Each film is different. Time Code was very quick - a matter of months. Miss Julie has been on my shelf as a script for some seven or eight years. But then the shooting process was very quick - 16 days.

There's a sadness to the human condition that I think music is good for. It gives a counterpoint to the visual beauty, and adds depth to pictures that they wouldn't have if the music wasn't there.

Obviously, I try to make the films work for an audience. That's the main point of making a film, and in retrospect, one can see that certain films, let's say Leaving Las Vegas, demonstrated its own success.

It's difficult working with very rich actors, because inevitably they become a little spoilt, and the managers and agents tend to control things more than is healthy.

I started using film as part of live theatre performance - what used to be called performance art - and I became intrigued by film.

When I do the music, I make the musicians listen to what's happening in the film. That way they treat the dialogue as if it was a singer.

I'm a huge fan of world cinema, because each country uses cinema in a very individual way.