Q: Today is Friday, October 30th. I am here with Jerry Goldsmith. Jerry, thank you so much for joining us.

A: You're welcome.

Q: This is the fourth score you have done for a "Star Trek" film. Has "Star Trek" become something you enjoy more than just a regular scoring gig?

A: Doing a "Star Trek" film is like returning to an old friend. Beginning with the first one which was difficult, to say the least, because of all the technical problems we had. I've gotten very fond of it. The theme from the first motion picture became the theme of "Next Generation" and then I wrote the theme for "Voyager" and the four "Star Trek" episodes as well, so I feel very much in tune with "Star Trek." I love the stories because I think that they're big and they're romantic. You know, it was Gene Roddenberry's hope it'd be a nicer place to live. That's the sort of world, the universe (he created) and that's what I think all of these scripts portray.

Q: You mentioned, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". That theme did become the theme for the "Next Generation" series which I believe you re-scored or at least partially re-scored. Correct?

A: I didn't do it. I think Dennis McCarthy did that. It was original orchestration. I think they had to shorten it. And we used almost a hundred men on the original picture, so they're not gonna score a television theme with a hundred musicians.

Q: How did you get involved with "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"?

A: I guess, you know, my agent called and said that they've offered you "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," do you want to do it? And I said, gee, yeah, great.

Q: And you mentioned that there were a lot of technical problems?

A: It's been 18-19 years since we did the original. Needless to say all of the digital technology wasn't there then. We had two special effects houses. We had Doug Trumball working in one house in the Marina, and then we had John Dykstra working in another house in the Valley. And then one company did everything in just division format, and the other one did it in 70 millimeter format. So that was a problem too. I mean, if they were both working on a long scene together, formatting it so that it could go together was another added nightmare [LAUGHS]. 40-60% of the film was all special effects. Literally there was 40 minutes of live action when I first saw the picture. And then a lot of 'scene missing' cards.

Q: So, it meant recording some of the score and then coming back every time they added new scenes?

A: Yeah. That was exactly it. I was recording nights. I'd go to the studio at night, record and then as soon as I finished, Doug would come in and show me what [effects] they'd just finished, and I'd look at it. Then I'd go home the next morning and write it, and that night I'd come in and re-record it. And sometimes we'd have an orchestra call, and we'd come in and there was nothing to play. Because no film came in.

Q: And that's not how you normally score a film, correct?

A: It's not normally the way we make films. I finished recording the music at 2:00 on Saturday morning and the film opened the following Thursday. Talk about running it close. That was close....But you know, it was sort of exciting. We all became fellow soldiers-in-arms and it was almost a camaraderie. They should have the original "Star Trek" crew reunion.

Q: Just to reminisce.

A: And it is quite the contrary today. I mean, actually working on a "Star Trek" now, from the techno point is one of the smoothest films I work on. I think they've had all these years of experience doing all the television shows weekly. Then doing a movie is a piece of cake.

Q: I believe you just finished scoring "Star Trek: Insurrection." Correct?

A: Yes.

Q: What would you say the toughest part was about scoring this film?

A: Oh, I think the toughest part about any film, whether it's a "Star Trek" or anything else, is just coming up with a fresh approach. When you do a sequel, it's always harder because it's too easy to go fall back on what you've done before. Which is good. I mean, there's a certain flavor I've tried to create with the music of "Star Trek." And it's more in the style than repeating the actual notes. Well actually there's one little quote of the "Star Trek" theme, I mean, I use the fanfare that Alexander Courage wrote for the television show; that opens and closes the picture. It goes into a new theme I wrote for this film and then, when you see the Enterprise for the first time, I quote the old theme a little bit. Then you don't hear the old theme until the end of the picture when the credits come up. Everything else is a new approach to it. I want to keep it fresh and different. That's what I try to do.

Q: Well in this film while there's a lot of action in this film, there's a bit more comedy than in "First Contact"?

A: I think it's more romantic. I think this film is a more romantic film than any of the others have been. I would say there's more action in this than there was in "First Contact", but I think that the subplots (include) a very lovely romantic story. So, that makes it a little different for me.

Q: How would you describe the style of a "Star Trek" score compared to other action films?

A: Well, I think first of all there's no gratuitous violence in a "Star Trek" film. And as I said before, you've got to play it to a certain extent. The villains are not evil, evil, evil villains. I mean, they're bad guys, don't misunderstand me, but they're not that evil when they're disposed of. There isn't this gut thing, "you gotta get that bad guy". And so the music is of a less violent nature than I would write for, you know, "Rambo" say. And I think basically the whole thing is a much more melodic, romantic approach. On a very big scale. It's almost operatic. I think that "Star Trek" is one big opera. It's all bigger than life. I think that's why it's been so successful because of the morality that it espouses, and because it is bigger than life.

Q: It's funny that you mention opera because I was talking to someone today who's a former executive here at Paramount. He mentioned about how a number of years ago they were talking about doing a "Star Trek" opera. And that they had approached you about composing the score for it.

A: Yeah, I met with the City Opera in New York and they were going (stage it) for the 25th anniversary of "Star Trek," which was a phenomenal idea. But Hollywood and the opera world are two different worlds. And it would have been wonderful except you just can't mount an opera from scratch in one year. And they came to me in late spring and wanted it for the next year's fall. It just doesn't work that way. It takes a year to get a libretto. And so we weren't having much luck there.

Q: How much time you do you usually spend on each score? How many weeks?

A: Well normally, it depends on the schedule. The schedules are very short now. This "Star Trek" I had a long time. I had some concerts to do in the middle of writing it, so I had to leave and do them, but I spend probably four and a half weeks, seven days a week. Eight hours a day.

Q: And normally when you're working on another film the time frame's much shorter?

A: About the same. They run about four weeks now. If you're lucky you get five weeks. It's very short. It's too bad because right now there's much more music than there used to be in films and much less time to do it. In the '60s and '70s, I'd have ten weeks to do a film which probably had 40-45-50 minutes (which) is a lot of music. But I'd have ten weeks to do it in. Today, if I'm lucky, I've got five weeks to do 60-65-70 minutes of music.

Q: For about a two hour film.

A: Films are a little longer now; that's one of the reasons. Although "Patton" was a three and a half hour film and I had 32 minutes of music. There is no formula.

Q: In general what would you say some of your musical influences have been? As a composer.

A: Well, I suppose Debussy, Stravinsky, Schoenburg, Albenberg, Bartok. No film composers.

Q: You've had a great and storied career. Out of all the scores you've done, what are some of your favorites? Ones that you look back on that you're most happy with.

A: Oh, people ask me that all the time. I've done a hundred, almost a hundred and eighty films. It's hard to pick out a favorite because there are so many different genres. I think that's why I've done so many, because I do tend to be a bit versatile. If you're talking westerns, if or the war films, there's this kind-- if you're talking about fantasy films, there's that-- If you're talking about space films, definitely "Star Trek" is one of my favorites. If you're talking about film noir, there's always "Chinatown" or even "Basic Instinct." If you're talking about feel good films, there's "Rudy" or "Hoosiers"-- I mean, I don't know. There's so many different ones I can't tell you. So, you know, I like some and I don't like some others. But I did enjoy doing it.

Q: You've said that you really enjoy doing the "Star Trek" pictures. Do you enjoy doing dramas more than comedies or thrillers more than westerns? Or is it just you like the variety?

A: I like the variety. But basically my choice of films is a small intimate film. Quiet film, no action, just people in relationships. That's what I like the most.

Q: When you scored "Insurrection", have you created certain melodies for each of the main characters or subplots? There's a strong romantic relationship between Picard and the female character that he meets on the planet. Have you also done a theme for example for the Son'a?

A: No, there's a theme for the Ba'ku though. Quite a lovely theme for them, and then there's a theme and an action motif that I used. So those are basically the three thematic elements of the picture.

Q: But there is no Klingon-like theme for the--

A: Well, I quote the old Klingon theme from the original "Star Trek". I quote it in every "Star Trek" I've done. [SINGS THE THEME] It's in this one. I managed to sneak it in.

Q: [LAUGHS] So everyone will have to go see the film-

A: For Worf, when Worf comes in. In the last picture when Worf came in, I got [the theme] in, and I got it in this one too.

Q: That's very cool. I like that theme a lot.

A: Yeah, the real "Star Trek" aficionados, they'll know it.

Q: To wrap it up, we discussed this somewhat before, but what do you enjoy most about working on the "Star Trek" pictures? And was there anything on "Insurrection" that you particularly enjoyed?

A: There's a certain camaraderie that exists because it is an ongoing thing, and everybody involved in it is part of an ongoing operation. So it's not like you do a film, and (when) it's done, you say good-bye and you'll never see these people again. With "Star Trek," they're always around. It may not be the same exact (people), but the producer will always be there and the associate producer will be there. And in this case the director's been there twice. And if he's not there as a director, he'll be there on the screen. You know, you're always visiting old family members. So that makes it nice.

Q: Actually that echoes what we've been hearing from a lot of the members of the crew. Well, I look forward to hearing the score. I'm sure it'll be available on CD for many people to listen to after the movie.

A: It will be.

Q: Well, thank you so much for making the time for us, Mr. Goldsmith.

A: My pleasure.