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The collaborations with Philip Miller over the last six years have provided us both with a series of discoveries and revelations. The relationship of music to the music to the moving image is so powerful and unpredictable that even now after five films it still feels as if we are at the beginning of understanding the process. Yes, of course the music does find an equivalent to the emotional timbre of the drawing, but much more than this it both has to give a narrative thrust to the films and provide a grammar to them. This means fixing a punctuation and establishing relations of cause and effect as well as giving the tempo at which the film reveals itself – so that the unfolding of the film is only possible with a dual absorption of image and sound. And still below this the music has to find a rhythm that addresses the roughness of the crude animation. Sequences which are unwatchable in their jerkiness, can, with the right music be pulled into focus, find a coherence and edge towards meaning. With the music for these films Philip changes the way we see. William
Kentridge (award winning artist)
I wouldn't make a documentary in South Africa without an African score. So it should not have surprised me that I would find a South African composer for World Birth Day and World Wedding Day. But Philip Miller brought far more than the music of his country to our films. He found the musical texture of each of the fourteen cultures in five continents, in which these films were shot, and gave each location extraordinary depth through his composition. His work elevates the drama, and it does so because his music, like our films, is character driven. Philip is one of the wisest and most insightful people I've met. You know it from the instant he makes your acquaintance. You feel it from the first note that he plays under your images. It is an honor and a joy to work with him. What a treasure! Molly
Fowler (documentary producer, New York Times Television)
Philip Miller is one of a rare breed of creative artists who is able to combine exceptional talent with an experience and knowledge of the world. No ivory tower composer, he has a multicultural vocabulary at his fingertips which he is able to draw upon with great facility. To judge by first appearances you might think you are dealing with a temperamental “Beethoven” but notwithstanding his flowing locks Phillip is a meticulous perfectionist who always delivers on time. Phillip is not only great fun to work with but he never fails to deliver something original and exciting. He has made a huge contribution to both the first and second series of Zero Tolerance. Hilary
Blecher (Tony Award Winner, theatre and tv director)
When I first met with Phillip and heard him talk about music I was immediately interested in working with him. Without hearing anything he had done I commissioned him to replace some Kronos Quartet music I had used in a rough cut of a film. It would be, I think, his first music for film. He played something on a piano and said to me "Try and imagine a cello." That was difficult for me but I told him to go ahead anyway. I was thrilled by what he delivered and that was the beginning of a long working relationship that has explored many genres of music. I think of Phillip as one of my key collaborators and I am excited by his work and deeply respectful of his opinions and his input into the projects I do. Angus
Gibson (film director, Oscar Nominee) |