Nosferatu: A Symphony Of Horror, directed by F.W. Murnau came out over 100 years ago and is still remembered as one of the greatest films ever. It was remade in 1979 by Werner Herzog and was well received. Director Robert Eggers, the filmmaker behind The Witch and The Lighthouse was obsessed with the 1922 film from his youth and it has been a lifelong dream for him to do a remake. He did, and the results were wildly successful with critics and audiences.
As a remake of a film described as a symphony of horror, he recruited an expert to create the dense and dark period atmosphere that this piece needed. Robin Carolan, who worked with him on his previous film, The Northman was a necessary piece of the puzzle, crafting a score that pulsates in a theater and is enjoyable as a soundtrack. Carolan recently spoke to Immersive via Zoom.
[This conversation has been edited for clarity and length]
How did you initially get in touch with Robert Eggars?
We became friends for many years. I was running a record label that I decided to shut down after 10 years and I was potentially going to be involved with something other than music… It was then that Rob approached me to do the score for The Northman which came out of nowhere. We had talked about doing something but it was surprising when he asked me.
Moving into Nosferatu, was the F.W. Murnau film a touchpoint for you?
I remember seeing Nosferatu when I was way too young, and it terrified me in ways I couldn’t understand. When I came to work on this, I felt that weight in a good way because Nosferatu is cinema history. It’s an incredibly effective horror film.
I think when we came to do this version, I think we all felt a real “don’t fuck this up” type of pressure. Rob usually works with the same collaborators throughout his films. Everyone knew what this film in particular meant to him. I think there was also personal pressure to come through for him as a friend, as the director, and as someone that we admire and respect.
When did you come on? I’m getting the vibe that Robert does not use a temp score.
I start as soon as the edit starts I start writing the score for scenes that are in a raw state. He’ll isolate those scenes then he’ll ask for demos for these scenes within the next two weeks. And that’s kind of how we start.
It’s a process of getting all the scenes, and then changing things because the film is constantly sort of changing shape. As soon as he goes into post-production, I start seeing footage.
Was there anything you created before shooting?
Rob wanted to play music on set to create an atmosphere. He wanted certain actors to already have a theme. One of the tracks, which is called ‘Goodbye’, I wrote it before they shot the film because Rob wanted to play that to Lily-Rose Depp and sort of have it on set for certain scenes.
His films are so meticulous. A true filmmaker values all aspects of the art form…
I remember weirdly the thing that we found hardest was this music box that plays at the beginning of the film. You’d think that would be simple, but it ended up becoming something we didn’t settle until the very end, because like every single music box sound was not quite right.
I think a lot of directors just wouldn’t care, I think they would just say it sounds like a music box, so that’s great. But for Rob, he had this very specific idea in his head. Then, you know, the challenge is like trying to find that sound. He’s just, he’s obsessive about every single detail. There isn’t one, one part of the filmmaking process that he’s kind of like taking his eyes off of, you know, he’s laser-focused.
Were there any influences specifically or anything specific, like, you know, don’t copy, but I kind of wanna score like this, or I like this track here, something like that?
We talked a lot about The Shining. The Shining is effectively a megamix of Krzysztof Penderecki material that Stanley Kubrick and his editor just sort of like cut and pasted, but they made for an amazing score.
Then of course the Wendy Carlos parts are great too. The intro is so foreboding…
Yes, the opening is great… I think for me, you know, I have like references that maybe don’t mean so much to Rob, but they kind of help me. So Coil is a big one, and Autechre, which even though this score sounds nothing like are inspirations for me. I’ll go for long walks and I’ll just listen to their stuff and it just triggers something in me, and then I’ll kind of get an idea for what I’m doing.
There was also a Sky Ferreira song I was listening to a lot, which really kind of got me in the mood for certain scenes because it has this Serge Gainsbourg sexy, sensual, but very dark string feel to it. I think it’s called Downhill Lullaby. I think for certain scenes, it just really inspires because the film is very very psychosexual. Rob’s put more of an emphasis on Ellen’s character and the sort of psychosexual aspects that are occurring between her and Orlok.
Something interesting about the film… Where does the score begin and end in the sound design begin… What was your relationship with the sound designer?
I worked closely with Damian Volpe, who is one of the main sound designers. Essentially we tried to isolate what was most important. Rob wanted a lot of music for this film to be big and in your face. I also knew Rob wanted a lot of sound design, especially in like, a lot of the Orlok scenes. When we’re in the castle things need to suddenly start to feel otherworldly and kind of like off. You wanna make sure that those two things are in harmony and they’re not clashing or competing.
What kind of instruments and/or equipment did you use?
There’s a lot of like, just standard orchestral sounds. Because this is a period piece we could do that. Violins, cellos… We had 60 string players on this… a brass choir, harp, woodwinds, you know, the usual symphonic type stuff. I wanted to sort of bring in an Eastern European influence because the film is partially set in Transylvania.
We brought in instruments in instruments like a Cobza, the Cobza is a string instrument. We also had a percussive instrument called the Toaca built for us. It’s kind of like a vertical xylophone. Thematically it made a lot of sense to have that instrument in the score, but it’s not the kind of thing you just go out and buy. Our percussionist, Paul Clarvis, made one in his garden for us.
The authenticity is there when you watch the film, there are lots of unique sounds that make this something you truly experience.
I think like when it comes to these kinds of scores, I think, you know, you’re often only as good as the musicians that you surround yourself with. I think it’s really important to be surrounded by enthusiastic people, but also up for sort of experimenting and who you can kind of throw a weird idea. When I asked Paul about the Toaca, he just said, I could build one of those.
Please encapsulate what this experience has been like for you. This is the third great Nosferatu film and it has been critically acclaimed and embraced by audiences.
It still feels quite surreal, to be honest. Rob and I have been friends for a long time and he has been talking to me about this film for as long as I can remember. It has been on and off for a while. It finally got made and Rob’s happy with it. This is a very different film. It’s special. I just really hope people keep seeing it and enjoy it. It’s amazing. It’s still quite surreal. I feel like the dust hasn’t settled yet.
Nosferatu is currently playing in theaters.
