The Composers I'd Want to Write the Score for My Movie

I've always enjoyed reading mysteries, so a few years ago I decided to try my hand at writing it. My main character is a private detective who lives in Washington, DC. A retired army officer, named Al Pennyback, he's a bit of a knight errant, always coming to the rescue of the vulnerable; but, he's also a bit eccentric. One of my readers remarked that my graphic style of writing made my stories perfect or the movies. Well, that got me started thinking; what kind of movie would the Al Pennyback series make. The story that seems most suitable as a movie, because of the action and suspense, is one called "Dead, White, and Blue," about a racist militia group that plans to assassinate a U.S. Senator. Al has to stop them, but encounters a complication when his girl friend and his best friend's wife are kidnapped by the group.

The overall tone of the movie is dark and threatening, beginning with the murder of an undercover federal agent on an isolated country road which happens, unfortunately, to be witnessed by Al's friend. The darkness is relieved at points with lighter moments as Al mulls his relationship with his girl friend, but the action is never held at bay for long, with explosions and gunfire aplenty, including a solo assault by our hero on the militia headquarters where he dispatches the commander and a couple of the bad guys in a fiery explosion.

The music for my movie has to convey the darkness, but be capable of transitioning to lighter melody without too much abruptness. For that reason, I don't think a single composer could handle it. "Dead, White, and Blue" the movie would need a team, and my dream team would be Terence Blanchard and Hans Zimmer.

Blanchard, a jazz trumpeter and bandleader, who got his start with the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, was a key figure in the resurgence of jazz in the 1980s. Known for his hard edged compositions, his trumpet arrangements would be perfect for the scenes involving the militia, especially the scene when they fire rocket propelled grenades on Washington's National Mall in their failed attempt to assassinate the senator, and the scene when Al Pennyback takes on the militia leader near the end of the movie. Blanchard has written the score for a number of Spike Lee's films, and since Lee would be my director of choice, it's a marriage made in heaven.

For the romantic moments, and the stalking scenes, Hans Zimmer, who did music for such films as Thelma & Louise, A League of Their Own, and A Shark's Tale; but who has also done Blackhawk Down and Backdraft brings the darkness as well.

I think these two could be the 21^st century version of Rogers and Hammerstein; Blanchard with the African influence in his jazz, and Zimmer who can do racket and romance equally well, would provide the perfect fusion; a unique blending of old and new, straight and weird, to make this movie come alive on the screen, and have viewers on the edge of their seats.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Blanchard

http://musiced.about.com/od/lessonsandtips/a/davincicode.htm

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm001877/bio

http://www.terenceblanchard.com/main.html

http://www.amazon.com/Dead-White-Blue-Charles-Ray/dp/1453796010

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456515993/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk