Working with Christopher Nolan on Interstellar

As “Interstellar” is sitting very comfortably atop most of the box office charts at the moment (November 2014), I couldn’t help being interested in reading a Quora piece on working with Christopher Nolan. The reply came from none other than Hans Zimmer (photo), the famous soundtrack composer.

Chris … doesn’t, in any way, get in the way of my imagination. In fact, he works very hard at not having me confined by the mechanics of film-making. So, our process is usually starting long conversations – just riffing on ideas. Then slowly I start writing and experimenting, coming up with sounds, etc., all the while keeping in constant conversation with Chris.

What is perhaps even more fascinating is the way Zimmer got involved in “Interstellar” in the first place. From a separate question:

Chris said to me, “I have this idea. I’m not going to tell you what the movie is, but I’ve written this one-page description, and if I give you that, can you spend one day with it and write whatever comes to you?” That already sounded like a good start and an adventure. On that page was this tiny, intimate little fable, between a father and his child. And so I wrote what became a musical love letter to my son.

Afterward, I phoned Chris and said, “I’ve written it. Do you want me to send it over?” Chris said, “No I’m going to come down and hear it.” So he came down to my studio and after listening to it, I asked him what he thought. He replied, “Well, I’d better make the movie now.”

For more quotes and a connection with Hans Zimmer visit his reply on Quora.