Orchestral score and more than 100 prints for Beneath Hill 60
Jeremy Sims is working with composer Cezary Skubiszewski and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra this week on the score for WW1 epic Beneath Hill 60, which is likely to open on 100-130 screens in April.
Producer Bill Leimbach told Encore that the film has become a real “classic” film and therefore, Sims is looking for a “full, rich classical feel” with oboes, clarinets, cellos, violins, kettle drums and even bells.
“Jeremy was adamant that Cezary created a leitmotif that meanders through the film, and I think he has succeeded,” he said.
According to Leimbach, the film’s distributor Paramount Pictures was working hard to make Beneath Hill 60 a household name before its release on April 15. The trailer is currently playing nationwide, attached to films such as Nine and Up in the Air.
“Paramount is still playing around with the market research to work out exactly how many prints they will produce for how many screens, but at the moment the discussion is somewhere between 100 and 130,” said Leimbach.
The film will be so realistic, they even got volunteer German backpackers to play German soldiers and do German voices during sound post.
“Our extras casting director, Mim Weger, literally pulled into a car wash in Townsville and heard these three Germans jabbering away as they washed her trench-mud car. She asked if they would like to be extras in the film. They dressed up as German soldiers and withstood the muddy hardships for many long night shoots. When not filming, they helped with filling sand bags, carting props and costumes, all voluntarily.
“It worked out for them and it was great for us. One of them, Clemens Zocher, just finished doing German re-dubbing in the sound department,” added Leimbach.
