David Poland from Movie City News has published a 30-minutes video interview with composer Patrick Doyle in his DP/30 series. During the interview, Doyle discusses his work on Brave and how he got involved in his first project for Pixar. The composer also talks about how he got started in the industry (both as an actor and composer), his early film scores and some of his frequent collaborators including Kenneth Branagh and Regis Wargnier. Also discussed is his only collaboration with Garry Marshall on the 1994 film Exit to Eden. Check out the full video interview after the jump. Brave opened in theaters yesterday and Doyle’s soundtrack is available on Walt Disney Records.
Category: Composer Interviews
Weekly Film Music Roundup (June 8, 2012)
Two new movies are opening wide this weekend:
Opening in most theaters is Dreamworks Animation’s Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath & Conrad Vernon and featuring a voice cast including Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston and Martin Short. Interscope Records has released a soundtrack album featuring selections from the film’s score composed by Hans Zimmer, as well as the songs featured in the movie by Peter Asher, Yolanda Be Cool and Katy Perry. To find out more about the soundtrack release and listen to audio clips, visit our previous article. For a short video interview with Zimmer about his work on the animated feature, click here.
Also opening wide is one of the most anticipated films of the year, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus starring Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green and Ben Foster. Marc Streitenfeld has composed the film’s score and Harry Gregson-Williams has provided additional music. Sony Masterworks has released a soundtrack album featuring Streitenfeld’s music, as well as two tracks by Gregson-Williams. Click here to check out our soundtrack announcement. Also visit Film Music Magazine for an audio interview with Streitenfeld on his fifth score for a Ridley Scott-directed film. Another interview with the composer can be checked out on Static Mass Emporium.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (May 11, 2012)
The only movie opening wide this weekend is the supernatural comedy Dark Shadows starring Johnny Depp, Chloe Moretz, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bella Heathcoate and Eva Green. The film marks the fourteenth collaboration between the director and composer Danny Elfman. WaterTower Music has released two soundtrack albums, including the original score by the composer. For audio clips and the full album details, check out our previous article. The other soundtrack features the film’s classic songs by artists The Moody Blues, Iggy Pop, Donovan, The Carpenters, Barry White, T.Rex and Alice Cooper. Audio clips can be checked out in our soundtrack announcement article.
Several interviews with Elfman have been published online over the last week. Check out a video feature on Reelz about his collaboration with Burton, a behind-the-scenes interview on YouTube, an audio interview on East Village Radio’s Morricone Youth show as well an video interview from the film’s red carpet premiere in Hollywood this past Monday. On Tuesday night, the composer hosted a Q&A at Warner Bros Records in Burbank in front of a live audience. Click here to check out the full 90 minutes talk. Finally, also visit Ain’t It Cool News and The A.V. Club for more interviews.
Exclusive Video: Writing and Recording the Music for ‘The Raven’
Film Music Reporter presents a behind-the-scenes look at the writing and recording process of Lucas Vidal‘s original music for James McTeigue’s The Raven starring John Cusack, Alice Eve and Brendan Gleeson. The exclusive video takes a look at the creation the composer’s orchestral and electronic score. Also featured is footage from the score’s orchestral recording sessions at Air Studios in London. Check out the full video after the jump. The Raven about the final days of author Edgar Allan Poe is currently playing in theaters. A soundtrack album featuring Vidal’s music has been released by Relativity Music Group. For the album details including audio clips, check out our soundtrack announcement.
John Williams Performs ‘Fanfare for Fenway’
Last night, composer John Williams and the Boston Pops debuted the original piece Fanfare for Fenway as part of the Red Sox commemoration of their 100th year in Fenway Park. NESN.com has published a video from the performance conducted by Williams, which can be watched after the jump. As reported last month, the fanfare has also been recorded at Symphony Hall in Boston by musicians from the Boston Pops Orchestra in March and will be played throughout this year’s Baseball season at Fenway Park. Also visit the ESPN sound blog for a short interview with the composer.
New CNN Interview with James Horner
CNN has published a new video interview with composer James Horner about his music for James Camerson’s Titanic. The video feature includes footage from the 1997 scoring sessions for the bestselling soundtrack. Horner talks about writing the score and the hit song My Heart Will Go On, both of which earned him his first two Academy Awards. Check out the full video after the jump. Also check out our previous article and Classic FM for more recent interviews with the composer about his Titanic score.
Michael Giacchino on ‘John Carter’
SoundWorks Collection has published a new video profile on the sound and music of Walt Disney Pictures’ epic fantasy film John Carter directed by Andrew Stanton. The 10-minute video featuring interviews with supervising sound editor Jonathan Null and composer Michael Giacchino and also shows footage from the score’s recording sessions. Check out the full video after the jump. A couple of themes from the score were recently performed in a world premiere concert event entitled The Music of Michael Giacchino – Stories of Island, Balloons and Space in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Jeff Rona to Score ‘Phantom’
Jeff Rona is scoring the upcoming Cold War-set submarine thriller Phantom. The movie is written and directed by Todd Robinson (Lonely Hearts) and stars Ed Harris, David Duchovny, William Fichtner, Sean Patrick Flanery and Lance Henriksen. The movie revolves around a Captain of a Soviet submarine who has to leave his pregnant wife for a secret mission on which he is forced to face his past in order to find redemption in the present while being challenged by a rogue KGB group. John Watson & Pen Densham (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Backdraft) amd Julian Adams are producing the project. Robinson has previously written the screenplay for Ridley Scott’s White Squall, which marked Rona’s first major studio feature scoring assignment.
Alan Menken Featured on CBS News
This morning, CBS News featured a lengthy video segment on composer Alan Menken, focusing on the composer’s eight Academy Awards for Disney musicals. The video also shows Menken working on his most recent feature project, Mirror Mirror directed by Tarsem Singh and starring Lily Collins, Julia Roberts, Sean Bean, Armie Hammer and Nathan Lane (visit our previous article for more details) at his home studio near New York. In the segment, Menken also talks his work for the stage. The composer will be having three shows playing simultaneously on Broadway this spring, including Newsies, Sister Act and Leap of Faith. Check out the full 8-minute video after the jump.
Ilan Eshkeri on ‘Coriolanus’
Ilan Eshkeri has recently published a video interview about his music for the drama Coriolanus. In the video, the composer talks about his collaboration with Ralph Fiennes who made his directorial debut on the project and the process of creating the score for the film based on the play by William Shakespeare. Also shown is footage from the recording sessions of the avant-garde score performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra. Check out the full video after the jump. A soundtrack album featuring Eshkeri’s score is scheduled to be released on March 20, 2012 by Varese Sarabande and is available for pre-order on Amazon. Check back on this page for the full soundtrack details. Coriolanus starring Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave and Brian Cox is currently playing in select cities.