Dean Valentine Discusses Romance and Heart-Break in Film and Music

What better composer to chat to this Valentine’s Day weekend than SMA's very own Dean Valentine?

Dean has composed the trailers for the likes of Captain America: Civil War, Star Wars: Rogue One, Dunkirk, and The Shape of Water, as well as film scores for the epic Viking and video game music for Rune II. Dean was awarded a CLIO Key Art Award for his work on the American Sniper trailer and the Golden Trailer Award for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. His latest commercial album, A Reluctant Hero is available to stream and download everywhere now.

Right now, Dean’s time is split between collaborating on a number of film and TV drama series pitches, working on various album projects, composing custom music for a number of trailers, not to mention a few film projects coming up later this year.

We caught up with Dean in between studio sessions to do quick-fire interview on all things romance in the world of music and film…

Q> What considerations do you make as a composer when scoring a romantic scene?

Dean> First you have to find the emotion, tone and heart that drives the film and then pour that into the theme!

Q> What, in your opinion, is the most romantic record of all time?

Dean> When Harry Connick Jr.'s When Harry Met Sally and anything by Chet Baker (my wife’s favourite too!).

Q> What movie do you put on when you need your heart warmed?

Dean> I’m cheating slightly by choosing an entire film here but here it is: Hachi: A Dogs Tale. It’s a 2009 remake of the 1987 Japanese film Hachikō Monogatari – a true story about a dog that waited for his owner at the train station every day, then continued to wait for him for nine years after the owner passed away. They built a monument to him – it’s an amazing story.

Q> What movie scene never fails to break your heart in two?

Dean> This is corny but for me it has to be when King Kong dies in the 1933 original black and white version. I just love animals so much - as a kid I was in tears every time he says, 'It wasn’t the planes, it was beauty that killed the beast."

Special mention has to go to My Dog Skip. It nearly broke my heart – I cried for a whole day!

Q> Who else in the world of film music has the power to pull at your heart-strings?

Dean> For me, it’s a toss-up between Ennio Morricone, Górecki and Beethoven.