The composing duo Robl + Sutta recently scored the original soundtrack for Grasshoppers, award-winning LA-based filmmaker Brad Bischoff’s directorial feature film debut. An Official Selection of the 18th Annual BendFilm Festival in the narrative category, the emotionally charged drama recently made its world premiere at the event.
The director, a native of Chicago, shot the film in the city’s suburbs. Grasshoppers script, one of ten selected by the prestigious Gotham (IFP) Narrative Labs, is the first feature-length screenplay penned by Bischoff, most recently recognized as one of the "25 New Faces of Independent Film" (Filmmaker Magazine).
The filmmaker called on Adam Robl and Shawn Sutta to compose a score with the depth and texture that enhances the story with a cinematic elegance. The talents of award-winning cinematographer Daphne Qin Wu (ASC’s Rising Stars of Cinematography 2021) were tapped to capture the dark, romantic, tumultuous look of the inner lives of a couple, while the music complements the film's aesthetic with a range of styles, from European classical to modern ambient.
The Storyline
Grasshoppers is set in a Midwestern gated community all but deserted for the winter by its ‘snowbird’ residents. The film opens as a couple, Nijm and Irina hatch a plan to ditch work and visit every house in the neighborhood. With each visit, another drink is poured, and startling revelations of their relationship are revealed.
Approach to Music
“We began discussing the score with Brad long before shooting began on location in a suburb of Chicago,” says Sutta. “The director/writer had a very specific artistic vision of the world he wanted to create around his characters and how the music could be crafted to draw the audience into their story.”
“The opening music is a carefully calculated ‘theme.’ The cue echoes the couple’s mood as they start the day with unbridled exuberance about their future – with just the slightest foreshadowing hinting that maybe things are not as they seem,” says Sutta. “The soundtrack begins with the rich tones of a refined piano-driven, classically orchestral sound, blended with textures created by guitars and synthesizers adding a modern feel.”
Robl and Sutta, both multi-instrumentalists, composed parts for the piano, violin, viola, cello, and double bass that are the foundations of the score. The sound of a woodwind section was created on a mellotron – a vintage instrument that plays recordings of flutes on mechanical tapes inside a keyboard. Played by Robl, the mellotron adds a quality reminiscent of film scores from another era to the traditional orchestral sound.
As the film progresses, the music subtly shifts, gradually becoming more emotionally intense with a foreboding underpinning as we are drawn deeper into the emerging drama. The tone of the score begins to unravel as the tension between the intoxicated couple escalates, revealing the realities of their melancholy lives.
“While Nijm and Irina’s fundamental views of their future put them at odds, their deep romantic bond is unwavering throughout the storyline – and the film's score,” explains Sutta. “We transitioned the music from classical to a modern ambient feel with a style and texture that builds on their deep emotional connection.”
Recording/Tools
All of the music for the score was performed by live musicians and recorded in Robl and Sutta’s studio. The mix of technology utilized includes Neumann CMV 563 microphones, Schoeps m221b microphones, Gordon Microphone Preamps, Nagra IV-s tape machine, recorded in Logic Pro.
Trailer source: Vimeo | Grasshoppers Genre: Feature Film/Drama | Credits: Production Companies: Bad Taste Media Productions, Draw Me A Sheep Productions, Knight Shamrock Pictures, Paradise Electric | Director: Brad Bischoff, Writer: Brad Bischoff | Executive Producers: Gill Holland, Sherman Brown, Jared Smith | Producers: Brad Bischoff, Justin Nijm, Lisa Rudin | Cinematographer: Daphne Qin Wu | Editor: Jack Bishop | Music / Original Score: Adam Robl & Shawn Sutta | Sound Designer: Cindy Takehara
Lead Actors
Saleh Bakri (star of ‘The Present’, nominated for an Oscar by the 93rd Academy Awards this April; ‘Salt of this Sea,’ a multi-award-winning film and Official Selection of the Cannes International Film Festival) plays the lead role in Grasshoppers. A versatile talent with an international fan base, Bakri’s films are showcased on worldwide streaming networks, and have premiered at prestigious festivals, including Cannes, Berlin International, Toronto, BFI London. While Bakri has received numerous offers from Hollywood over the years, ‘Grasshoppers’ marks the discerning actor’s first role in a U.S. film.
Co-star Iva Gocheve is an actress and director. Her credits include an eclectic mix of films international projects, including ‘Embers,’ ‘Outer Space Love Stories, and ‘Sunday.’
About Robl + Sutta
Adam Robl and Shawn Sutta, multi-instrumentalists with a shared lifelong passion for music, have worked together for 16 years. Crafting scores performed live by full orchestras, performing artists, and vocalists – to soundscapes using a range of unconventional instruments, their passion for composing and recording music elevates films, heightening audiences’ cinematic experience.
Their first collaboration on the feature film score for ‘Uncle John’ (directed by Steven Piet), premiered at SXSW in 2015, followed by its release in theaters, and on Netflix, and the release of the soundtrack on Lakeshore Records. Since then, they have composed music for a diverse mix of films, including ‘Poser’ (Directed by Noah Dixon and Ori Segev/an Official Selection at Tribeca Film Festival/2021,) ‘Before the Fire’ (Directed by Charlie Buhler/Showtime), ‘Late Life’ (Directed by Frank Chen/Netflix).
Robl and Sutta are known for their range, versatility, and skill, creating music with a broad palette of sounds and styles that enhance visual stories and bring a director’s vision to life. The team has created original scores for films and episodic series showcased in theaters, on HBO, Showtime, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and at festivals all over the world.
Since the 2011 launch of their recording studio in Miami, locations in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, City, and Nashville provide the partners with an expanded network of resources throughout the U.S.
For more information visit www.adamrobl-shawnsutta.com, or call (310) 999- 5949.
