Revered composer Alex Heffes has had an eclectic career incorporating feature films, broaching episodic television and cutting a swath through documentary territory. From The Last King of Scotland to Black Mirror and beyond to Touching The Void and now The Elephant Queen he has consciously avoided categorisation. He recently took time to talk to Martin Carr about his career and how keeping it fresh remains paramount…
How did you first become involved in The Elephant Queen?
You never quite know how people find you, but in this case the two directors Victoria Stone and Mark Deeble approached me and flew out to LA. They sent me a ten minute compilation of some of the best bits and sort of wouldn’t go until I said yes. It was clear they were both passionate about their film and weren’t entirely sure what I was going to bring, but had seen some films I had done set in Africa. From watching my work in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom and The Last King of Scotland they knew I had taken African musical elements and fused them into an orchestral score. Their vision involved trying to replicate that feeling somehow and felt I would be perfect.
You touched on how they initially approached you but how did those creative conversations evolve over time?
The first thing they wanted was for this film to just connect with audiences, both as a story and as a drama emotionally. Not just as a fact based documentary but as something people are really going to care about and be entertained by. They just wanted me to really immerse myself in the subject and draw audiences in by creating that connection through my music. What I tried to do going forward was just treat it like a feature film, by bringing characters like Wewe the baby elephant out through the music. For example by portraying him as the naughty child who is always messing around and pulling his sister’s tail. Giving audiences a chance to connect with the sense of fun and emotion when things get tough. So the music is really just trying guide the viewer and listener on an emotional journey.
To what extent did the location of The Elephant Queen influence your creative choices?
Being set in east Africa gave me access to a great palette of African voices which we used along with traditional instruments including kalimbas and marimbas. However, the trick is to have that all happening but avoid being generic by creating your own musical vocabulary. It was unusual for a documentary that we were able to have a good sized orchestra, which in turn helped us convey this emotional palette through the music. From there I was able to record a lot of African percussion and then incorporate different instruments of my own along the way. On each film you always try to see where these different elements intersect within an orchestral structure to create your own musical language.
The documentary has a very distinctive narrative which you have already touched on briefly, but how does your score contribute to that in the broader sense?
When I joined the film they were still shaping it and in a way my music influenced how the narrative eventually turned out. Victoria and Mark lived in Africa for years and this narrative was already there, but it always takes much more beyond that to create a coherent whole. For me it turned into a nice opportunity for us to influence each other. During the process I would get sequences and chunks to work on which would then have my music built into them. That would then bring out emotions and comedy, create themes for certain animals and be broadened into something else. What I think is nice about the film having seen it with a group of younger children, is how they connect with other characters like the funny chameleon and comedic dung beetle. It is unusual because beyond the elephants it has this really wide cast of other characters who create numerous musical possibilities. For the dung beetle we used sped up percussion and an old cheese grater Mac pro, which I played with a brush to get some really good snare drum sounds.
Probably the most challenging thing is the emotional part of this story, because as you said there is a really strong narrative. It was really important to musically underscore Athena’s journey for water without going too heavy, because when the baby elephant does get sick it is very intense. So musically you need to take an audience by the hand and be emotional without being emotive.
In your opinion what are the creative challenges of composing for documentaries as opposed to feature films and television mini-series?
I started doing documentaries with Kevin Macdonald and worked on One Day In September, which was his first film and won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature that year. We then worked together on Touching The Void and looking back on it now, things like that which integrated narration alongside documentary footage and an original score had never really been done. Something which seems hard to believe now as it has become such an inherent part of our creative vocabulary in terms of feature documentaries. My point is that I try to treat them very much like a feature film narrative, especially where it has this full length structure which feels so similar to a movie. Kevin always makes his films like that so I always approach them like that as well. With The Elephant Queen it’s just a story which happens to be based on real things, but it needs to talk to an audience and engage them otherwise the documentary element fails to sink in. No one wants to be spoon fed facts unless the subject matter is factually driven, you want to learn something by being engrossed.
From the point of view of Apple and their hands on or hands off approach to this project, how involved were they?
I think it is fantastic that Apple came on board because this gives the film an incredible platform. One of the great things they have been doing is supporting the film makers through the Outreach programme, by making story books in Kenya for children based on characters in their film. They have been trying to raise awareness about wildlife as well as being really supportive with the music. We have talked about doing a live concert to picture and Apple has been positive about any ideas that have been taken to them.
Considering your eclectic career what are the key considerations you weigh up before signing on to any project?
I have been asked to do so many different things and in terms of a common thread which links them all I might be too close to give an honest answer. However, looking back on a wide range of work I have always said yes to things which really interest me, but always said no for the opposing reason. Sometimes I do a lot of research which in the case of this project meant I went to Kenya, stayed with Mark and Victoria in camp and spent time with wild elephants. It gave me a sense of what the environment sounds like there and how music could maybe work in that context as well. When we did The Last King of Scotland, Kevin Macdonald took me out to Uganda and I recorded a lot of things for the film out there. We recorded a song in an old meat factory in the middle of the night which made it into the film, as well as some stuff with a big choir and percussion which played over the end credits. I think I just enjoy the idea of digging into different creative areas of my brain, whilst being thrown into tricky situations that keep things fresh.
Have you got any projects you are working on in isolation you can talk about?
We have just started A Suitable Boy which is has been turned into a mini-series for the BBC directed by Mira Nair, based on the book by Vikram Seth. I have been working with Anouska Shankar who is Ravi Shankar’s daughter who has been doing all the sitars on it. We have been working with lots of incredible musicians in India, Mumbai and Delhi as well as recording percussion in this country, so it has been a huge challenge logistically. I also scored the upcoming fiilm The 24th which is written and directed by Kevin Willmott who won an Oscar for BlacKkKlansman.
Describe your perfect Sunday afternoon
Although I love working, not working on a Sunday is a very good thing for me and for my family and their sanity. I am very lucky to be living here in the sunshine of southern California, so for example we went boogie boarding last Sunday down on the beach in the sunshine. I also like to play a little ping pong as well as playing the piano, because I can’t stay away from music for too long.
Thank you for taking the time to talk to Flickering Myth today and take care.
The Elephant Queen is available to stream on Apple TV+ now.
Photos Courtesy of Apple
