THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

From its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, to the official closing film of the Rotterdam International Film Festival, The Hummingbird Project has been shown to a wide audience in great international festivals such as Vancouver, Busan or London BFI Film Festival.

In order to create the film’s original score, Belgian composer Yves Gourmeur and score production company General Score got involved at an early stage of the project: the first tracks were written based on the script and then further developed thanks to ‘work-in-progress’ footage and edits.

While reading the script, Yves Gourmeur and Arnaud Blanpain, music supervisor at General Score, decided to follow several specific work leads, for instance:

• “The soil” and the “digging” are symbolized by the double bass, some drones and acoustic effect on cello, bassoon and bass clarinet.”
• “For illustrating the electromagnetic waves, and the topic of computer science in general, both linked to distance and large natural spaces, I draw my inspiration from ‘early Internet modems’ connection sounds’, using cords effects, in particular the cello’s high-pitched range, but also using similar effects on flute and on saxophone.”
• “Vincent’s quest: I wanted to transcribe it into pure melodies symbolizing the tragic side of an obsession he pushes to the point of absurdity.”
• “All of this above sprinkled with a form of humor and the cutting edge of Eva’s character, which is illustrated by the pizzicatos of the violins as well as by silence, used at a couple of particular, well-chosen moments.”

Yves Gourmeur points out that, as far as music is concerned, he “essentially used acoustic instruments (including the ‘General Score’ orchestra, some soloists such as Anne Leonardo on violin and Adrien Tyberghein on double bass, among others, as well as Tibetan bowls, piano, etc.). ”

The collaboration with director Kim Nguyen gave Yves Gourmeur a necessary leeway:
“Kim’s wish was to achieve an elegant music which would give a particular point of view to characters and narrative. His reactivity to my collaboration with General Score and Arnaud Blanpain, and to the scores sent, was for me the possibility to develop efficiently the music. It was a fantastic collaboration. Beyond his great skills as a director, his capacity to express his wishes and emotions for the music, he is also extremely motivating and positive.”

Director Kim Nguyen about the collaboration with Yves Gourmeur:
“Yves has done a very demanding job and frankly, his music turned out to be one of my favorite soundtracks written for my films. The music fits the film so well giving it elegance and something refined. A unique angle! “

Synopsis ‘The Hummingbird Project’:
In this modern epic, Nguyen exposes the ruthless edge of our increasingly digital world. Cousins from New York, Vincent (Eisenberg) and Anton (Skarsgård) are players in the high-stakes game of High Frequency Trading, where winning is measured in milliseconds. Their dream? To build a fiber-optic cable straight line between Kansas and New Jersey, making them millions. But nothing is straightforward for this flawed pair. Anton is the brains, Vincent is the hustler, and together they push each other and everyone around them to breaking point on their quixotic adventure. Constantly breathing down their necks is their old boss Eva Torres (Hayek) a powerful, intoxicating and manipulative trader who will stop at nothing to come between them and beat them at their own game.

No matter what the cost, Vincent and Anton are determined to cut through America, only to find redemption at the end of their line, not through money, but through family and reconnecting to the land.

About Yves Gourmeur:

Yves Gourmeur was born into a family of music lovers and began his musical studies when he was six years old. First starting with the piano and then at age eight taking up the trumpet.

The piano was his main focus and he studied all the great classical composers, but Yves was already attracted to many other musical styles and at the early age of seventeen began the demanding job as a lounge pianist. Harmony, theory and counterpoint completed the training that he wanted to be eclectic.

As a young part time lecturer at the Mons Royal Conservatory when he was twenty-four, Yves took time to discover and learn modern music genres. Today he plays, alongside his classical projects, latino and gipsy music, rock, pop and jazz.

Passionate lover of spontaneous music, in all its forms, Yves Gourmeur created improvisation classes at the Academy of Arts of Mons (Belgium) and established a workshop around music for silent movies for almost 10 years.
Film music started to take an important place in his life and the seed that was sown blossomed to life after multiple projects and Yves decided to develop his skills as a music composer for film.

Beyond his eclecticism, his musical skills as a musician and as a composer, his attention to detail, his curiosity and his constant attention to the actual story itself, Yves desire is to serve the global project and deliver the director’s artistic vision through his music.

About General Score: 
General Score represents several film music composers, including Yves Gourmeur.
It is a production structure with its own classical music orchestra called ‘The General Score Orchestra’.
General Score manages the production of film music by its composers, supervises their work, and guarantees the follow-up of the entire music production process of the audiovisual project.
More information at: www.generalscore.com

The Hummingbird Project is a co-production Canada-Belgium produced by Item7 and Belga Productions
Music Score published by RAVEN SCORES
Music Supervisors: Phil Canning & Arnaud Blanpain
Score supervision & production by General Score
Original Music Composed by: Yves Gourmeur
Orchestration and programming: Yves Gourmeur
Original Music Played by the General Score Orchestra
Conductor: Benoît Chantry
Soloists: Adrien Thyberghein (Cello, Double Bass & Bowls), Sylvain Monchoce (Flute & Saxophone), Marie-Hélène Jacot (Cello), Anne Leonardo (Violin), Marie-Hélène Adnet (Clarinet & Bass Clarinet), Daniel Demoustiez (Bassoon), Yves Gourmeur (piano)
Score recorded at Red Studio & Studio Dada
Original Music mixed by Jules Fradet at Studio Dada