Natalie Holt, The Woman Behind Loki's Musical Majesty

Natalie Holt (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - It's not complete to talk about audio-visual works if you only talk about visualization of images, especially in the latest Marvel Loki series that airs on Disney+ Hotstar. Sound effects to theme music all play an important role in visual reinforcement and storytelling.

Natalie Holt, that's her. Composer in this series. Holt is a British woman who is familiar with musical compositions for films and series such as Paddington (2014) to Journey's End (2017) with Oscar-winning composer, Hildur Guðnadóttir (Joker).

Being in a Marvel series project, Holt admits that he is both happy and challenged to tell the story of Loki - which may have felt so conclusive in Infinity War, to a very different time span, through the music he wrote and composed.

"I'm a fan of the Thor franchise, and Loki is a character I really like. When I found out I was going to compose music for Loki, I didn't know where to start," he said in an exclusive interview with Antara.

"The production process is so different from any other project I've done before. At least less than a month I came up with ideas and experimented with many different sounds while discussing them with Kate (Herron, director)," he added.

When asked about his inspiration and references in making music for Loki, Holt said Loki himself - Tom Hiddleston - was his biggest inspiration.

"(Tom) gives 'fire' and attention to the character he plays. The way he carries the character feels theatrical to me. I wanted to make the theme (song) grandiose with classic references, and a few touches of 'analog' music style and vintage sound. a bit faded," said the woman who graduated from the Royal Academy of Music London.

In addition, he also said that he was always guided by the narrative of the character telling as his inspiration and reference in making music.

"I think Tom's performance is big enough to take on some sort of big, grand piece of music. He makes it seem like everyone cares about his character," Holt said.

Challenge

While there were no significant challenges in composing music for Loki due to the strong story and characters, Holt said the biggest challenges came from the technical side. He revealed that the majority of the production process was carried out in the midst of a lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The challenge is more to write (music) during lockdown while taking care of my son who is now studying from home. Kate (Herron) and the rest of the team are in Atlanta and Los Angeles, so I also have to adapt to time differences to attend production meetings and others," said Holt.

"Friends (music production, orchestra) are also in different places. One of them is in Budapest, and we did it remotely and it was very challenging to follow and put it together as a composition," he added.

Despite the challenges that are so new to him, Holt can't deny that the pandemic has also opened doors and different and enjoyable work experiences, as technology helps him connect with many of the world's talents.

"Yes, with technology, it really helps. I can compose music with very talented talents from all over the world. I think there are positives and negatives when we talk about pandemics," he said.

Natalie Holt (IMDB)

Women and diversity in music

Not many female film composers have won the highest honors in the world's film awards. There are only five female composers who have won Oscars during the 94 years of the Academy Awards.

However, Holt has a very optimistic opinion about the role of women in the music world for cinema. "I think the opportunity has started to open up for female composers, they are entrusted to do work that may not have been considered by many before," he said.

"We're living in exciting times right now, and I think there's a lot of women out there who are so creative and have a voice and talent to be heard and shared. I hope Marvel continues to push the boundaries and see what people have in store."

Before closing the interview session, the woman born in West Sussex shared her passion for new artists in the film world. According to Holt, in addition to studying in film school to promote talent and work, it's important for young artists -- especially those who want to become film composers -- to be open and empathetic to other opportunities, talents and stories.

"Going to film school is a great experience. From there, we can then learn how to work with directors, actors, and understand and recognize the process of making films," said the woman who is also a graduate of the UK's National Film and Television School.

"However, the most exciting thing is how we - through music - can help them (directors, actors and other crew) to present the story to the audience. How will we later understand that film has its own language, where music also has an important role in the delivery. When we understand that, I think it's our moment," he concluded.

Meanwhile, Loki has entered its fifth episode and can be watched on the Disney+ Hotstar streaming service.