One of the works that has given me the greatest satisfaction has been the composition of the musical soundtrack for the film by the young Colombian filmmaker and screenwriter Jhon Salazar: El Zulo.
It is a co-production of the Colombian Borojo Producciones and the Spanish Espacio Técnico Z with the collaboration of the Universidad del Valle. It tells the story of a kidnapping in the middle of the jungle, where all the claustrophobic action takes place. In practically the same camera frame, we witness the victim’s hours from the same hideout; an animal cage in the open. A mise-en-scene that could not be more desolating. The anguished and hopeless course of time is barely interrupted by the sporadic visit of the kidnappers and that of a woman who represents the only human treatment that the kidnapped man receives.
The music had to accompany the intimate thoughts of the kidnapped without overloading the drama of the situation. The conception of the soundtrack created several paradoxes for me: it had to be local without falling into folklore, and to mark the passing of days and hours while being timeless at the same time. For this I used the live performance and recording of several quenas and a panpipes to characterize the “panic” atmosphere, never better said, that the situation and the characters required. I must admit that although most of the instruments I work with (for obvious budget reasons) are electronic and sampled, what gives me the greatest pleasure is to play and record live acoustic instruments. A universe of “organic” sonic possibilities unfolds before me, which will serve as a trace, texture and color to the rest of the soundtrack. The end of the party is the processing and mixing with the other instruments.
I leave you a sample of the music of the film:
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