What do the films of Martin Scorsese, Richard Linklater, and Wes Anderson have in common? Great songs carefully curated by music supervisor Randall Poster.
Poster’s expertise in choosing just the right music helped make Larry Clark’s “Kids” and Wes Anderson’s “The Royal Tenenbaums” pop. In a recent interview, Poster explained how he got into music supervision.
“It was born out of an ambition to make movies. Growing up with Todd Haynes, Richard Linklater and Wes Anderson was really the foundation of my career.”
From May 9 through May 11, Poster will be presenting a series of films where he served as music supervisor. He will discuss the films before or after screening. Tickets are available at www.thetriplex.org.
On Friday night, May 9, there will be two films about hotels: Sofia Coppola’s “Somewhere,” and Wes Anderson’s “Grand Budapest Hotel.” Saturday features include “American Graffiti” and “School of Rock.” On Sunday, “Mean Streets” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” by Martin Scorsese will be shown.
About “Mean Streets”, Poster said, “Scorsese’s use of popular music created a pivotal moment. He really decided to forego an original score and populated the movie with great rock’n’roll songs that don’t play nice. It had a rock’n’roll attitude and an anti-establishment vibe. That film influenced every generation of filmmakers. It really opened the door to try to push the boundaries of the musical component of movies,” he said.
Poster also selects music for TV series and oversees all musical aspects from choosing and licensing existing music to collaborating with composers to create original scores. For example, Poster worked with Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo to develop the score to Wes Anderson’s “Rushmore.”
He works closely with directors to hone their vision but doesn’t always pick music for directors, which is a common misconception.
“My job is to be the person with whom the director can discuss the music, imagine a music strategy and then work together to execute it. I’m by the director’s side presenting different options or perspectives and trying to find the most perfect piece of music to accompany and support the story. As you edit the film, you get a sense of what the film is looking for,” he said.
Poster has worked on “The Crossing Guard,” “Velvet Goldmine,” “Rushmore,” “Boys Don’t Cry,” “Meet the Parents,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “The Aviator,” “The Squid and the Whale,” “Zodiac,” “I’m Not There,” “Up in the Air,” “Joker: Folie a Deux,” among many other films and television shows including HBO’s “Vinyl,” which was produced by Martin Scorsesee and Mick Jagger.
About working with Jagger, Poster said, “He turned us on to some songs that are lesser-known. One of the great joys of music supervision is getting to the roots of whatever music it is that we’re thinking about.”
Most recently, Poster worked on a documentary about Pee Wee Herman directed by Matt Wolf due out in May on HBO. Always an eager listener, Poster has a wide range of tastes.
“It all depends on what era I’m living in at the moment. Oftentimes I’m in the 1930s or the 1950s. This week, I just was listening to a lot of Aretha Franklin’s early Atlantic Records,” he said.
“I spend a lot of time looking for music, listening to music, storing music and learning about music. I still enjoy listening so much, and it’s been my abiding passion. As long as I’ve been digging, I’ve made discoveries over a long period of time,” he added.
Photo by Graham Corrigan
