In director Alex Herron’s new film LEAVE, a young woman named Hunter sets out on an international journey to find answers to the swirl of questions that have encompassed her entire life. Left in a cemetery as a baby, wrapped in a blanket covered in satanic symbols, the motivation and identity of Hunter’s biological family have long plagued her mind. Despite fully expecting to face some harsh truths, nothing could prepare her for the secrets and spirits that become unearthed.
Set against a stunning Norweigan backdrop, LEAVE becomes anchored by Hunter (Alicia von Rittberg) and her quest for self-discovery. Although she was fortunate to have been adopted into a loving family back home in the United States, her mysterious and dark origin story was simply too odd, too unusual to ignore. Well known for its impressive metal scene, LEAVE cleverly leans into that facet of Norway and effectively subverts stereotypes in multiple ways.
One of the ways LEAVE toys with expectations comes from the score composed by Jamie Christopherson (UNDER WRAPS, THE CROW: WICKED PRAYER). While the film most certainly contains horror elements, it is truly an emotional family drama at its heart. Supporting this, Christopherson utilizes a more traditional palette of sound to emphasize the humanity behind the horror. As Hunter seeks answers, pensive piano melodies and spacious, expressive strings telegraph her headspace while slight shifts in instrumentation and execution hint at underlying darkness.
To mark the film’s recent release on Shudder, I sat down with Christopherson to discuss his music and approach to LEAVE’s intriguing blend of metal, horror and drama. Just like the film itself, there are a few secrets buried in the music that few would ever expect. Let’s dig in, shall we?
DG: LEAVE is a Norwegian production, but you are based here in the States. How did you get involved with this project?
Jamie Christopherson: I met the producer, David Spilde, in my apartment building in Los Angeles when he was living here. Coincidentally, I had just gotten back from a trip to Norway. I walked into the rec room of my building, and he was throwing a birthday party for one of his daughters. The room was full of Norwegians, all speaking Norwegian, and I felt like I was right back in Norway. We just hit it off at the party since I had just returned from there. And I do have Nordic roots even though I’m American. My dad is 100% Norwegian from the Midwest, so I’ve been taking a few trips to Norway because I love the culture, atmosphere, and beautiful scenery. So that’s how I got connected with the producer, and we became friends over the past few years. Then, when he finally produced this movie, he called me up, and I was happy to jump in.
DG: Once you signed on, did Alex have any specific ideas or thoughts on the music for the film? What were those early stages like determining what the film’s palette and sound would be?
JC: They had a little bit of an idea of where they wanted to go with it and had tried experimenting with some more modern scoring techniques, which were more aleatoric with synth elements. When I came on board, a lot of the temp was like that. I felt the structure of the film was a little bit more traditional with its look, pacing and things like that. So I wanted to incorporate some of those synth elements but have a more grounded, traditional horror sound with a lot of strings and things like that. It was kind of a hybrid between what we both wanted. There wasn’t a lot of time to score it, so I just trusted y instinct, and luckily, everyone really liked the direction that I went.
DG: This film revolves around Hunter, and the music feels very tied to her and her quite dramatic journey of self-discovery. How did you embody and represent Hunter and her story in the music?
JC: You touched on a good thing which is, it’s actually kind of a family drama. She’s adopted, and she wants to find out why she was left in the cemetery and where did her parents come from. It is a bit of a “discovering your past” family drama. So a portion of the score, especially as it relates to Hunter, is a little bit softer and more emotional. She was represented by a simple piano and some simple piano gestures; not really a full theme but some fragments of a motif. So whenever she goes into a contemplative mode, we bring in that piano.
Coincidentally, the piano that I used in my synth library was called “Fireside Piano.” So there’s a piano that they had sampled and burned at the same time to get these slightly off samples. It’s beautiful, but it’s also a little dark. That’s why I love using different samples from different libraries. That one piano just seemed to really match because it has a few notes that are just slightly off-tune but still beautiful.
DG: There is a darkness to this film, as well as an element of black metal. While it is not necessarily the film’s main focus, it was undoubtedly an influence. How did that part of the story impact your decisions or make its way into your music?
JC: As you pointed out, there is definitely a use of black metal in both the story and in the music. The black metal or heavy metal that I ended up using in the score was more [inspired by] that 1980s style when people would spin the records backward and try to find demonic phrases buried in there; how parents were all in an uproar and the stigma that goes along with that.
I got some stuff from a Norwegian guy named Harald Nævdal, aka Demonaz. He is the lead singer for a very famous Norwegian band called Immortal, and he was actually the music supervisor on this. He was able to get rights to one of his albums, and I didn’t take the metal portions, but I basically took the intro portions where there’s speaking, and I reversed that. You can hear it at the beginning of the movie and in a few other places, like when Hunter is meeting her father, who was the guitarist for the metal band. So they’re kind of hidden in there. They’re not too over the top, but I wanted to use that reference.
DG: Several wonderful solo instruments are featured, which I thought represented Hunter’s solo identity quest well. Can you tell us a little about those musicians and capturing those performances?
JC: That’s a great question. First of all, I did hire some live strings. They were both Norwegian string players and friends of mine, so we did a remote session. They were in Oslo, and I was in Los Angeles. My friend Helena Maria Falk played violin, and an instrument called Hardanger fiddle, which is a traditional Norwegian folk [instrument] where you play two notes at the same time. I had her do a lot of techniques where the notes kind of rub against each other or go out of tune and back in tune to get these horror textures. It’s not the traditional way that instrument is used. It’s usually a beautiful kind of thing, but I demented it a little bit. We then did the same thing with the cello and got some interesting effects out of it, in addition to some of the more melodic moments in the score.
DG: I mean, being able to mess around with instruments in ways not intended seems like one of the best parts of scoring a horror film.
JC: That’s exactly right. That’s why horror, especially, is a lot of fun because there are no rules, really.
DG: On top of film work, you have also scored a lot of video games. What do you enjoy about scoring video games, and what is it that keeps drawing you back in?
JC: I actually got my professional start in video games, so that is definitely a huge passion. I’m still working in video games, but probably my most famous score is for a game called METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE. That’s actually heavy metal music, which was my first time writing in that world as well. But, it has seemed to keep its popularity over the last few years.
I also do a lot of fantasy music, kid’s video games, and things like that. I love working on them because of the interactivity, figuring out how to use the music and the technology and making it so the music fits the game and the player’s actions. I work very closely with game developers. I don’t implement [the music] myself, but I’m familiar with the technology and the tools, and we just make sure that everything works as desired.
DG: What’s the timeline difference for you on a video game versus a film? You mentioned having a short time to score LEAVE, which seems pretty standard for many film projects. Are video games different?
JC: Yeah, I would say you typically get a little more heads up. It’s a little more planned on the books, and you have a nice schedule. Sometimes it’s rushed, and that’s fine. But often we’ll do music for a game in stages. So I’ll do a chunk of music, then the developer will go away and work on more stages or more of the game and then come back to me to do the next part. It’s kind of like a feedback loop a little bit, especially with the longer games where I’m in it for sometimes one or two years.
DG: Something I think is really interesting about your background is how you were born and raised in Los Angeles. So many folks interested in the industry seem to move there as a rite of passage, but you’ve always been there. How did growing up surrounded by the entertainment industry impact your career choice? What was it like growing up there and now working there?
JC: My dad was in a rock band from the Midwest; he’s a rock bass player. They basically just said, “We’re gonna do the Sunset Strip. Let’s meet at Hollywood and Vine on this date.” This was in the ’70s, so if you think of rock bands in the ’70s, that’s exactly it. [Laughs] So [my parents] met out here, and then I was born shortly after that while they were pursuing rock and roll stardom.
So then, I did grow up in L.A. My stepdad is and was an actor in films so I got to see a little bit of the behind the scenes and go to some of the tapings for shows and things like that. Then when I was a teen, there was a working composer on my block, like, two or three doors down, that I found out about. His name is David Schwartz, and we’re still really good friends. He did shows called NORTHERN EXPOSURE, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, and a zillion other shows like that. He’s a very talented composer.
He had a studio in his backyard in, basically, a converted garage. I got to see firsthand someone actually doing it, like, in the trenches and that really inspired me; to see that it could be done, even in your garage. Then I really got a passion for it, pursued it, went off to college and then grad school. So, I did a lot of schooling; I didn’t just jump right in. I didn’t get back to L.A. and really dive into the business until I was like, 25 or 26.
DG: My final question is about the metaphorical and literal blank page you start every project with. Regardless of field or career, that is something everyone can relate to. Do you have any advice for someone struggling with how to start a new project? How do you tackle that first step?
JC: Starting a project can be a little daunting, for sure. I don’t know if there’s any magic bullet to get over the initial writer’s block. Film is good in that you already have a framework, especially with the thematic material. If it’s a horror movie, you know you’re going to have scares. You still have to find a sound that matches the film and everything like that, but you have a point A and a point B. If you’re having writer’s block, load in some more sounds, play around, and put things on the page. Put in markers of the hits that you want to do.
I find that anything you can do to just put something on the page, tempo marks or whatever, does help you go in the right direction. Even if you have a simple idea, just put it on the page — even if you’re going to delete it later. I think oftentimes, writers that are starting out, and I did this as well, go for perfectionism. That really doesn’t serve you well. It just comes over hard work, experience and having to figure it out.
LEAVE is currently streaming exclusively on Shudder. In addition, Christopherson’s score for the film will soon be available, exact release date TBA, via CodaWave Records.
Tags: Alex Herron, Alicia von Rittberg, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Harald Nævdal, Helena Maria Falk, Herman Tømmeraas, Horror, Interviews, Jamie Christopherson, Mystery, Norway, Rachel Reeves, Shudder, Thomas Moldestad
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