| Moviesongs a
casestory
|
Back
|
The
making of a moviesong
Fishtastic
But True
Lead vocal by Terry Jones
From the movie Help, I’m A Fish (Egmont, A Film, Munich Animation, TerraGlyph,
2000) |
| Facts
about Help I´m A Fish |
When
directors Michael Hegner and Stefan Fjeldmark from A Film contacted
Twin/Fernando/Twin the production of Help, I’m A Fish! was
well underway, but they were still searching for the right songs. |
 |
|
| |
|
Several
well-reputed songwriters had made attempts but without succeeding.
And it was no easy task. The first song had to capture the exact
humorous yet excentric tone that would match the role of a mad
scientist - as well as the voice behind it, Monty Python’s
Terry Jones. Also the lyrics - being a formular - had to contain
a number of peculiar ingredients each of them important parts
of the plot’s further development. |
Terry Jones
|
Musicals
and animated movies have this awkward and fragile moment when a
character bursts out singing for the first time. Twin/Fernando/Twin
met the challenge by simply letting the professor hum absent-mindedly,
combining this with real-sounds. |
| |
The
song itself was written at the piano and based on a musical notebook-sketching
from the Twin/Fernando/Twin archive. The creative puzzle getting
all the small bits of lyrics just right took several weeks in constant
dialogue with the directors. |
A pre-production
with a brilliant provisional vocal by David Bateson was recorded
for the storyboarders and animators to be able to continue working.
It wasn’t until much later that Twin/Fernando/Twin flew to
London to record Terry Jones. Along with them they brought the track
in all 12 keys knowing that the actor hadn’t been recording
much since the merry Monty Python days. |
Four
hours of takes with the entertaining soloist was later thouroughly
edited. The band, sound effects, horns and choir was recorded at
Twin/Fernando/Twin’s own studio in Copenhagen and lastly a
symphony orchestra was added in Ireland. |
| View
videosamples of the other three songs
Help, I´m A Fish written by Twin/fernando/Twin |
|
|
|
