Elmer Bernstein Quotes

Normally, when people compose for film, you give them the film, and they look at it, and they compose it.

To me, score is really important. I would rather not have any score if it's something that's going to detract from the film. So often when I watch films, the score is what really bothers me.

Right now I just finished writing the music for a Rugrats feature film and the third week of September I go to London, and the Orchestra is going to perform the score.

When Kubrick called me about 'The Shining,' it was very strange. He first asked me to write music for his film, but I instead gave him suggestions about some of my pieces. I told him about 'The Awakening of Jacob,' which he did use in 'The Shining.'

I actually played violin on 'E.T.' I used to be a violinist.

As a screen composer or film-music writer, I need something that I can work with in the body of the score. Like 'Charade,' 'Moon River,' 'Wine and Roses,' 'Dear Heart' - they were all just themes that grew out of the picture.

Music is the life of a film.

The Saina Nehwal film's soundtrack is one of the most prestigious and powerful scores I have worked on.

In Sandalwood, each hero has a style and songs are composed accordingly.

I like to write film music that stands on its own.

The first film I gave music for was a Bengali film called 'Dadu.'

The soundtrack for 'Mr. Fraud' is classical with a decent level of fusion.

I guess the passion I have for cinema is as strong as the one that I have for music. And I've always tried to be a character in the film, not just a composer that throws his music to the film. That's the main element that connects me with directors.

I think it's great to see that there is such a connection to film music and the way people react or connect to a character or scene.

I have composed music for many city-based movies.

If you listen to a score from beginning to end, you should envision the entire film in your head.

In any musician's career, a film like 'Manikarnika' becomes a landmark dream project, which is challenging and musically enriching at the same time.

I'm getting to compose music for diverse language films from all over the country.

Without the knowledge of music, it would be very hard to write film music. There are so many films, and each one has a different historical background and everything.

I am happy film stars are singing in their films. I hope to work as a music director for a film where actors will sing all the songs.

I wanted to be a film composer because I heard scores that could stand alone, from 'Vertigo' to 'Star Wars' to 'La Dolce Vita,' because this music has so much history. They're weighed with the history of music. They come from somewhere, they have a past.

What I love about film music is the variety. On one movie, you might be asked to do a completely electronic score, and then another might ask you to do orchestral only.

I had written the song 'aaza aaza Shamiyane ke tale... ' for Ghai's film 'Yuvvraj' but he felt the song did not suit his film and Rahman suggested that the track should be used in 'Slumdog' and it fitted well with the movie.

So I prefer to do the entire music for a film. And when I'm doing the background score, I can weave the whole film together in terms of themes and songs for a good cinematic feel.

Film music has given me everything - career and popularity.