Jaimie Pangan Film Composer on ‘The Wild Ones’ Reveals Her Process

Jaimie Pangan is violinist and a music composer for film, TV and games, currently based at the center of the nation’s entertainment industry — Los Angeles, California. Jaimie walk us through her process working on The WIld Ones as the film composer.

indieactivity : How did you get connected to the “The Wild Ones” project?
Jaimie Pangan : My director, John, reached out to me via email because he saw my post on a Facebook group.

indieactivity : Tell us about your process to create the score for “The Wild Ones”?
Jaimie Pangan : In watching the film, my director tempted most of it with the score from “The Last of Us” (game) and a bit of Ennio Morricone’s music. I honestly had a bit of a difficult time because the “The Last of Us” was stuck in my head and of course, I did not want to make something too similar to it. When I was doing the score, it took me the whole day to think of a melody for the theme, and basically did 12 minutes of music in 1 week. I did 1-2 cues a day, and tried to analyse the characters on what sound I would give them as the story progresses. Given that the main characters were Latino, I did not hesitate to use the guitar for the score.

Related Story: Interview: Jaimie Pangan Asian Music Composer for Film, TV and Games

And as I am an avid solo cello fan, I had some cues with solo cello as well to give a bit more emotion to it. Some of the other elements were synths and percussion that represented one of the other characters in the story.

indieactivity : What part of the story of “The Wild Ones” challenged you when you read it? What drove you to get on the project?
Jaimie Pangan : The challenge for me, I think, is having to create a melody that sounds mysterious and memorable and at the same time, sort of be a cliff hanger (since the story does not conclude in the end). But, I loved the whole film! When the director sent me the film as he was reaching out to me, after watching it, I replied with, “Hi John! Very nice to meet you! I viewed your film and loved it! You should submit it to Sundance!!” Hahaha!

indieactivity : You’re not new to film score, what do you enjoy about the work that kept you working?
Jaimie Pangan : I love the fact that you can do different genres depending on the project you get. I also like to experiment when I get the chance to. Even if it can be stressful, I enjoy the unique stories my directors come up with and I get to be a part of the storytelling process through music.

indieactivity : How did you translate the idea of the director into a score for the “The Wild Ones” score?
Jaimie Pangan : I had to understand what the characters were going through in the story. The whole film is basically about finding a lost friend and a mother’s loss, so it definitely needed a score that would show how devastating it is to be in that situation.

indieactivity : Do you archive sounds, or do you synthesize them or record them naturally?
Jaimie Pangan : For the score, the synths were programmed, but the guitar and cello were both recorded in a studio. I do not think they would sound as authentic as a real instrument if they were programmed. Everything is way better recorded when you can.

indieactivity : If you had to score the film on a soundstage with an orchestra, what would you have done better?
Jaimie Pangan : I would definitely add more orchestral elements to the score if I had that luxury of an orchestra and if it were recorded on a scoring stage.

indieactivity : Explain one creative choice you made during production of the “The Wild Ones”?
Jaimie Pangan : There was this mysterious guy in which the main characters visited to ask about their friend. They interrogated him and as I was watching the film, I thought of representing his character with percussion instruments such as the bass drum.

indieactivity : What did you take away from the “The Wild Ones” project?
Jaimie Pangan : I learned that it is possible to compose 12 minutes of music with revisions in 1 week… Haha!

indieactivity : What is next for you after “The Wild Ones“?
Jaimie Pangan : I have a couple of projects now that I am excited about and projects I finished that are my directors are submitting to Sundance (fingers crossed!). I am also in the middle of negotiating for scoring a TV series in the Philippines, and 2 features here in Los Angeles.

I am also about to release my soundtracks real soon under “Jaimie Pangan” in different music streaming services, so keep an eye out for that! Lastly, one of my music compositions entitled “Farewell” has been nominated for the Hollywood Music in Media Awards. The ceremony will be this November at the Avalon, Los Angeles. I am very excited about it!

Tell us what you think of the interview with “Jaimie Pangan“. What do you think of it? What ideas did you get? Do you have any suggestions? Or did it help you? Lets have your comments below and/or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! Or join me on Twitter @oladapobamidele

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