Composer Ramin Djawadi
Heavy Metal Man

"I'm sure people will be surprised with this score because we did do something different. I'm sure there will be some purists that will expect the typical, lush, orchestral score. Some people are going to love it and some people are going to hate it." Ramin Djawadi

CC: I guess you're pretty excited about IRON MAN coming out in a few days.

RAMIN DJAWADI: Absolutely. I feel very fortunate just to be a part of this movie, given the fact that I'm a huge comic book fan. I think it is an amazing movie and am very curious as to what people will say.


CC: Because of John Favreau's history with composer JOHN DEBNEY, it was expected that Debney would be doing the score for IRON MAN. How did you then end up on this project?

RAMIN DJAWADI: To be honest, I don't know why John (Debney) didn't get the movie. When there is a previously relationship between a director and a composer, I never do anything to get in between. When I heard that they were still looking for a composer, I jumped in there because I am such a comic book fan. I did have some history with Marvel through BLADE TRINITY and I did MR. BROOKS with Paramount, so there were some people involved with IRON MAN that I knew. My agents then began inquiring about the project. Then, the fact that HANS ZIMMER came on as score producer helped out a lot.


CC: Being big comic book fan yourself and IRON MAN being one of the more popular comic book series over the years, did that add any pressure for you on this project?

RAMIN DJAWADI: Sure. There was pressure because we already knew this was going to be a big movie and that a lot of eyes would be on it. The other pressure was, because of the other superhero movies already out there, we knew we were going to be compared to those...no matter what we did. The idea was to always be different and do our own thing. The key for me was to start as early as possible. I got involved in conversations even while they were still cutting and even shooting.


CC: You mentioned that there are so many established superhero franchises with their own musical identities. How did you determine what would musically set IRON MAN apart from these other franchises?

RAMIN DJAWADI: There are a couple of interesting things here. The first is that right after I got the job and before I sat down and met with John (Favreau) I started to write this orchestral theme. I eventually played it for him and he said, "Well, its a wonderful theme and it's very comic bookish, but it's not the direction I want to go. I hadn't read the script yet so I didn't know if the film was going to be dark or light or exactly what he was going to do. Second, around that same time, they released the trailer which had that Black Sabbath song. From that point, it became clear that featuring the guitar could be really cool. It was John's vision to use really heavy guitar, rather than a traditional orchestral score. And I always thought that this was a good idea because it would definitely set us apart from all the other movies.


CC: Even with the guitar emphasis in the score, do you still follow some of the superhero film conventions with a strong hero theme, villain theme, and love theme?

RAMIN DJAWADI: Absolutely! IRON MAN actually has several different themes that work together and overlap. We have an emotional theme component. There is a "plotting theme" that takes usto the Iron Monger and then to Iron Man. Iron Monger has two themes: the one which develops from the "plotting theme" (which is guitar based) and then a more traditional villain theme.


CC: Now you've worked on other superhero films including BATMAN BEGINS. Did that experience help you at all in preparing for IRON MAN?

RAMIN DJAWADI: I'm not sure if working on superhero movies helped as much as simply having worked on bigger movies which would include: BATMAN BEGINS or PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. Having worked on movies of that size helped me to know what was coming. I knew they would be changing picture up to the very last minute and that there would be CG shots that I wouldn't have and even conceptual changes would happen constantly. Knowing this was coming I tried to book the orchestral sessions as late as I possibly could. Working with Hans (Zimmer) over the years on these bigger pictures proved to be a real help to me.


CC: So how did Hans Zimmer work with you on this project in a day-to-day sense?

RAMIN DJAWADI: Well, as score producer, he would be in most of the meetings. He would comment on my music just as much as John (Favreau) would, making suggestions on different things to try. Even while I was writing he would come in and just listen and give me his input. Since Hans has been such a mentor to me, I really value his opinion. I listen to his input carefully.


CC: What would you say your biggest challenge was with this score?

RAMIN DJAWADI: It was getting the final "Iron Man sound" together. When we decided to go with this guitar emphasis, I knew that if we played these heroic melodies on guitar that it was going to sound like an 80s score...and that scared me. I just knew I wouldn't be able to play these very high up on the guitar. So I had to structure the themes differently. They are more riff or rhythmic based than they are these long thematic melodies. I tried to do guitar riffs that would also work for the orchestra...so we could go back and forth between the two. I was just so scared of dating this film and that was the biggest struggle.


CC: What do you think the reaction your score is going to be?


RAMIN DJAWADI: I'm sure people will be surprised with this score because we did do something different. I'm sure there will be some purists that will expect the typical, lush, orchestral score. Some people are going to love it and some people are going to hate it.


CC: What was your favorite sequence to score in IRON MAN?

RAMIN DJAWADI: I'd have to say that it was when he put on his suit. The visuals are just great in that sequence. As the audience, once we go with the suit, we know that we are in for something!


CC: The sound effects in this film have to be pretty intense as well. How did that effect your music?

RAMIN DJAWADI: I have to admit when the sound effects came in that I was in shock. They were absolutely amazing but they were so strong that we were striving a little bit to get everything to work together. There is all this metal clanking and flying, which could be music's biggest enemy. In the end, I think it all worked out well.

CC: So where would you rank IRON MAN in your career thus far?

RAMIN DJAWADI: It's definitely the biggest one I've done thus far...at least one with my name on it. It's super-exciting for me to be attached to a movie like this and wonder where it will take me. We'll have to see what happens.



Continue the interview (Page 2)