What were the biggest challenges in making this movie? And then, every once in awhile, you come across some irony, like The Gorillaz’ “Clint Eastwood,” where the line is “I’m happy, I’m feeling glad, I’ve got sunshine in my bag.” We’re using it for the Bergens in complete irony ‘cause there’s nothing happy about that scene. TIMBERLAKE: There were four different versions of “Get Back Up Again.” There were songs that we cleared or tried out for different scenes, and are still trying out for different scenes, to service those moments. How long was the process of narrowing down the songs?
We wanted to definitely modernize our movie and make everything service the movie and move it along. Then, it gets to the end of the music and everyone goes back to what they were doing. I feel like it’s a lot more challenging to do the type of musicals where the music starts and time stops. The first ones that comes to mind are The Music Man or Singin’ in the Rain, where you’re getting a piece from the character that’s moving the story along and you’re getting a piece from the story that’s moving the story along, and the music services that. We had a take when they were coaching me on Skype, and it was good, but after working with Justin for a while, I was like, “I feel like we should go back.” Everyone was like, “Why? It’s fine.” I would bet that 95% of what’s in the movie is from my session with Justin because, as someone who’s a singer, he gives such specific notes that are so helpful that it just tightened it so much, and I feel like we got so much more heart and mischief and sass from her. The “I Want” song is one of those Broadway things. KENDRICK: With “Get Back Up Again,” we wanted something that felt like the “I Want” song. “Get Back Up Again” is her singing, but she’s also acting.
All the work that we actually did together was just me sitting at the board, and us talking about her singing and her vocal performance.
TIMBERLAKE: It’s been so much fun to work with her. She doesn’t fancy herself that, but she is. TIMBERLAKE: It’s been fun to work specifically with Anna because she’s such a good singer. You just want to sonically complement that.Īnna and Justin, how was it to work in the recording studio with each other? When you finally get to see where the Bergens live, you hear The Gorillaz. You get to see some of the animation and what they’re working on, so you get to see how big a moment is. Overall, you’ll feel that a lot of the music definitely has a little bit of ‘70s funk to it, so that was definitely an inspiration for “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” as well. I’ve never done anything like that, either. And then, I also wrote four original songs, specifically written for the movie. So, my job for that was just hopefully to put our own spin on it, make it sound unique, and make it sound like it belonged in the scene, much like musical theater, almost. “The Sound of Silence” was already picked out, too. So, when I came in, “True Colors” was definitely already picked out for this moment in the movie. I don’t know if you know about the clearance process, but that can be mind-numbing. Some seven-year-old is gonna walk away knowing “The Sound of Silence,” which is very cool, and a song like “True Colors.” Now, I came on a little after some of the songs were sought after and cleared. For a musical like this, to take these classic toys and mythological creatures from so long ago and really modernize them, that was our M.O. I’ve never been the executive music producer for a film. TIMBERLAKE: This is my first time doing it, on this level.