Vivian Aguiar-Buff has loved film for as long as she can remember. Literally! Her mom, who Vivian describes as a cinephile, started taking Vivian to movie theaters at the age of one. But when it came time to choose a career, Vivian tried to take a practical route. \u201cNobody in my family is a musician, and I decided to just please my parents,\u201d she says. \u201cSo I went to law school.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But even her reasoning for choosing law school involved the pull of a good plot. \u201cI loved reading John Grisham books,\u201d she says with a laugh. \u201cI\u2019ve read all of them! So I was like, \u2018Yeah, maybe criminal law is something I can do.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She tried to juggle law school and film school for a year but quickly realized where she belonged. \u201cI was failing all my law school classes, and I was thriving and getting scholarships in film college,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s when I was like, \u2018Listen, Mom, Dad, I don\u2019t think this is going to work out.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since then, Aguiar-Buff has gone from an assistant director, where she worked in the advertising industry to a DJ to an electronic music producer to a Berklee alum, eventually landing at Hans Zimmer\u2019s Remote Control Productions and now DreamWorks Animation. Along the way, she helped shape the sound of Captain America: The Winter Soldier<\/em>, Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knigh<\/em>t (for which she won an Emmy), Orion and the Dark<\/em>, and the upcoming Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em> movie. She also teaches a number of courses with Berklee Online, including Music Supervision 1<\/em><\/a>, and Culminating Experience in Film Scoring 1<\/em><\/a> and 2<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vivian Aguiar-Buff:<\/strong> I had been a pianist since I was five years old, and so music has always been a part of my life. When I started working as an assistant director on set, I missed music so much, so I started DJing at night and producing my own music, trying to play songs and tracks from other DJs, but I would also produce my own. That\u2019s how I got into producing music, composing, and all of that. I think my passion for all film and for being a filmmaker was just natural. When I decided to go into music, I didn\u2019t think of anything else but film scoring because I needed film to be part of my life as much as I needed music to be part of my life. I think it was just a combination of two things. \n<\/p> \n Vivian Aguiar-Buff:<\/strong> Captain America: The Winter Soldier<\/em> was a culmination of my electronic side. When I graduated from Berklee in Film Scoring and Composition with a minor in Conducting, I moved to LA, knowing no one. Berklee was such an important part [of me getting started in Hollywood], and they had an office in LA and they really helped me to get situated, and with contacts, and get to know the people who were actively working. \n<\/div>\n\n\n\nDo you remember the first film that made you want to focus on the music of movies rather than movies themselves?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\nIt\u2019s harder to say one movie or even one composer who made me want to get into this line of work, because when you talk about film composers\u2014John Williams, Hans Zimmer, and all those huge names\u2014I\u2019m in love with all of it. I love Atticus Ross and Nine Inch Nails, and I love electronic music. I\u2019m in love with all of it! <\/P>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nTalk to me a little bit about electronic music in your own work. One of the biggest credits you have is Captain America: The Winter Soldier<\/em>, which is a sequel that\u2019s known for taking the previous film\u2019s Alan Silvestri soundtrack and bringing it more into a contemporary, electronic realm. What was that experience like? <\/strong><\/h2>
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