Episode 12: Director Ron Howard on the Music in His Films

10/21/16 • 44 min

From child star to Academy Award winning director, Ron Howard has always made it his business to entertain.

And entertain us he has - from A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13 and Frost / Nixon to his most recent offerings - the Beatles documentary Eight Days A Week and Dan Brown thriller Inferno.

But whereas Edith's previous guest Andrea Arnold prefers to accompany her films with source music, Ron is a particular fan of score, and has, accordingly, collaborated with some of the finest cinematic composers of recent times, including James Horner, Thomas Newman, John Williams and Hans Zimmer. We'll hear plenty more about the director's admiration for that venerable bunch during the course of our conversation, as well as excerpts from the work they produced for his movies.

Ron also reflects on his time as an actor, and has a most amusing anecdote about Michael Jackson!

From child star to Academy Award winning director, Ron Howard has always made it his business to entertain.

And entertain us he has - from A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13 and Frost / Nixon to his most recent offerings - the Beatles documentary Eight Days A Week and Dan Brown thriller Inferno.

Ron also reflects on his time as an actor, and has a most amusing anecdote about Michael Jackson!

Previous Episode

Episode 11: Oscar winning director Andrea Arnold talks American Honey

Andrea Arnold announced herself to the film world by winning an Oscar for her short film Wasp in 2005. Since then her releases Red Road, Fish Tank and American Honey have all won the Jury Prize at Cannes.

The latter is her latest offering - a road trip following a 'Mag Crew' as they party their way across the American Midwest selling magazine subscriptions door-to-door - listening to plenty of phat beats.

Hip-hop is the sonic hearbeat of the film, with the sub-genre of Trap particularly prevalent. Originating in Atlanta in the 1990s, Trap music is dark, aggressive and lyrically challenging. We feature plenty of uncensored examples from the soundtrack during this episode.

Don't forget you can check out the playlist to the show on Spotify. https://play.spotify.com/user/soundtrackingwithedithbowman

Next week: Ron Howard!

Next Episode

Episode 13: Nicolas Winding Refn on the Music in Drive, Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon

Few filmmakers at work today can claim to have more visual flair than Nicolas Winding Refn. From his debut thriller Pusher to Drive, Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon, he has always served up a feast for the eyes.

Invariably his themes are downright dark and sleazy - with tech-noir soundscapes and cinematography enhancing the mood. Whether using source music or score, the Danish director is most accomplished when it comes to sonic dressing.

Nicolas has enjoyed a particularly fruitful relationship with composer Cliff Martinez. We'll hear plenty more about that during the course of the interview, as well as excepts of score from the movies on which they've collaborated.

Nicolas also gives us a fascinating insight into how he deploys music to induce a profound emotional response from his cast, and also reveals what he considers to be the Holy Grail of score.