"You know, usually with movies there are periods, dark areas, where I might not be getting what I wanted out of a theme. I'll have to go over and over it again"
About this Quote
Creativity, in Rabin's telling, isn’t a lightning bolt; it’s a fog bank you drive into on purpose. The phrase "dark areas" lands because it’s both technical and emotional. He’s describing the very unglamorous middle of making a film score: the stretch where the theme exists in fragments, where you can feel the movie’s needs but can’t yet translate them into melody, harmony, and momentum. That darkness isn’t failure, it’s the workspace.
As a musician known for big, propulsive textures, Rabin is pointing to something audiences rarely consider: film music is a negotiation between instinct and assignment. "Getting what I wanted out of a theme" frames the theme almost like a stubborn performance partner. It has to yield a specific feeling, carry narrative weight, and still sound inevitable, like it always belonged there. When it doesn’t, the composer isn’t waiting for inspiration; he’s revising, re-orchestrating, re-timing, re-listening to picture cues until the theme reveals its function.
The repetition in "over and over" is the subtextual punchline. It quietly rejects the myth of effortless genius and replaces it with craft and persistence. In the context of Hollywood scoring - where deadlines, director notes, and temp tracks can box you in - Rabin’s comment reads like a survival tactic: you return to the theme until it stops being an idea and becomes a tool that serves the film and satisfies your own musical standards.
As a musician known for big, propulsive textures, Rabin is pointing to something audiences rarely consider: film music is a negotiation between instinct and assignment. "Getting what I wanted out of a theme" frames the theme almost like a stubborn performance partner. It has to yield a specific feeling, carry narrative weight, and still sound inevitable, like it always belonged there. When it doesn’t, the composer isn’t waiting for inspiration; he’s revising, re-orchestrating, re-timing, re-listening to picture cues until the theme reveals its function.
The repetition in "over and over" is the subtextual punchline. It quietly rejects the myth of effortless genius and replaces it with craft and persistence. In the context of Hollywood scoring - where deadlines, director notes, and temp tracks can box you in - Rabin’s comment reads like a survival tactic: you return to the theme until it stops being an idea and becomes a tool that serves the film and satisfies your own musical standards.
Quote Details
| Topic | Movie |
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