The Newton Brothers, Film Composers
We continue to work with him [Mark] because of his exceptional ability to listen to what you are trying to do and then use the absurd amount of experience to provide colors and ideas. His ability to listen to what’s being done and to create and suggest from that listening is a skill and talent difficult to find.
2019
Doctor Sleep
Doctor Sleep was a project with sky-high expectations. It was the sequel to an undeniable classic, an adaptation of a Stephen King book, and a reinvention of a property beloved by fans and reviled by its creator.
The music had to somehow honor all of that.
According to The Newton Brothers, “We wanted to pay homage to Wendy’s exceptional work and also be appropriately unique to Mike Flanagan, Trevor Macy and Stephen King’s story of Doctor Sleep. We had a specific set of ideas that we wanted to execute for this film and some of it needed to be experimental both in how we were recording and the approach to recording.”
Having previously collaborated with Mark on Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House, The Newton Brothers reached out in the score’s planning stages for his input on the project’s scope. He encouraged them to follow their ambitions and leave the logistical challenges to him.
“We had lunch with Mark 6 months before we even began writing and explained the general idea, to which Mark said that we should just focus on exactly what our vision was and when it came time to prepare the band, we would make decisions as we needed to”, based on approved cues.
As the project continued to take shape, Mark was there at every step of the process, ensuring that the music would reach its aspirations without collapsing under the weight of its expectations or financial constraints.
The Newton Brothers explain, “Mark was involved for 18 months on and off in helping us with every detail. Too many to list, but things like natural panning and something we did a lot of on the film which was mixing on the stage where we would tweak performances to blend instruments to specifically achieve a sound. Mark was crucial to these things.”
The finished score set the tone for the critically acclaimed return to The Overlook Hotel, successfully evoking themes from The Shining while being entirely unique, and The Newton Brothers are quick to note Mark’s collaborative role in the process:
“We continue to work with him because of his exceptional ability to listen to what you are trying to do and then use the absurd amount of experience to provide colors and ideas.”
The Newton Brothers, Film Composers
The process of composing music or songwriting must be a collaboration of the best efforts for music to work. Whether that be musicians, arrangers, engineers, orchestrators, conductors and countless other roles, everyone involved has a part in the track. Mark understands what this means at every level. He listens to our lengthy discussions about what we’re trying to achieve and from that, he is assertive in the approach to orchestrations and conducting.
