Composer Nathan Johnson On The Unique Sound of Looper

By Rudie Obias | Updated

Sony is gearing up to take audiences on a thrill ride through time with Rian Johnson’s new sci-fi film Looper when it’s released into theaters a month from now. To get ready for the mind-bending antics, the film’s composer Nathan Johnson released a featurette on creating the unique sound of Looper.

This isn’t the first time Nathan Johnson has worked on a Rian Johnson film. The cousins have worked together on Rian Johnson’s previous films Brick and The Brothers Bloom. For Looper, Nathan Johnson describes trying to find the percussive nature of his score as opposed to a more melodic one. He used various unconventional items including a gun’s sound, chains, and slamming car doors to create the sound of Looper. It’s a pretty cool process! Check out the video:

Nathan Johnson has also worked on the music for the indie romantic comedy Blue State in 2007 and the Belgium film The Day I Saw Your Heart in 2011.

The movie Looper is set in the year 2072, in a world where if the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent 30 years into the past, where a hired gun named Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) awaits. But when Joe learns the mob wants to “close the loop” by sending Joe’s future self (Bruce Willis) back for disposal, both versions of Joe must work together to put an end to the mysterious criminal mastermind behind the hit.

Looper will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6th. The movie opens wide on September 28th.