Variety - In 'Les Mis,' if it ain't live it's jive

[Fan2]

Posted: 8/23/12 at 9:31pm

Very interesting article on the music and editing for the movie and the whole process. Reprinting because of subscription issues.

In 'Les Mis,' if it ain't live it's jive
Music for Screens: Summer 2012
By Jon Burlingame

"Les Miserables," the long-awaited film version of the hugely popular stage musical, due in December from Universal, has taken a decidedly unorthodox route for a screen musical: All the actors recorded their songs live on the set.
No non-rock musical has been shot that way since "At Long Last Love," Peter Bogdanovich's forgotten Cole Porter songfest from 1975, according to musical historians consulted by Variety.

Usually the actors pre-record their songs with orchestra in a studio, and then lip-sync to them during shooting. (Famous exceptions to that rule generally involve Rex Harrison, who insisted on singing live in both "My Fair Lady" and "Dr. Dolittle.")

But nearly all of the two-and-a-half-hour "Les Miserables" is sung. The adaptation of Victor Hugo's 19th-century novel is practically an opera.

Says producer Cameron Mackintosh: "How on Earth could an actor go into a studio months before they've even started rehearsing, and lay down their performance, particularly in an entirely sung-through piece? You can't do it in advance!"

So for nearly four months, Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and the other stars of the film acted and sang for the cameras, as if "Les Miserables" was a dramatic film that just happened to have actors singing all the time. Wearing tiny, unseen earpieces, they listened to an off-stage electric piano accompany them on set.

"We were all quite nervous about this approach," says music supervisor Becky Bentham, "but we very much embraced the challenge."

Oscar winner Anne Dudley ("The Full Monty"), who is serving as music producer, agrees: "It was an absolutely essential way to do it. It's not like the songs are incidental to the drama; the songs are the drama. Everything happens in the music. I cannot imagine how the actors could have performed," she says, had they been forced to lock in creative choices doing a studio recording the old-fashioned way.

In fact, says producer Mackintosh, it's one of the reasons he chose Tom Hooper ("The King's Speech") to direct: "His passion was to record it live, which is something I've always wanted to do. He absolutely embraced the whole of 'Les Miserables.' "

Preceding the shoot were weeks of rehearsals. "We spent a long time with all the actors," Dudley reports. I think Hugh (who plays Jean Valjean) was eight to 10 weeks, every day doing vocal warmups and just getting the songs into his soul. Russell (who plays Javert) doesn't have quite such a big part, but he put in the time and effort as well."

Dudley cited production sound mixer Simon Hayes' expertise in capturing the on-set vocals as crucial. "The sound crew became our recording engineers," Bentham adds, but only after "extensive" research into mics, earpieces, and how this unusual way of recording would impact later efforts to complete the musical score, which are now beginning.

Notes Universal music president Mike Knobloch: "We had to set Tom up for success -- to achieve his vision of a raw, gritty, authentic style of performance -- using a pioneering production methodology. Now, as the film is being assembled, the direction of the music will be informed by the intricacies of the live filmed performances."

Click tracks (those metronome-like beats that keep the orchestra in precise time during recording) are being built around the actors' voices. Sophisticated synth demos of potential orchestrations will then be created to give Hooper (who is still editing) an idea of what the music surrounding those raw vocals might sound like.

He'll make final choices, and a 70-piece orchestra will begin recording Oct. 10 in London. Dudley will produce the sessions, although, she says, original composer Claude-Michel Schonberg is "very involved" and will be writing new underscore for "the bits between the songs."

He and lyricist Alain Boublil have penned a new song, "Suddenly," which Jackman sings after Valjean has rescued the daughter of Fantine (Hathaway) and she grows up.

Adds Dudley: "People keep asking, 'Why is it going to cost so much? Why is it going to take you so long?' And I keep saying, it's two and a half hours of music. It's not a normal score. It's like four movies!"


In 'Les Mis,' if it ain't live it's jive Updated On: 8/23/12 at 09:31 PM

[willep]

Posted: 8/23/12 at 9:44pm

A 70 piece orchestra? Nice!

Thanks for posting this.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 8/23/12 at 10:36pm

Yes, thank you. What great news! Should be very interesting.

[My Oh My]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 12:59am

After reading this piece, I am dramatically less worried about which orchestrations they'll end up using.

As I've lovingly hammered into y'all's heads by now, I'm spooked by new directions and visions not because I am against change but because changes lately suck sweaty donkey balls, so I opt for the surest, most proven, time-tested thing: the wonderful original orchestrations, even if they chuck the iconic keyboards. That was before reading this article.

While I still hope at least a semblance of John Cameron's brilliant original orchs come through, I am elated that they're using the only other approach that I hoped they'd use if not using the original orchs--molding them to fit the on-screen dynamic and the on-screen elements including the actors' individual performances.

Unless they stupidly and stubbornly end up using the piece of crap new orchs currently bastardizing the stage version, I'm thrilled to, for once, have a little bit of faith in a positive outcome to changes brewing inside me.

6 years of ranting is taxing. I hope Hooper's obvious thoughtfulness will give Les Mis back its voice, even if it's arranged differently.

It can be a disaster in the wrong hands--there is nothing more truthful than music. John Cameron's original work rings true and is what makes the score so haunting. If the person behind the film orchs has it stuck in their heads that they MUST be different than John's originals with no good justification other than to be different, then the film orchs will suck, and those of us perceptive to the messages music sends will know it after seeing the film. If the person behind the film orchs is intent on making it sound "cool, hip, today," that will come through too and will prove distracting and annoying, gimmicky and cliched.

If they do approach this with the care they say they are devoting to it, they can't go wrong. I wish I had the vocabulary to explain the honesty of John's original work, but trouble is, there are no words. And there never will be words, but I'm not the only one who gets that nudging that music so discreetly infuses us with that either sits well or does not sit well with us. Only music can be so universal, and there will never be a better way to get a sense of a works' intentions than by its music.

I hope the only Mackintosh providing input on the film orchs has a decorative steel brush finish and is manufactured by Apple Inc.

[jo]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 1:54am

All very exciting!

It seems there is so much earnestness and commitment on the part of the creative team and the cast to give us a movie musical that will not only stand on its own against any stage production of Les Miserables but will set a template for other film musicals!

[ZiggyCringe]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 2:32am

Interesting, but untrue. I'm not sure who these historians consulted by Variety are, but Bette Midler sang live on set during the 1993 "Gypsy." I'm assuming that "Gypsy" qualifies as a "non-rock musical," whatever that is.

Updated On: 8/24/12 at 02:32 AM

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 8:08am

But Bette was the only cast member who sang live. The rest of the cast did use pre-recorded vocals.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 8:37am

Meryl Streep sang 'live' the "The Winner Takes it All" in MAMMA MIA! and Barbra Streisand sang the opening part of "My Man" in FUNNY GIRL (the last part of the song she is lip-syncing).

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 8:43am

There has actually been quite a lot of "live" singing in film musicals throughout the years (and they ALL started that way with live orchestras as well when talkies first hit the scene in the late '20s), but it's usually not for an entire movie and by all of the cast.

I think that's what interests me the most about the forthcoming "Les Mis" movie. It's not just the "park and bark" songs that will be live, it's everything, including the small ensemble and large chorus numbers. I don't think I've ever heard that before, certainly not for a whole film.

I'm sure it will add a sense of immediacy and spontaneity that we haven't heard before.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 8:47am

There is also the fact that the score is being recorded to the actors' vocals, as opposed to the actors singing to a pre-recorded orchestra track, which makes this an extremely unique way to film a movie musical.

[Anshel2]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 9:55am

I thought Streisand's A Star Is Born was recorded live as well.

[jpbran]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 1:14pm

Somewhere else I saw mentioned that the mics would be digitally removed; I'd imagined them looking like the "scalp" mics we see on stage, then they'd be CGI'd away.

This is all pretty fascinating, and I'm hoping they pull it off.

PS-- I wonder if they end up doing some re-recording, they'll be open about it or just let the story continue.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 1:22pm

The Fantasticks was all live-singing, too.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 1:26pm

Michael B: is "park and bark" a movie or stage term?
It's so descriptive.

I saw the trailer the other day and not sure how I felt.
They make it look like an action movie, less a musical.
The sets look amazing, not sure about Anne and Amanda, they look so not period. And Anne's voice sounds odd.
But it does look like they spent a zillion dollars on this puppy.
I hope there are some screenings with special sound equipment.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 1:26pm

I think it's inevitable that there will be some overdubbing or "looping," as it's called in nonmusical films.

That's true with any movie though. It's usually because there is too much background noise that can't be removed or a sudden sound that gets in the way.

A friend of mine was in a scene walking down a hallway of an old mansion, and they had to call her back to loop her lines because they could hear several people's heels clacking on the floor in the background.

Happens all the time.

I will guess they are avoiding it at all costs, but still, in a scene with a lot of potential echo, or a bar scene or battle scene, etc., where there could be any number of unintentional background noises getting onto the recording, they might have to loop a few things.

I'm curious as to how they're going to balance and blend a big chorus number. It's not like you can decide to "turn up the tenors" for a phrase, unless several of them are individually mic'd. My guess is that they will "sweeten" the choral and ensemble singing with additional voices, which they can balance and blend to help the "live" ones out.

The equivalent of off-stage singers, in other words (like Cats, A Chorus LIne, etc.).

Updated On: 8/24/12 at 01:26 PM

[Fan2]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 1:38pm

There were tweets this week from West End actors saying they were going to Pinewood to do a commercial or a trailer for the Les Mis movie - they weren't specific so no idea what they meant. They weren't there that long, as apparently they started at 7:00 and someone mentioned they were getting an 11:30 train. Here's some of the tweets.

michael strassen @strassen
A recording session for the les mis movie commercial. I thank you.

Celia Graham @celiamgraham
Busy day! Audition then off to Pinewood for some Les Mis antics! # lesmisthemovie

Spike Grimsey spikegrimsey
On route to pinewood studios for a post vocal recording of the #lesmismovie

Daniella Gibb @DaniellaGibb
Off to Pinewood Studios today to be in new James Bond film, only kidding recording vocals for Les Mis trailer but just as exciting! #LesMis

Alice Fearn @alice_fearn
Heading into town to drop off some gifts then to Pinewood for Les Mis film recording tonight! Coach trip @thejaybryce!!!! X

Rachel @Rach_Mudd
@DaniellaGibb WOW! Are you in the film then? x

Daniella Gibb @DaniellaGibb
@Rach_Mudd No sadly but my voice will be singing away happily on the movie trailer in cinemas!

michael strassen @strassen
Mis vocals done @pinewood listen out for geordie in film and commercial.

Daniella Gibb @DaniellaGibb
Vocals done for the Les Mis film trailer,got so excited and adrenalin pumped that my vocal chords are now bleeding #pinewoodstudios #LesMis

Francesca Leyland @CheskaLeyland
Awesome night recording vocals!! #lesmismovie

Martin Neely @martinneely
Just finished recording tracks for Les Mis film at Pinewood. Lovely to see some ex-les misers @spikegrimsey @Jeffjeffdejeff @JonDub78

Spike Grimsey @spikegrimsey
@martinneely @jeffjeffdejeff @jondub78 and that's a warp ! Goodnight pinewood studios !

Here's a Photo

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 1:48pm

That answers that, then.

They're definitely sweetening the soundtrack with post-recording even if they aren't using pre-recorded vocals.

[Idiot]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 4:29pm

I've no doubt they'll pick and choose takes based on vocal performance and lay the best ones over whatever visuals work best. But this is very very exciting.

I really hope this works, as it's one of my favorite shows of all time.

[Fan2]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 4:44pm

They did many takes of each song - the "barricade boys" tweeted that Hugh sang "Bring Him Home" 14 times in two hours. And I think Crowe tweeted that he sang "Stars" 20+ times.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 5:08pm

I can't even imagine the logistics of this.

Just cutting between a medium shot and a closeup means you're changing sound takes on the singing as well. And yet it all has to blend together seamlessly as one "song" and still flow dramatically and emotionally, not to mention the volume discrepancies and the ambient sound variances.

I can tell you now if they pull this off successfully, the sound mixer and the editor will both deserve Oscars for their work.

[jo]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 6:49pm

I've recently read from a fairly credible source (can't remember now where it was) that the production budget for this movie is $ 60 million. There is also mention elsewhere ( or maybe it was in the same article) that the major actors "did not charge full freight". Filming actually completed within expected range lasting up to 3 1/2 months. Pre-filming rehearsals of approx 6-7 weeks likely smoothened actual filming. But as mentioned by Fan2, Tom Hooper did not stint on requiring the actors to repeat takes on end ( Russell sang STARS 28 times, according to his own tweet). I am not sure if they were exaggerating but according to a tweet by one of the "barricade boys", they had to sing Do You Hear The People Sing close to 50 times ( I guess more takes had been required for ensemble songs and for outdoor filming?). All in all, Hooper did not seem to have sacrificed quality to come out with this precedent-setting filming for movie musicals.

Also, on the Entertainment Weekly coverage --

>>>>Once on set in London this past spring, Hooper had his cast sing live for each take - a departure from the typical movie-musical practice of lip-synching to a pre-recorded track. "It utterly transforms the experience of what a musical is like on film," Hooper says, "When it's live, the actors can actually THINK the songs". He also took advantage of recent advances in technology. "We put the radio mics on the outside of people's costumes and then just paint them out in post," he says, " So, you get perfect sound. Ten years ago, that would be unthinkable."<<<<

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 7:58pm

The bigger movie musicals today almost always cost a lot, and the "star" actors almost always take a pay cut. That's because the additional money is put into the inflated production costs, primarily the recording, staging (including extra rehearsing), and addition filming time. Plus additional post-production costs for editing and mixing (more complex, so it takes longer).

However, the "star" actors usually make that money up by receiving additional money for the soundtrack, something they wouldn't usually be compensated for.

They'll make good money if the movie and the recording do well. They could stand to make way more than if they took their "normal" salaries.

[jo]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 8:07pm

I found the source of the info on the budget and star salaries. It was from noted Hollywood columnist Anne Thompson, although the article was mainly on Anna Karenina and its fall movie festival appearances.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/anna-karenina-new-images

She notes that it is unlikely that Les Miserables will be completed in time for the fall movie festivals --

>>Universal is also gung ho on the period musical "Les Miserables," Tom Hooper's $60-million follow-up to "The King's Speech," starring Hugh Jackman (Valjean), Russell Crowe (Javert) and Anne Hathaway (Fantine) --none of whom charged their full freight--and would have liked to book it into festivals as well, but the picture just wrapped and will arrive dripping in theaters on December 14. I wouldn't be surprised if the studio pushed the film back a week.<<<

[kyl3fong2]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 9:52pm

They seem to be running on a very tight schedule in terms of completing the post-production work on this movie. I certainly hope the movie's release won't be delayed and will still come out in December.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/24/12 at 9:59pm

From the beginning, I said this post-production schedule was insane.

The only way they'll make it is if they hire a ton of people and pay a lot of overtime.

... which I assume they're doing.

And I still think it will be cutting it really close. In a perfect world, they would have at least two more months of post on this.