Striking the right note for Scott Watson story
NZSM PhD student Ewan Clark has drawn on his research at Victoria to strike the right note in an upcoming TV ONE Sunday Theatre documentary Doubt: The Scott Watson Case.
Mr Clark composed the musical score for the 90 minute documentary, which looks at the 1999 trial of New Zealander Scott Watson, who was charged with the murder of Olivia Hope and Ben Smart on New Year’s Eve,1997.
Mr Clark says his PhD research, which is an analytical corpus study of 20 scores by French film composer Alexandre Desplat, provided him with insight and inspiration while composing the musical score.
“Studying these great film scores gives me an in-depth perspective on the role of music in today’s film.
“When creating the score for Doubt: The Scott Watson Case, I had to think carefully about the tone. Scott Watson is an interesting character because he has always maintained his innocence. The documentary asks whether the trial of Scott Watson was fair, rather than asserting his guilt or innocence, so I had to write music which would still be appropriate if he was unequivocally confirmed to be guilty or innocent tomorrow.”
The Doubt: The Scott Watson Case score, along with several short film scores, will be submitted as a portfolio of creative work for Mr Clark’s PhD, all composed with input from supervisor NZSM Professor John Psathas.
Mr Clark’s first collaboration with a filmmaker was in 2003 when he worked on a short film score while completing his Graduate Diploma in Arts at the NZSM. Doubt: The Scott Watson Case is one of the longest film or television scores he has composed—which meant having more creative freedom and having the budget to employ a music department: 22 musicians, orchestrator, recording engineer, music editor, music mixer, fixer and composer.
Mr Clark says he learned a lot from working with director/producer Yvonne MacKay.
“It was a great feeling when the mock-ups had been approved by Yvonne, but even better when the live musicians brought their own considerable talents to the recording and took the music to the next level.”
As well as being a career highlight, working on Doubt: The Scott Watson Case brought back memories for Mr Clark.
“I was in my last year of high school when Olivia Hope and Ben Smart disappeared. I remember being aware that Olivia was a classical pianist and was intending to study at Otago, which is where I started my studies. So it’s a very real possibility I would’ve met her.”
Mr Clark transferred from Otago to the NZSM where he gained a Bachelor of Music in 2001. He also has a Graduate Diploma in Arts and a Graduate Diploma in Teaching (Secondary) from Victoria and a Master of Music from the Royal College of Music, London.
Doubt: The Scott Watson Case will air on TV ONE, 8.30pm, Sunday 2 October.
Victoria University of Wellington’s Master of Fine Arts (Creative Practice) will offer an opportunity to study film scoring next year.