How strange would Munafik’s scares be without a terrifying soundtrack? Or Star Wars without Darth Vader’s intimidating leitmotif? Or the Avengers’ iconic theme song?
Renowned composer San Weng Onn, better known as Onn San, knows this, and is determined to show cinema goers that a score is more than just “background music”.
The first Malaysian composer to graduate from New York University’s Tisch School of The Arts, Onn San is a five-time nominee of Kakiseni’s Boh Cameronian Arts Awards, taking home the prize three times.
He has composed the scores for several films, the most prominent being “Ola Bola”, for which he won Best Original Music in the 28th Malaysian Film Festival.
More recently, he was nominated for a Golden Horse Award for Best Original Film Score for “The Garden of Evening Mists” – the first Malaysian to be nominated since 1962.
Despite his achievements, Onn San comes off as humble and friendly when he sits down in his Damansara Perdana studio to chat with FMT Lifestyle.
He says John Williams’s work left an impact on him as a young man and that even now, the work of other composers such as Hans Zimmer and Ryuichi Sakamoto continue to inspire him.
He does credit his parents, however, as being the most significant influence in his life and career.
“Without them, I don’t think I would have had the chance to study music. I guess it was kind of rare, during my time,” he remarks, explaining that studying to become a lawyer, doctor or engineer was what most parents then dreamed of for their children.
But he does come from a musically inclined family, with many uncles and aunts having played in bands or sung in choirs or written songs; a grand-aunt used to be a deejay for a Chinese radio station.
“The fact that they allowed me to pursue my dreams, was an act of huge support,” he says.
But like stereotypical Asian families, his own parents are his biggest and most vocal critics, he says with a laugh, adding however that they are genuinely proud of him and what he’s achieved.
However, when it comes to those outside his family circle, he finds himself having to explain what he actually does due to the misconception that film scores are “just background music.”
While it is partially true, he says, a score has the ability to define a film. “It plays with our human psyche…Music is such a powerful tool. It transcends language, transcends culture.”
So passionate is he about his craft, that he likens every commission to compose to that of an artist receiving a new canvas to paint on.
“Every time I go into another project, it’s like a brand new canvas. It’s exciting. It’s scary. It’s challenging stuff.
“Every film score that I do, when I’m finished, that’s the end of it. It doesn’t belong to me even though I wrote it. That piece of music belongs to that project.”
He finds working with fellow musicians exhilarating, and says it was a tremendous honour having Malaysian celloist Nasran Nawi play his compositions.
Onn San is also involved in musical theatre, having scored “The Secret Life of Nora”, starring Tiara Jacquelina.
His debut album, “Epomania – An epic soundtrack by Onn San” was launched in September 2011 and is available on iTunes.
He is particularly proud of “The Garden of Evening Mists”, saying, “It represents a part of me that has not been seen or heard in a sense … It’s unlike any other film I have done. It is very, very intimate.”
Like Williams, Onn San tends to focus on his melodies, writing them first. He explains that this part is tough as a good melody is hard to write and even harder to hum.
“If you think about the memorable melodies, from ET for example, John Williams wrote that. Or Superman, and there’s Star Wars. These themes are evergreen but it does something to us; there’s a certain flow in the melody and the tone which is carried.”
Writing a melody is a time-consuming process. While it’s easy to start a composition, it’s hard to know when the piece is complete.
Onn San says a good score is one that stays with the audience long after the film is over. “If it strikes something in your soul, in your heart, you cannot help but to remember it.”
For aspiring composers, Onn San says to never give up on yourself. “It takes time. It’s a long process…Big dreams are great, but sometimes we have to understand that it takes a lot of time, not just time in terms of years and hours, but also the moments that you spend with your craft.
“Those moments are important.”
The 56th Golden Horse Awards will take place on Nov 23 at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. The awards will honour the best in Chinese-language films of 2018 and 2019, and will be televised by TTV.