Malana VanTyler
Composer Shaked Shachar has established himself as a distinctive voice in the film music industry. He works at Bleeding Fingers Music, the Los Angeles–based composers collective founded by Hans Zimmer, the internationally acclaimed, multiple Oscar–winning composer, where he is part of the production team that creates original works for film and television. His contributions to productions which appear at the Tribeca Film Festival or The Sphere in Las Vegas attest to how talented Mr. Shachar is, but he is quick to redirect praise onto others stating, “The wonderful thing about being a professional in this specific area of the music industry is that we all understand the common goal of maximizing the emotional impact of the filmmakers we are working with. Egos are really kept to a minimum, leaving the joy of creating music as our focus.” While he is known for his music compositions on films such as The Big Red Balloon, Cherry Kompot, and others, Shaked is keen to contribute in a variety of other ways to serve the ultimate goal of music as a complement to the visual component of storytelling.
When Meredith Danluck’s Why We Dream premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival this year, composer Christian Lundberg’s score was noted for enabling the audience to more deeply access the emotional state of those featured in the film. As an orchestrator working with Mr. Lundberg, Shaked was entrusted with ensuring that the score remained accurate, cohesive, and fully aligned with Christian’s vision. From reviewing and refining orchestrations, addressing technical and musical issues, and adjusting to guarantee clarity and balance across the ensemble, Shaked’s discerning ears and musical insight supported the manifestation of a of a heart-wrenching score for this film. Why We Dream follows a group of veterans who travel to Normandy, France where they were a part of D-Day. Through the complexity of their experiences at this pivotal juncture, the audience is able to perceive the path that these men and the United States set upon and have traversed since World War II. Utilizing various forms of media to tell this story, the scale of the film is both grand and immensely intimate. Mr. Shachar communicates that it requires intense focus as an orchestrator to be respectful to both the score and subject matter. He states, “You must pay very close attention to instrumentation, voicing, and dynamics, to preserve the expressive intent of the music while enhancing its playability and impact. Through this process, I contributed to a polished and emotionally resonant score that elevated the film’s narrative and strengthened its overall artistic presentation. The deadlines were tight but this level of precision and efficiency was essential in supporting the score’s emotional impact and helping the music fully realize the narrative vision of the film.”
While the Tribeca Film Festival certainly has the respect and prestige associated with the best of the film industry, nothing contains the “awe” factor of The Sphere in Las Vegas. When Delta Airlines held their centennial celebration event at The Sphere in early January this year, they presented a ready for broadcast commercial created specifically for this momentous occasion. As the technical score engineer for composer Andrew James Christie’s score of the commercial, Shaked contributed to a project that was showcased on one of the most unique screens in existence. From concert events by iconic bands like U2 and The Eagles to a 4D screening of The Wizard of Oz, The Sphere is known for larger-than-life experiences. The music for Delta’s production displayed at this venue was recorded at Synchron Stage in Vienna by some of Europe’s most acclaimed musicians. Shaked was more fixated on the recording space in Vienna than The Sphere as he remarks, “The most challenging aspect of my role on this project was managing the complexity of the orchestral recording that had been captured at Synchron Stage. The session was recorded with an extensive array of microphones, resulting in more than twenty individual stems that represented different perspectives of the orchestra and the hall. My task was to sort through these tracks, carefully balance them, and prepare them so they could be used effectively in the final production.” The final version of the score which accompanies the visual component of this Delta commercial is as grand and emotive as any feature length film. This production communicates that a commercial can have potent power to stir a sense of admiration and wonder, when the story is told by gifted storytellers.
Shaked Shachar is currently working on the Apple original feature documentary Lewis, which covers the life, career, and activism of Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton. Collaborating with composer Ho-Ling Tang, Mr. Shachar will again apply his consummate abilities to empower the music of this project to align hearts with a moving story.