The documentary Rhino Man has been making headlines lately, not only for its subject matter, but also because it just held a private screening with The Royal Foundation and was attended by Prince William and his aunt Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh. The screening was hosted by United for Wildlife at Battersea Power Station in London on June 13th. The documentary, directed by John Jurko II, Matt Lindenberg and Daniel Roberts, follows a group of young candidates as they strive to become the next generation of rangers, while Sergeant Anton Mzimba holds the line against poachers in the field. It’s an intimate telling of the rangers’ lives, highlighting the dangers they face, their passion for the work, and their importance in the global fight against illegal wildlife trade. The film was made by the Global Conservation Corps, a nonprofit that is dedicated to conserving wildlife through education and bridging the gap between communities and conservation. Adding to the emotional tale is the original score by Simón Wilson (Gift of Fear, Celebrity Escape Room, Momentum), which he describes as heroic and introspective. We spoke to Simón about Rhino Man and much more in the below exclusive interview.
Learn more about Rhino Man at https://rhinomanthemovie.org/.
What was the first film/tv score that really stuck out to you?
It would have to be Howard Shore’s score to Lord of the Rings. I didn’t even know what film music was at that point, but I know I connected with the story in the most magical way. His themes for each place and people, and the way they weave throughout the trilogy and tell everything just as it should be… truly a masterclass.
You recently scored the documentary Rhino Man. How did you become involved with this project?
I met John Jurko (producer, cinematographer, director) through a mutual friend of ours whom I had worked with several times on the LA 48 Hour Film Project. John emailed me saying he had heard my work in some of those 48 Hour Films (for anyone who doesn’t know the 48 Hour Fest, it’s an absolute blast and a great exercise in listening to your intuition) and had a doc that was almost ready for music that he wanted to chat about. We connected immediately in our first phone call, just similar personality types and vibe, and he asked me to write a couple of pieces to pitch for the project.
How would you describe your score for Rhino Man?
If I had to use some words, I would say it’s heroic, introspective, and somber. I started with sampling a bunch of instruments: I had a log drum, a metal end table that had some cool resonance to it, an ohm drum, a kalimba, and an electric kalimba that I banged away on in loops and gestures. There was also this cool instrument called Azzam Bells that was in the studio I worked in at the time, so I borrowed that and got some boomy percussive sounds out of it. I also brought in a string player who I asked to do some improvisational gestures and fx on top of the demos I pitched for the project. I then chopped those up and used them all throughout the score. I got a lot of mileage out of some of her harmonics and tremolos, sawing and scraping gestures and the like, even some that sounded like bird calls. Oh, and I bought Landforms by Slate + Ash 🙂 Such a useful library! It has a great feature where you can drop in your own samples, so for one of the themes I used a concertina sound (an instrument used in South African popular music) and made a pad out of it.
John Jurko II, Matt Lindenberg and Daniel Roberts are the directors of Rhino Man. What sort of direction did they give you on how they wanted the film to sound?
I remember John mentioning some film scores that he had temped (Blood Diamond, Virunga, Road To Perdition, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword) and then also several African and South African artists: Johnny Clegg, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Salif Keita, Baaba Maal. It was great to get a variety of stuff to listen to, even though much of it I wasn’t specifically trying to replicate in the score. In terms of instrumentation, I know John and I spoke about drums and brass. He wanted one of the characters, Martin Mthembu, to have a horn sound for his theme. But other than that, he mostly just let me do my thing. I took in the references, used my intuition, and we had a good deal of communication about the people involved and what they mean to the story, to the wildlife, to each other, etc. It was a pretty smooth process really. I think that had a lot to do with our initial conversation, where I mentioned before that we just clicked.
How was Rhino Man different than some of your previous projects?
Well, it’s difficult to say how this one was specifically different, because every project is just different from the next. I would say that what sets this apart from many of the other things I’ve done is the people involved, the three main men of the film: Martin, Ruben, and Anton. They are all so strong in their own ways, inspirational and dedicated, honorable and selfless, and their values are extremely important. You can see it in the way each one of them talks about the wildlife. I guess this project is also different in a very tragic way, in that Anton was killed by the poaching syndicate shortly after I finished the score last year. Needless to say, it changed the course of the film and hopefully we are able to bring more awareness to this issue.
You scored another film this year, Gift of Fear. Can you talk about your work on that film?
Yes, that one was a really intense project. It’s a film about missing and murdered Indigenous women, and follows the story of a sex trafficking ring in a small Native community. A narrative drama, but a true story for many women who have lived through it and I did my best to tell that story. I had a vocalist come in and do some ad-libbing and improvisational stuff but I didn’t want to lean too much into the female vocals cause it would have been obvious. I mostly stuck with my hybrid-orchestral palette for this one. The director wanted it to sound like a big, Hollywood blockbuster so I had fun with that.
You have scored both unscripted and scripted projects. What is the biggest difference between the two, when creating music?
I just had someone ask me this the other day. I learned a lot about this from Gil Talmi and Andrew Gross at Konsonant Music, who do a ton of doc work and are very, very good at it. With docs, it is so easy for it to feel over the top or melodramatic. These are real people with important stories, and the moment you take it too far it starts to feel like you’re making fun of them or something. I’ve made this mistake a few times, and no doubt will do it again. But I actually take it as a compliment now when someone says “I’m missing something here” or “I want more here, this needs a melody” because I’ve finally learned how to pull back. With scripted stuff, you can generally get away with adding more instruments and making more harmonic changes, and that’s something I love. But still I think the concept of “less is more” is an important one that can be equally as powerful in narrative drama, and one that’s bee increasingly more popular and effective in the last 10 or 20 years.
Is there a specific director you would like to work with one day?
Sheesh… tough one. Most of the directors that immediately come to mind are older. I’ve been a big fan of what the Safdie brothers are doing. I love their chaotic and off-putting ways of storytelling, and the craziness of it all is so real and human. Very believable. I love the way they use music too, and the guy who scores their stuff really knows his way around a Moog. It seems like they give him a lot of freedom, which I think is important in a director-composer relationship.
You can learn more about Simón Wilson at https://www.simonwilsonmusic.com/.
