SAVE BENEDICT
The Movie
When I signed on to write music for Save Benedict, I had no idea it would become one of the largest student video productions in the history of St. John's University. In the early stages of development, writer/director Peter Mullin would reveal only his project's code name "Collegeville," and little about the script aside from it being a monastic thriller. Since St. John's has a history of ghost stories, abduction, and mystery, Peter knew his film could generate some buzz - and perhaps controversy.
Set in the St. John's Abbey of Collegeville, MN, Save Benedict follows detective Adam St. Clair (Jay Terry) in his search for insight into a local professor's dissapearance. His investigation eventually leads him to the professor's troubled daughter Elizabeth (Amanda Forstrom). Together Adam and Elizabeth unearth clues from beyond the realm of the living.
The Music
I had the pleasure of working with SCSU composer Jonathon Woods to create the score for Save Benedict. In our initial production meetings, we decided on the instrumentation that would capture the mysterious feel of this film. A mix of electronic sounds and classical guitar seemed right for the more mysterious segments. And since both Jonathon and I were comfortable in these mediums, we chose scenes to focus on and went right to work.
One challenging scene to compose music for was the historical flashback involving St. Scholastica (Jenny Holmseth) and St. Benedict (David Allen). I wanted to create something reminiscent of ancient music, but still emotionally poignant to a modern audience. My inspiration eventually came form the medieval composer Hildegard von Bingen. I modeled the piano piece for the scene after melodic characteristics of monophonic chant typical of Hildegard's time. The piece is in the Dorian mode, an ancient scale commonly associated with the early church. Benedict & Scholastica.mp3
One of my favorite scenes to compose for was the appearance of St. Scholastica's ghost in the abbey church. I used purely synthesized sounds to evoke an other worldly environment. Mysterious lower tones give way to ethereal higher tones as Scholastica's form emerges. The abscence of all other audio leading up to her appearance creates a tranquilly internal mood that throws the reality of Adam's experience into question. Masterful cinematography (Jeff Schwinghammer) and editing (John O'Sullivan) make the scene disturbingly tranquil, and one of the film's most frightening segments. Summoning Spirits.mp3
The Premiere
Once the student body caught wind of this "monastic thriller," we knew Peter was right about the amount of buzz the movie would generate. Our 515-seat theater filled to the brim twice on Premiere night. It truly was a spectacle. Peter even had horse-drawn hayrides goin on outside.
Working so closely with a film, it's easy to forget which parts were meant to be funny or shocking, so hearing such a large audience react to Save Benedict was exciting. While covertly sitting in the audience, I heard a few girls behind me gasp during the ghost of Scholastica scene. On whispered to the other, "this is so scary!" That was the second best inadvertent compliment my music got, right behind Peter getting watery-eyed after seeing the tunnel scene with music for the first time.
