Music in Movies and TV: Spider-Noir

 

Music in Movies and TV: Spider-Noir

 

Michael Dean Parsons and Kris Bowers are hardworking musicians who contribute to the Spider-Noir TV series. To achieve a classic Noir sound infused with orchestral Sci-Fi/ Fantasy, they used many instruments to produce music rich in harmonics.

 

Michael and Kris drew inspiration from composer Jerry Goldsmith. When the filmmakers wanted another score for the movie Chinatown, Goldsmith produced a different sound which has become the archetypal Noir movie sound.

 

Before they started, Michael and Kris collected 250 soundtracks to familiarize themselves with what audiences expected. After compiling this vast library and grounding themselves in genre history, they set the collection aside. Then, they crafted their own unique sound for Spider-Noir.

 

Their creativity took them on unexpected journeys. Kris had arranged to record sounds on a harpsichord from a music store. But instead of playing melodic music as he and the store owners expected, Kris ended up banging on the strings to create motor sounds for an old vehicle.

 

Both musicians have also learned to adapt their vision as the planned episode becomes a reality. Stories evolve until the showrunner puts his stamp of approval on each episode of Spider-Noir. As Michael Dean Parsons said, when a showrunner doesn't like their music, that's not a problem. Rather, it's an opportunity to improve what they've created. As in all forms of storytelling, writing is rewriting.  

 

Spider-Noir is available to stream on Amazon. 

 

Thanks to Michael Dean Parsons, Kris Bowers, the creative team behind Spider-Noir, and San Diego Comic-Con for sharing this story with us.