"The first thing I do is lay out that melody and figure out how it has to hold here and then finish to land here, because you know in advance you're going to want the melody to catch four things in the action"
Small: I like creating these rhythmic patterns. These interlocking rhythmic things are really fun
"I like creating these rhythmic patterns. These interlocking rhythmic things are really fun"
Small: Theres kind of a cool feel that happens every now and then. I guess that feel is the thing that makes t
"There's kind of a cool feel that happens every now and then. I guess that feel is the thing that makes the score its own score. But, I don't know exactly what that is. So, it's hard for me to answer that question"
Small: Most often the music does end up in the movie, and sometimes theres a point where I wish that it wasnt,
"Most often the music does end up in the movie, and sometimes there's a point where I wish that it wasn't, just because I think the score would be more effective if there was less of it. But, again, that's not my call"
Small: The beauty of a main title is that you establish your main theme and maybe a bit of your secondary them
"The beauty of a main title is that you establish your main theme and maybe a bit of your secondary theme. You plant the seed that you're going to go water later in the score. And so, having that removed just made it so much more difficult"
Small: Sometimes I like them artificial and sometimes I like them real. And the reason is because sometimes I
"Sometimes I like them artificial and sometimes I like them real. And the reason is because sometimes I like a real close sound. And I like a very specific snare sound and I can't get that in the big room"
Small: Oh see, first off you gotta realize - everything for me is a reconstruction or deconstruction. I would
"Oh see, first off you gotta realize - everything for me is a reconstruction or deconstruction. I would actually say deconstruction. Mission: Impossible would be the exception. That would be a reconstruction- deconstruction"
Small: It sounds really stupid, I hate making cosmic comments like this but, I just let it do what it wants to
"It sounds really stupid, I hate making cosmic comments like this but, I just let it do what it wants to do"
Small: In some types of music Im working out all the chords one bar at a time - the whole structure, because i
"In some types of music I'm working out all the chords one bar at a time - the whole structure, because it's about that. And there are other pieces which are really about - okay, the melody is going to start here and play through to here"
Small: Im looking for a feel and I have to find what that feel is before I can move on from there. Im not nece
"I'm looking for a feel and I have to find what that feel is before I can move on from there. I'm not necessarily catching stuff in such a simple way - I don't need to. So, I'm going for something else"
Small: Doing Tims film is always going to be the most pleasure. Let me just put it that way. So, without drawi
"Doing Tim's film is always going to be the most pleasure. Let me just put it that way. So, without drawing favorites one way or the other, getting back with him and doing Mars Attacks! was certainly a special treat"
Small: You have to write a good score that you feel good about. At least, youre supposed to. But, if the direc
"You have to write a good score that you feel good about. At least, you're supposed to. But, if the director hates it, it ain't going to be in the movie!"
Small: That still has to be there. And so, its kind of an interesting question you brought up. Because, on the
"That still has to be there. And so, it's kind of an interesting question you brought up. Because, on the one hand, yeah, it'd be lovely. I certainly don't see that happening. In fact, I see the opposite happening"
Small: Ill just start laying out the melody exactly where I want it to fall. And then Ill go back and fill it
"I'll just start laying out the melody exactly where I want it to fall. And then I'll go back and fill it out. Whereas, in other pieces I'm really just going a couple bars at a time"
Small: You have to nail the right tone because sometimes when you just see his films cold, youre not quite sur
"You have to nail the right tone because sometimes when you just see his films cold, you're not quite sure. It's the same in - I'm trying to think of other directors with a similar sense - David Lynch's films, Tim's films, some of Cronenberg's stuff"
Small: Its hard to get a film, you know, you need a very special film to be able to get that experimental. But
"It's hard to get a film, you know, you need a very special film to be able to get that experimental. But, I would love to see that happen. I would love the opportunity to be more experimental than I am"
Small: I really liked doing a number of the projects and directors, and etc., etc., I knew about half-way thro
"I really liked doing a number of the projects and directors, and etc., etc., I knew about half-way through that I would never be doing that again. It's just not me. I really am happy as a part-time film composer, not a full-time film composer"
Small: I dont see myself necessarily having a burning desire to write a symphony
"I don't see myself necessarily having a burning desire to write a symphony"
Small: So, it becomes an exercise in futility if you write something that does not express the film as the dir
"So, it becomes an exercise in futility if you write something that does not express the film as the director wishes. It's still their ball game. It's their show. I think any successful composer learns how to dance around the director's impulses"
Small: Its just hard. I wish the studios felt there was more value in these themes and these pieces of materia
"It's just hard. I wish the studios felt there was more value in these themes and these pieces of material - that they're worth protecting more. Because then it just wouldn't happen. If the studios cared, the stuff would be stopped in a second"
Small: Im trying to interpret the film through the directors head, but it all comes out through me. So, a comp
"I'm trying to interpret the film through the director's head, but it all comes out through me. So, a composer is kind of like a psychic medium"
Small: Ill look back and Id be better to answer that in about three months from now. Or when the movie comes o
"I'll look back and I'd be better to answer that in about three months from now. Or when the movie comes out and I see it. I don't even know what it is yet. I've still been in the middle of it"
Small: I think thats one of the things that has always put me in kind of an odd niche. Its that all of my unde
"I think that's one of the things that has always put me in kind of an odd niche. It's that all of my understanding of orchestral music is via film, not via classical music like it's supposed to be. To me it's the same, it doesn't make any difference"
Small: I think that theres a lot more freedom in the low budget, the independent films where, unfortunately, y
"I think that there's a lot more freedom in the low budget, the independent films where, unfortunately, you don't have the money, necessarily, to get the orchestras in there to play a lot of stuff. But, you have a lot more freedom, very often"