Congratulations to Oliver Snook and his work on (count ‘em) two films that were selected for Cannes this year: "Club Kid" directed by Jordan Firstman and "Atonement" directed by Reed Van Dyk. This is not Oliver’s first time to have a hand in a Cannes-bound film. He previously worked on Palme d'Or winner Anora, which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
In a quick interview, Oliver explained his role as effects and Foley editor on these projects, including his work on sound design and ambiance and then told us more about how Temple prepared him for that work and
Q&A With Oliver Snook:
Q: Tell me a little about how your work at Temple prepared you for what you are doing now?
My time at Temple, my film scoring class was with Professor de Caumette. And that was sort of the avenue by which I was given encouragement to pursue this. So, I started with linking up with senior thesis films and just communicating my level of interest, because I think the thing we can really take advantage of as Temple students is that we're all kind of in a learning and growing transitionary state. Not that you ever leave that once you graduate, but there's an accepted level of vulnerability when you're in college, right?
Like, I'm interested in this, maybe I haven't done it much, but give me an opportunity, let's work together. And so… My first [film score] was with, alumni Reigna Wren, her senior film "In Sickness And…" — And that really… Gave me a lot of confidence, because people enjoyed the textures of that film, which is more of, like, a sad, contemplative, smooth jazz sort of vibe. And then from there, it was really just staying in touch and communicating with the senior class, because the concentrations and the films that came through the concentration just had the most "schedule" to them. They were held to some level of standard that adding a composer to the mix — you know what these due dates are going to be.
Q: I know you had degrees both in FMA and in Boyer, and we've talked about it at some point, but, what was it like to have that crossover? How did it help to have, have the instruction, both in Boyer and in FMA, for what you're working on?
A: So, specifically I got the music tech certificate. The way it worked is that there were some classes that were focused on general sound editing and recording. It was a small bundle of classes that sort of hyper-focused in on people who are interested in making music for media with technical programs but maybe didn't have the scope to engage with higher level music theory through Boyer at large... music theory classes, and history classes. Someone who maybe didn't have the capacity to take on all that but still wanted to engage with what Boyer had - the talent, and the teaching that Boyer had. And so, the cool thing about kind of riding between Boyer and the film school, TFMA, was that with my roots in TFMA, I understood more about, what made film specifically work, like, what are we looking for? What's the important thing? Because, you know, music is not in a vacuum. When it's to film it's always supporting something. It's supporting the story, it's supporting a character, it's supporting a moment. A vibe.
But without the Boyer side of things I wouldn't have as much knowledge on — how are we mixing? How am I using a DAW? Like, what is EQ? What is that spectrum? Not that one was inherently more technical rather than creative, but I feel like the TFMA roots were a bit more creative and heady, and then the Boyer stuff that I specifically accessed gave me kind of the technical know-how, and lots of direct feedback, especially from Professor de Caumette on, things like - hey, try this instrument, or try a more reserved approach here, or you know, this sounds great, but realistically, this is battling with the dialogue, and you don't want to battle with the dialogue, you want to support the dialogue.
And I don't think that was an experience I could have gotten if I just did TFMA, or if I just did a music degree. And it's really cool that that level of flexibility was there to allow me to dip my toes into both, and become stronger for it.
Q: What does it mean to you to have work in films that reach the level of large festivals and awards like Cannes and the Academy Awards
A: It's a mix of emotions. I feel like deep gratitude to have worked on the film. And there's a level of elation of: this is awesome - just genuinely cool that there's some sort of tangible goal that I had in mind when I started working on films, and one of the tangible goals was to work on a film that got sent to Cannes, and that happened, so there's a level of fulfillment that comes with that. But there's also a level of humbling and reminding myself that, not in a diminutive way, but, I just worked on effects, right? What's the next goal? Is it to mix a film that gets into Cannes? A higher level position where you're more in charge, or more creatively inputting, you know? Is it to write the music for a film that gets into Cannes? It's invigorating, and it also reminds you to check in with your goals, and ask where do I want to see myself in 5 years?
And then there's also a completely relevant, but different feeling. I worked on these films, and I enjoyed these films before I knew they were getting into Cannes. There's sort of a relationship that I had with the material. Prior to the attention that the material is getting. So, it's always good to remind yourself that you don't necessarily know where your project is going to end up.
And it's important that you be honest with yourself about that project when you're first interacting with it, and saying how can I help this? What can I get out of it, and how can I help this project, regardless of where it might end up, because sometimes a project that you work on that you're super in love with might not get the attention it deserves, and you have to prepare yourself for that fact, is that sometimes it doesn't happen, and sometimes a project that you work on that maybe you didn't give as much love as you should have, maybe that gets more attention. So it's always important to take things in stride, but make sure you're giving every project the love it deserves, because you can always get something out of it, even if it doesn't reach, a Cannes, or a, you know, Sundance, or Diamond Doc, you know what I mean? That's my… the Trinity, right?
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We were so glad Oliver had a little time to sit down with us and look forward to hearing all about his next amazing projects. He also mentioned how much he'd like to spend time advising students so hopefully we'll have a chance to have him back to campus or out to check in with our LA Study Away classes at some point in the future.