There’s over a dozen music tracks in the feature film Woodwind, writes director Fin Manjoo. 

Looking through it now, I wanted the audience to feel as if they’ve experienced a unique, extraordinary journey in music. Of course we have the journey of the central character, Bonifaz in India. Now, I’m talking about what we hear, for Woodwind is essentially a film about the power of sound, naturally and as an art form that utilizes this power.

Looking back there’s a very interesting, wide range of music titles in Woodwind, firstly depicting the western tradition of classical music, then Indian Classical Music and finally what I’d prefer to call, the music of Bonifaz. From here one can listen to just the music of Woodwind for 90 minutes or so, and feel the transformation of Bonifaz.

Ultimately, from the theme of the film, there’s also the music of nature which our sound recordists have captured for us. Without saying how here, this also influences the music Bonifaz creates and so we are communicating a sense of truth in the world of sound to the audience.

When musicians structure the soundtrack of a film, for many years you’d find that they psychologically connect plot points by linking the music, even subconsciously within the soundtrack. This impressive technique is also used in classical music. Other crew members within a production do likewise, including even costume.

However, on Woodwind I’ve decided not to follow. The main reason is that the philosophy of the film firstly criticizes structures in art, and I’ve been making sure that every department follows our own philosophy, unless there’s a reason not to. Specific to the music, when planning the director’s treatment of Woodwind, I knew that attempts to traditionally create those patterns, would bring about an artificial influence on the film. Therefore the treatment of Woodwind had to be natural. Of course there are patterns in Woodwind too, but if they’re there then they’re natural patterns which are even more powerful.

In the soundtrack you wouldn’t find a score that ties the acts nor the gradual interweaving of scenarios. While those are impressive techniques, it doesn’t mean that it should be in every film and certainly doesn’t fit into the vision of Woodwind.

In the film we work on the art of our music intrinsic of each scene, exactly what Bonifaz is experiencing right there and then. So, the music not only fits the movement and emotional content, it also speaks the language of the scene. Every scene was fashioned naturally this way, and so I’m satisfied that what we have in the end, is a string of musical pieces that represent the development of Bonifaz’s world.

Again, not to forget the music of nature. You can read about this, and from our music composer on the film, Stefan Fraunberger, as well as some of the choices on the soundtrack in other articles. As usual, I will not reveal the contents of the soundtrack until the film is released to the public.