Film Music Judith Gruber-Stitzer

01/20/2025

There were some extraordinary films this year, like 'Nickel Boys' and 'Emilia Perez'. Good luck to one and all!

11/28/2024

Tis time to begin voting for the preliminary round of Oscar award preselections. Good luck to one and all!

10/11/2024

When starting a new soundtrack, I often slip out of Montreal to the Eastern Townships of Quebec. My mini work station has all that I need for the preliminary stages of production and what I see out the window gives me all the rest.

08/23/2024

A Snowden-Fine National Film Board of Canada film that I scored, Animal Behaviour, will be playing at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science museum's fabulous state-of-the-art theatre. I would love to hear how it sounds there. Maybe I should move to L.A. 🙂

Guest speaker: Introduction by director Chris Wedge. Selected by the Animation Branch. A wooly mammoth, a saber-toothed tiger, and a sloth make an unlikely trio of prehistoric travelers in this computer-animated comedy directed by Chris Wedge, an Oscar winner for his 1998 short Bunny. Ray Romano, De...

03/04/2024

Friday I went to a screening of 'Maboungou: Being In the World' at the Rendezvous du Quebec Cinema festival. I had composed the music and done the sound design for this doc that pays tribute to Zab Maboungou's extraordinary dance career. Directed by Marlene Millar and Philip Szporer, the film is a montage of interviews and archival footage. My goal for the soundtrack was to weave together the edit, adding missing bits of archival music and sound and creating an original score that supported the fabulous percussion and music that Zab's shows feature. It was the kind of sound puzzle that I love! As I sat in the audience I found myself smiling for most of the screening, pleased to see Zab on the big screen. She looked great and the film sounded pretty fine, too:)

02/28/2024

There were some terrific films this year in all of the categories. It was a joy to watch them. Good luck to one and all!

02/27/2024

As a film composer, when watching a film, I usually focus my attention on the film score and its role within the dramatic landscape of the movie but when watching Jonathan Glazer’s brilliant and harrowing film ‘The Zone of Interest’, the overall sound rather than the music became a character as important as anything onscreen. The film’s music, composed by Mica Levi, had an unusually restricted role. The score totalled only 14 minutes, 10 of which were at the beginning and end of the film, accompanying extended black screens. Without images onscreen, Levi’s choral score was abstract, horrifying and meditative, contradictions that fit well with Glazer’s portrait of the banality of evil. But it was the soundscape that riveted my attention, calling attention to what we didn’t hear. Johnnie Burn, the sound designer, took great care in creating a soundscape that was historically accurate to Auschwitz. The specific sounds coming from behind the concentration camp’s high walls like gun shots, German shepherds barking, people walking on gravel wearing clogs within the resonant echo heard between the camp’s buildings, these sounds were all carefully researched and replicated. But they were used only as sporadic punctuation to the muted dull din of the never ceasing crematoriums that were the backbone of the soundtrack. Glazer and Burn’s decision that ‘less was more’ for the soundscape and music was audaciously perfect. As the film progressed, I became more and more aware of what I wasn’t hearing beyond the never ending throb of industrialized murder. It was more than enough.

02/14/2024

I'll join the chorus of those who have had the privilege of working with Marcy Page to say how happy I am that she is being recognized for her truly extraordinary career as a producer of brilliant animated shorts for the National Film Board of Canada. Marcy has the gift of making all who collaborate with her feel like she's doing so as much for who they are as for what they do. I composed the music for a healthy handful of films produced by Marcy and her steady and joyful guidance made each experience tip top. She's a pal and a swell gal:)

02/10/2024

Tonight I watched Nisha Pahuja's 'To Kill a Tiger', an Oscar nominated feature documentary co-produced by the National Film Board of Canada and Notice Pictures. The film frames a poignant and pivotal story of India's struggle against sexual violence. I use the word 'frame' because the film making didn't step into the story and call attention to itself as it tells the story of a 13 year old girl's r**e in a rural village in Jharkhand, and of her family's courageous battle for justice. Simplicity in any art form is often the most difficult to achieve and even appreciate because by its very nature, it doesn't call attention to itself. As a film composer, I'm always listening to a film as much as watching it. I found Jonathan Goldsmith's score for this film to be pitch perfect in that he refrained from using much melodic movement, instead creating ambient musical textures that supported the film subtly. The music cues that did have more pronounced melody, rhythm and vocals were scored to picture in little waves that helped the dramatic movement without overwhelming the deliberate simplicity gracing this film. Bravo to the director Nisha Pahuja and to all of the girls in India who are beginning to stand up for their rights. This film is a gift to us all.

Found on Google from imdb.com

01/20/2024

Yourgos Lanthimos' extraordinary film 'Poor Things' had a film score that got me thinking about the role of music in film long after the movie had ended. Admittedly, as a film composer, I tend to think a lot about film music so there's nothing new there:) The opening music cue in Poor Things, which featured wobbly bending string chords, was glorious and delighted me. It set me up to sit back and hold tight, for what promised to be quite a ride though this phantasmagorical story. As the film progressed, I found myself admiring the music but also being distracted by it. I felt like it was trying to be as cracked and off-kilter as the characters. That said there were also cues that I thought were perfect but I finished watching the film feeling unsettled, not quite sure what I thought about the score. I guess I'll have to watch the film again. Poor Things is a visual smorgasbord that deserves a second helping!😊

01/17/2024

Last night I voted for the 2024 Oscar nominations. It's been pure pleasure screening the eligible films. There are some exquisitely crafted movies this year. The nominations will be released on January 23rd. Good luck to one and all!

Montreal based, bi-lingual French English, U.S. Canadian, experienced film composer.

12/29/2023

Last night I saw George C. Wolfe's magnificent film Rustin. Colman Domingo gave a riveting performance that was celebrated by Branford Marsalis' brilliant score. Under Wolfe's direction, the music became a rhythmic joyful counterpoint to this extraordinary story. A soundtrack rarely sits in our consciousness like a character and often, when it does, it means that the music is too imposing and doesn't serve the film. In Rustin, Marsalis' exquisite jazz becomes the stage that frames the film's narrative in a brash unapologetic way. George C. Wolfe and Spike Lee have both used music in this unabashed way, creating an almost operetta-like cadence in the film that feels like a new cinematic musical genre. I sat watching and listening to this glory unfold with a smile on my face from beginning to end.

12/19/2023

Bingo! My ballot for the 2024 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Oscar Short Lists has just been accepted. Good luck to one and all!

12/13/2023

A nice bit of news: Janet Perlman's National Film Board of Canada film, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐓, just won Best International Short at the Los Angeles Animation Festival!! I did the music adaptation of Anna McGarrigle's mighty song 'Complainte pour Sainte-Catherine'. The soundtrack features Kate & Anna McGarrigle's daughters, Lily Lanken & Martha Wainwright, singing lead, backed by the extended Wainwright / McGarrigle clan. The film bubbles with clusters of wonderful animation in 'Perlmanesque' vignettes:) It was such a treat for me to be a part of this romp!

11/07/2023

Polaris, a sci-fi feature that I scored, is now being distributed in the US. It was a real treat working with Kirsten Carthew and Alyson Richards on this dystopian adventure film.

10/10/2023

'The Girl with the Red Beret' took home a prize from the Ottawa International Animation Festival. Anna McGarrigle joined in the merriment as the National Film Board of Canada passed out red berets.

09/14/2023

Janet Perlman's 'The Girl in the Red Beret' is in official competition at the Ottawa International Animation Festival starting September 20, 2023. The film features Anna McGarrigle's song 'Complainte pour Sainte-Catherine', which I adapted for the film. Anna and friends will be joining us at the festival. Fun times ahead!