Composer Roc Chen: “Sending the Earth on its Wanderings, and Dancing with Dark Feathers”
Chinese action films have not had much success in the United States. Many blockbuster films that have caused a sensation in mainland China have struggled to perform well in the American market despite solid support from the Chinese diaspora. It’s well known that American cinemas are purely profit-driven, without content restrictions, and audience preferences and box office performance determine success. The lack of attention from non-Chinese audiences had been a significant reason for these films’ underwhelming box office performance in the US.
However, “The Wandering Earth” is an exception. Despite being shown in fewer than a hundred American theaters, it grossed six million dollars! Its attendance rate can rival that of top-tier American blockbusters. This indicates that many non-Chinese viewers were deeply attracted to this film and even overcame language barriers to enthusiastically watch this Chinese science fiction movie. “The Wandering Earth 2” also achieved over five million dollars at the US box office, continuing the first film’s success.
There’s a famous saying in the film industry that fifty-one percent of a film’s expression is through music. The quality of film scoring complements the storyline and is essential for a film’s success. It’s said that Spielberg’s “Jaws” owes much to John Williams’ original score. Similarly, the success of “The Wandering Earth” is also closely related to its high-quality film score, a fact acknowledged by many fans and industry professionals of the film.
If you search, you’ll find that the composer for “The Wandering Earth” and “The Wandering Earth 2,” Roc Chen, has an impressive background. He composed for the hugely popular Chinese documentary “A Bite of China” and is perhaps best known for the theme song “Jiu Er” from the TV series “Red Sorghum,” which not only became a popular concert selection but was also covered by numerous renowned singers and played at international sports events.
As mentioned earlier, “ Dark Feathers” had five composers. The initially contracted composer had experience in composing for musicals but not for films. He didn’t realize the music needed to be completed before post-production, so started writing too late. When we realized this, it was too late to let the original composer finish, so I had to find another composer urgently. At this critical moment, I met Roc Chen. After communicating and listening to Roc Chen’s music, I immediately invited him to work on the film’s music.
Initially, the idea was for Roc Chen to create a theme song for the film. If it could be as outstanding as “Jiu Er,” it could further propel the film’s success. Often, even if the story of a movie is forgotten by the public, the film’s songs continue to be remembered. However, due to budget and time constraints for music production, the collaboration on the theme song fell through. Nevertheless, in the spirit of mutual support among the Chinese, after discussion, Roc Chen agreed to let the production team select suitable music from his library, most of which had not yet been released, so it was considered a new creation. Thus, I selected four scene music pieces from Roc Chen’s library to use as background music for key scenes. Finally, regarding the talented Chinese composer Roc Chen and our movie, I believe that this collaboration and presentation will also be fantastic. “The Dark Feathers: Dance of the Geisha” is scheduled to premiere in US theaters on August 2nd, so stay tuned!
https://www.facebook.com/darkfeathersmovie
https://www.instagram.com/darkfeathersmovie/www.darkfeathers.com
