Film music to enhance, not distract

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Paul Bucknor of Firefly Films, which produced the 2010 feature Better Mus' Come and is looking forward to releasing The Candy Shop, puts forward an overriding criterion for the music that accompanies a film.

"The music must enhance the story. If it draws too much attention to itself, it is not good," Bucknor said. "We are not making a music video."

He said that there are two ways of sourcing music for a film - have it composed or select from existing music. It is not a matter of one or the other and, for Better Mus' Come, Bucknor said "Wayne Armond did a fantastic score for us. But to get the authentic feel of the 1970s, I went and spoke to Chinna Smith. Daniel in the Lion's Den sets up the whole film for us."

Historically, Better Mus' Come climaxes with the Green Bay killings of 1978, where persons aligned to the then opposition Jamaica Labour Party were killed by Jamaica Defence Force soldiers on the army range in St Catherine.

"The most moving music is music that has the emotional content that matches the moment. The film has emotional content; we need music which matches that emotional mood. If we pick it off the shelf, it tends to be stronger," he said.

For the humour-driven teen movie The Candy Shop, Bucknor said, "We have a few songs from Courtney John." There are some tracks that he would have used which will have to be left out, as Bucknor said he could not get the required clearance. The music is key to a film for which Bucknor has unequivocal ambitions.

"We are looking at it as a definitive film," Bucknor said. "Part of why we are taking so long to bring it to the public. We want the right music."

A chance meeting with deejay Lisa Hyper has led to a connection with King Jammys studio in Waterhouse, St Andrew, which is developing into a musical, Swag, for which producer Baby G does the music. And there could be more Chinna Smith music in Bucknor's work in the future, as he has been listening to the famed guitarist's catalogue in considering tracks for another film.