Spotlight Interview: The Innocents Composer Pessi Levanto

Spotlight is ComingSoon’s interview series with below-the-line and/or up-and-coming talent in the world of television and film. Our aim is to shine a spotlight on the varied positions that make the entertainment you love possible rather than focusing purely on actors and directors.

ComingSoon’s Jeff Ames was able to speak with composer Pessi Levanto about his score for The Innocents.

“During the bright Nordic summer, a group of children reveal their dark and mysterious powers when the adults aren’t looking,” says the synopsis.

The Innocents premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was directed by the Oscar nominated Eskil Vogt. The film was released Friday, May 20 by IFC.

Check out a behind-the-scenes feature on the making of the score:

Jeff Ames: What led you to become a composer?

Pessi Levanto: I started out as a jazz pianist and had my formal education in that field plus a lot of classical composing study. So in my early twenties, I played mainly gigs and supported myself that way. Then people started asking for arrangements, first for big bands and then for orchestras. At the same time, I got to try my hand on some student films. This seemed like an interesting field where I could combine all my know-how from jazz/rock and classical fields. Over the years I got into doing more and more films until that world absorbed me completely!

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Were there specific individuals in the field who influenced your style?

I guess the obvious ones: John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Ennio Morricone, Bernard Herrmann, and the like. Old-school stuff.

How has your technique/style evolved over the years?

I’ve done all kinds of films: romantic comedies, epoch dramas, kids’ movies, etc. Over thirty features in total, but I think that not until the last few ones (with The Innocents being the prime example), I’ve come up with a style that I feel is finally more “me.” I used to do Williams-esque orchestral scores but during recent years they have become more sound-oriented rather than pure old-school orchestral meaning that I tend to make recordings of acoustic instruments but then play around with them in the studio mangling them in various interesting ways. So I guess my current style is darker but still very organic in nature.

What was it about The Innocents that made you want to work on it?

When I read the script of the film early in 2019, it struck me immediately as something special. It was clearly the best and most thought-provoking script I had ever read and I was ready to do whatever it took to land the gig. We had some initial Skype conversations with Eskil and seemed to be on the same page. First, he was hesitant to take me in as he had listened to my previous Williams-style music, which he didn’t think was fitting for this film. I didn’t think so either so I made him some custom demos to show what I had in mind for this project and then won him over!

What was the most challenging aspect of The Innocents and how did you overcome it?

I guess the overall sound and mood of the film. It took quite a bit of experimenting and trial-and-error to come up with a sound we felt was curious and full of wonder, yet ominous and sinister at the same time. There’s sort of an ever-present spookiness pretty much all the time so nailing that core feel was the top priority.

Do you have any fun, behind-the-scenes stories about the making of The Innocents that you can share?

I guess the most fun stories are created in the shooting but I wasn’t there. As a composer, you only see the director, editor, and sound designer, really, so I’m afraid I have to disappoint you with this one… Our work is very tedious and uneventful!

What was your collaboration with director Eskil Vogt like? How challenging was his vision?

I loved working with him. He’s the sort of director who has a very clear vision of what he’s aiming at, but at the same time is expecting a lot of creative input from all of the people in the team. Initially, I went through a playlist he had been listening to while writing the script and that gave me a general direction but I did come up with a lot of ideas myself and he listened to each one with concentrated interest and respective curiosity. I think I must have submitted about five hours worth of demos for Eskil and Jens Christian (the editor) to play around with in the edit. They really seemed to enjoy this liberty of having custom-made music available to them all the way.

Were there things you learned from working on The Innocents that you’re excited to apply to future projects?

Definitely. It made me realize how much more creative and artistically rewarding it is when there’s time to develop music along with the editing process. Oftentimes they cut to some other music and the composer steps in at the last minute and needs to redo the whole thing. I feel that when the process is truly collaborative in the post-production phase, it’s possible to achieve much higher-level artistic results. On a more detailed level, I experimented with many new techniques (new to me, that is) in this film, like tape loops, C-cassettes, and such. I also made new self-built orchestral sample instruments that I’m looking forward to develop further in the future.

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Do you have any other projects coming up that you can share with us?

I just finished a Danish psychological thriller called Superposition which I’m sure people who like The Innocents will like too. That one is also weird and twisted in an interesting way. Right now I’m working on a Norwegian film called Let the River Flow which is a drama film set in the late 70s and deals with the true events of the indigenous Sámi people’s uprising.

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