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Click here to return to the main site. Frederik Wiedmann (composer) Emmy-award winning Frederik Wiedmann is one of the most diverse and cultivated composers working in motion pictures today. With over 150 titles to his name in all realms and genres, Wiedmann has established himself as an insightful artist with an enduring passion for storytelling. Recently, Wiedmann composed music for Star Trek: Picard (Season 3) and Women is Losers. Some of his other recent credits include the thriller Alone, Hangman, Acts of Vengeance and Day of the Dead: Bloodline. His credits also include Doom – Annihilation as well as the epic civil war drama Field of Lost Shoes, Dying of the Light, The Damned, the horror anthology Into the Dark and the Australian Sci-Fi hit Occupation: Rainfall. His latest work is for Prime Video’s animated series Batman: Caped Crusader which follows the hero’s mission against criminals in Gotham City. Darren Rea caught up with Wiedmann as WaterTower Music released his score for Batman: Caped Crusader: Season 1... Darren Rea: I’ve reviewed quite a lot of your albums over the years and one of the things that always strikes me is how beautifully melancholic your compositions can be.
Frederik Wiedmann: Thank you - really appreciate you listening. That's an interesting takeaway - I wonder if that’s the nature of the projects that attract me, or my personality, ha! I think in general, I tend to gravitate towards scores with melodies and themes. Possibly where this sentiment comes from. The soundtrack to the first season of Batman: Caped Crusader has the spirit of Danny Elfman running through it. Was Elfman’s work on the ‘80s/’90s Batman movies inspirational, and with their being so many interpretations of the Batman in modern media were there certain expectation on you as to what was expected from the score? And did you consciously set out to deliver something different from what we’ve already heard? The concept for the entire score was to stay in the era of the 1940’s, even with the music. The idea was to make this show a close relative to Batman the Animated Series [BTAS], but not literally a sequel or prequel or whatnot. It has its own story, a unique take on Batman, his story and the villains. So while the music should feel reminiscent of BTAS, in spirit more than anything, nothing was directly derived from Elfman or Walker. I think overall we are leaning a lot more into the 1940's and '30s than any previous Batman shows did. Which is exciting since it provides you a new foundation to build upon, that hopefully will set the Caped Crusader apart from other Batman versions. The Expectations of the fanbase is enormous. I felt that when scoring Star Trek: Picard two years ago, and definitely felt it again now.
The fans of Batman love this character and anything associated with it so much, I felt a huge pressure to service them the right way. And therein lies the conundrum. They like the old, but also want something fresh and new, so my job was to give them a little bit of both. While pushing this show a lot stronger into noir territory musically speaking, treating Batman as a rather scary detective, not a superhero right off the bat (no pun intended), I think we found a good place to connect both worlds, the familiar and the fresh. When did your love of music begin? Has it always something you wanted to pursue as a career? I am a bit of a strange case, since I already knew I wanted to be a film composer at age 12. I just didn’t know much about the job yet, but I was a massive soundtrack aficionado. I also studied Jazz Guitar with Hans Hazoth in Germany, which provided a nice entry into music composition, music theory and analysis. When I was 17, I met a composer in my small german hometown (Nik Reich), who started showing me the ropes. From that point forward, I had tunnel vision, to basically get my BA in film scoring (from Berklee College of Music) as fast as humanly possible, and move to LA to work. So I finished my degree in 2 years, and started working in LA immediately. Do you remember the very first segment of music in a movie that really made you sit up and take notice of the work of film composers?
The score that triggered all this for me is John Barry’s Dances with Wolves. I was 12 when that film came out, and I think I went to see it in theaters in Germany 5 times, and endless more times after that on VHS. I just loved that film and its music. That was my very first soundtrack, and have to admit to this day, it remains in my top 3. Simply stunning music. After that, I tried to get my hands onto any film score I could, which in the early '90s in a small German town, without amazon or Apple Music, was not an easy task. I basically bought everything my little CD store had to offer (which was never more than a handful or random scores on CD every week), and through that discovered Ennio Morricone (On a “best of Western Soundtracks” compilation), Jerry Goldsmith and Basil Poledouris. You’ve also tackled a lot of different genres. From horror (The Damned; Hostel: Part III), animated superhero tales (Batman: Caped Crusader; Green Lantern; Justice League), as well as independent movies (Duell der Brüeder; Field of Lost Shoes, Snow to Sand) and action-adventure movies (Scorpion King: Book of Souls). Do you feel it’s important to tackle different genres to keep challenging yourself? It's something I always wanted to do, stay versatile, but often that sort of thing is out of our control. When I started, I worked exclusively on Horror films, but then when I was hired to be the composer of Bruce Timm’s Green Lantern the Animated Series, it cracked my career wide open and suddenly I was doing superhero stuff, which led to many other fantastic opportunities, like Fantasy (The Dragon Prince), Comedy (Big Nate, Firebuds), and much much more. Nothing excites me more than having a project in my studio that is new to me as a genre. I welcome it with open arms. The most fun for me. Your score for Spectrum was particularly inspiring. How did you get involved with the project and did you find it to be an interesting challenge?
When you are staring out, you try to get gigs from wherever you can. Craigslist and Mandy.com were some good go-to's. So that’s where I met Brent Yontz and Jill Jones, on an experimental stop motion short that they created. Through this experience we became good friends, and shortly after that they produced/directed Spectrum, and after that Snow To Sand - another stunningly gorgeous film. Probably the best thing that ever came out of a craigslist ad for me. I love these films and hold them and the relationship with the filmmakers very dear to my heart. In an entire orchestra which instrument is the most important to you? Which is the one you always love hearing performing your music? Tricky question, and it definitely depends. When its a super sad bit, and I feature solo cello, then it’s the cello (eg some scenes of the DC short Death), when it’s a massive and epic score moment, then it’s every single instrument in the orchestra. I think a giant symphony orchestra playing your cue for the first time live never gets old for any composer. It’s an absolutely incredible feeling, when suddenly everything comes to life. It’s goosebumps-central for me, and absolutely incredible feeling. Unmatched. If a movie were to be made of your life, who would play you and who would compose the score?
I love this question. I consider myself a rather happy person, and I do have a big soft side. So I’d keep it very intimate, small ensemble perhaps. A good choice for a composer might be Thomas Newman. So lots of small percussion, strummed instruments and piano. If you could have just one score locked away for a future civilization to discover which score would you choose? And which track in particular? Dances with Wolves again - If it triggered my love for film music, it can do it for others. 'The John Dunbar Theme'.
Click here to follow Frederik Wiedmann on Instagram Batman: Caped Crusader: Season 1: Original Television Soundtrack is out now digitally from WaterTower Music Click here to buy the album digitally (UK) - Amazon.co.uk This interview was conducted on 14 August 2024 Return to...
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