‘The Impossible’ composer Fernando Velazquez talks emotion

Scoring a film as emotionally wrought as “The Impossible” is no easy task. Just ask Fernando Velazquez, the composer behind the film who previously worked with director Juan Antonio Bayona on his first feature “The Orphanage.”

Not only did the composer have to contend with a real-life tragedy that killed hundreds of thousands of people, but he was given the opportunity to receive input on his music from Maria Belon, the real woman upon whose story the film is based.

Belon visited Abbey Road studios when Velazquez and his musicians were recording the most important cues of the film and shared her story with them.

“It was beautiful how she summarized simply with some words what the music means in the film: We are telling the story that cannot be told with words,” Velazquez said. “We realized how important music can be in a movie....”

Still, just hearing Belon’s story is an emotional roller coaster in itself, so Velazquez and Bayona were very conscious about keeping a fine balance on the film’s emotional music cues.

“We carefully calculated the amount of music, the places where it falls, the style and even the amount of players in each cue. A little too much could spoil it and a little too less might be not enough to express the feeling. It was indeed the biggest challenge. We are happy with what we did precisely because those who have been through tragedies as this one say they can recognize themselves in the score. That is really rewarding after many months of work.”

“The Impossible” stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor and open Dec. 21. To see more about the creation of the film’s score, take a look at the video above.

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