Film

Events, Film, Game Music, Miscellaneous

Vince DiCola to Debut New Game Soundtracks and Band at Upcoming Show

August 30, 2018 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Vince DiCola to Debut New Game Soundtracks and Band at Upcoming Show Share this

Vince DiCola, composer of Transformers: The Motion Picture, Rocky IV and Angry Birds has started venturing into live performances more this year. At this past Super MAGFest, he played live with VGM band LonelyRollingStars and performed pieces from his aforementioned media which has gained him a underground nerd following. Having tasted the love of video game music geeks, he’s now venturing into other live performances and specifically will be debuting new music in West Hollywood, California on September 20, 2018 at the famous Whiskey-a-Go-Go.

Several months ago my daughter took it upon herself to start up a dialog with the folks at the Whisky about the idea of her father performing there. After all the details had been worked out I decided to use this opportunity to perform material from my film work and some videogames I scored with my partner Kenny Meriedeth. This will be the first live performance of some of this music, including tracks from the arena fighter Mighty Fight Federation and the sequel to Saturday Morning RPG! I will also be debuting a new progressive rock band called SAGA STAR at this show. This promises to be an exciting night of music so we hope to see you there! – Vince DiCola

DiCola will be debuting the new game music along with a progressive rock ensemble with his writing partner Kenny Meriedeth, film and game composer Cody Carpenter, George “norg” Nowik of the LonelyRollingStars and more. You can check out more information about the show and nab tickets over at Brown Paper Tickets.
Film, Game Music, Indie Music

Composer Ron Jones slated to score SKY FIGHTER, an Indiegogo Sci-Fi short film!

May 8, 2018 | Ryan Paquet | 1 Comment Share this

On May 1, 2018, long-time soundtrack producer, and creator of Film Score Monthly, Lukas Kendall launched an Indiegogo campaign to finance SKY FIGHTER a short sci-fi film. The short film will be used as a proof-of-concept for a full length feature film. Composer Ron Jones, known for his stellar video game score to the Star Trek Starfleet Academy video game, and his extensive television scores for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Ducktales, and Family Guy will be handling the music for SKY FIGHTER. Personally, I’ve read the script (which you can find on the campaign page) and found it to be both engaging and intriguing.

The rewards for the campaign include a soundtrack CD to the short, and additional new music composed by Ron Jones which will be produced by La-Land Records. Many of the rewards are soundtrack related and include CDs, or coupons for discounts at many soundtrack labels including Varese Sarabande, La-La Land Records, Intrada, Buysoundtrax, and Screen Archives Entertainment. You can watch the video for the Indiegogo campaign below:

I have loved Ron’s music since the early years of Star Trek: The Next Generation. He wrote 42 episode scores for TNG, including some of the greatest episodes: “11001001,” “Heart of Glory,” “Q Who,” “Who Watches the Watchers?” and “The Best of Both Worlds” (with that incredible cliffhanger as the Enterprise faces off against Borgified Picard—”Mr. Worf…fire!”). His orchestral/synthesizer soundscapes brilliantly evoke futuristic, computer-controlled environments, which is why I want him for Sky Fighter. Ron has a new recording and audio postproduction facility north of Seattle, SkyMuse Studios, where we will do our music recording, sound design and mix.

I already have offers to package the Sky Fighter feature script with a director and actors to get it made—but I wrote it with the intention to direct it myself. So I need to make a short film version of it to prove I can direct! The project is inspired by some of my favorite worlds: Battlestar Galactica/Robotech space warfare and Ghost in the Shell/Black Mirror cyber-technology.

Lukas Kendall, Director

You can find all of the details related to the Sky Fighter Indiegogo Campaign right here, or by clicking on the banner above. If you’re a fan of Ron Jones, soundtracks, or sci-fi be sure to check it out.
Film, Game Music

Tomb Raider Original Movie Soundtrack Available Today

March 9, 2018 | Brenna Wilkes | Comments Off on Tomb Raider Original Movie Soundtrack Available Today Share this

(March 6 – New York) Sony Music will be releasing the original motion picture soundtrack for the latest and soon-to-be released movie adaption of Tomb Raider game series. To be published digitally and on CD, the movie’s soundtrack was done by Dutch composer Tom Holkenborg, a.k.a. Junkie XL, who has worked under legendary composer Hans Zimmer and previously worked on films such as Mad Max: Fury Road and Deadpool.

I am really pleased that Director Roar Uthaug invited me to be part of his re-imagining of Lara Croft and Tomb Raider. Lara is such a strong female protagonist and Roar and Alicia’s vision for her feels very fresh, raw and human, but also really out-there. It was a joy to be given the chance to approach this score from a really edgy place. – Tom Holkenborg, composer

The movie, which releases on March 16th, is the latest film adaption of the Tomb Raider series, which will be basing its story around the 2013 video game of the same name. Previously the Tomb Raider games were translated to film staring Angelina Jolie and were loosely based on the original set of games in the series and composed by Graeme Revell (Titan A.E., The Crow). For this new movie, Holkenborg hopes to immerse the watcher in the environment.

“We spend a lot of time on the ‘island‘ in the movie. It is otherworldly and wild, and I wanted to get people out of their comfort zones with some eerie crescendo moments. I spent months having custom pacific drums built, which I played myself to create insane adrenaline inducing rhythms. I also distorted our orchestral recordings, which yielded some unsettling qualities within the score. I want to thank Director Roar Uthaug for letting me push the envelope on this project. It was a lot of fun.

Produced by Sony Music, the 14 track album Tomb Raider Original Motion Picture Soundtrack releases today on Amazon, iTunes, Google Play and Spotify.
Anime, Film

Listen to some of the Ghost in the Shell 2017 film score every Friday

September 8, 2017 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on Listen to some of the Ghost in the Shell 2017 film score every Friday Share this

On March 31, 2017, Lakeshore Records had planned to release the score to the live action Ghost in the Shell film. The release was unfortunately cancelled for reasons unknown, and ever since that time fans have been signing a petition for its release on Change.org. At the time of writing the petition has garnered over 4000 signatures, whatever you think about petitions of these nature there is evidence that they do work. When the first Transformers film was released in 2007 there were no plans to release a score album, however this changed when a fan run online petition obtained over 5000 signatures. The score was composed by Clint Mansell and Lorne Balfe and details of the original planned release are available on the Video Game Music Database which reveals the extent of talented individuals that worked on the music.

In the video clip above you can listen to the lengthy piece titled “Tank Battle” which is featured in one of the film’s final action scenes. Composer Lorne Balfe has been consistently releasing two tracks every Friday as a means to help generate excitement over the score. He’s also released an unused alternate score for the film’s opening ‘Shelling Sequence’ which offers film score fans a look behind the scenes of crafting the music for the film.

A twitter account @gitsost has also been actively promoting the film’s score and been encouraging Paramount Pictures and Lakeshore Records to release the score. The film’s Director, Rupert Sanders was also recently interviewed by Neil Middlemiss for Home Theatre Forum and was asked about the score release:

Neil Middlemiss:You worked with Clint Mansell and Lorne Balfe on Ghost in the Shell. And the music in your films works so incredibly well. What is your working process like with the composers that you work with? And what on God’s Earth do we have to do in order to get a score release for Ghost in the Shell’s wonderful soundtrack done? Who do I need to call [laughter]?

Rupert Sanders:Well, we will endeavor to do something. I think it’s a valid point and I think a digital release is a fairly inexpensive way to do it. But I work with the musicians as closely as I work with so many of the other collaborators. And as a director, your role when working on that side of the film is to inspire and excite those people around you so they give their best work. You’re not in there telling them what key the opening should be in, but you’re trying to give them as much of your vision of the film sonically as possible, and guide them as much as possible so they understand what you’re trying to do. And that’s really the hardest thing, especially with music, because you can’t draw it. And it’s very hard when you’re not musical, like myself, to talk in phrases and musical expressions because I don’t really know many of them but I can draw the shit out of a prop house. But music is harder [and] I think it’s about getting people who are collaborative, who want to help you on the journey do something different, and I’m really proud of the originality of the score. And I will follow up, and I will make sure that there’s a release. And as soon as it’s released, we’ll email you a link [laughter].

Until the score is officially released I will continue to check out Lorne Balfe’s YouTube page every Friday for the latest tracks he’s shared. OSV will keep you updated if an official score released in announced.

Were you a fan of the music in the 2017 Ghost in the Shell film?
Film, Game Music, Indie Music

Fan Film Metroid The Bounty Hunter’s Judgment Official Soundtrack Available Now

April 10, 2017 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on Fan Film Metroid The Bounty Hunter’s Judgment Official Soundtrack Available Now Share this

On March 30, 2017, Spinnup records released the official soundtrack to Metroid: The Bounty Hunter’s Judgement, a fan film currently in production by OutPort Studio which is part of The Project Pack. According to the artist, this project was developed to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Metroid, as a tribute to Hirokazu Tanaka, Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano for composing music for this franchise, and to Toby Fox for composing and developing Undertale. You can listen to the entire album which runs around 20 minutes below.

This is the result of months of research, composing, arranging, playing and recording, and with the huge support of thousands of talented people, this 8 track album was possible. Music, as any other form of art, exists to protect and sustain a way of expression, and with It, protects a way to experience and approach a theme.

Fan art is now protecting both of them as hard as ever.We want to thank all of the Metroid community for keeping the franchise alive and relevant. From the speed running community, to the modding, hacking, illustration, music and game developing community, all of you are the ones who keeps us believing that Samus adventures are not over.

We want to thank Milton Guasti (DoctorM64) for creating the perfect fan game with AM2R, and making the ultimate gift for the fans on the exact 30th Anniversary of the Metroid.

Zest

The album is also available on iTunes, Spotify, and purchase an official digital copy of Amazon. Although a release date for the fan film has not been announced, OSV will keep you posted?

Have you been following the development of this Metroid fan film?
Film, Indie Music

Robyn Miller has released the soundtrack to the short film Little Potato

April 3, 2017 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on Robyn Miller has released the soundtrack to the short film Little Potato Share this

Robyn Miller, the composer of the soundtracks to Myst, Riven and Obduction has just released the soundtrack to Little Potato. The short film directed by Wes Hurley & Nathan M. Miller just won Best Documentary Short at the SXSW Film Festival earlier this month. The filmmakers describe the film as an autobiographical documentary that tells the story of Little Potato‘s journey growing up gay in the Soviet Union before and after the fall of communism, his mother’s struggles to create a better life for them both, and their eventual escape to America via her becoming a mail-order bride.

Robyn Miller also shared some details on his approach to the soundtrack on his newly re-designed website.

Wes came to me with a daring musical vision: he wanted an upbeat 80’s synthpop sound. For music nerds, here are the tools I used: Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S88 and Komplete Ultimate, Pianoteq 5, Macintosh and Logic Pro X. The score was recorded at my home in Seattle.

Robyn Miller

You can sample the album’s remaining tracks on Amazon where it can be purchased digitally for $8.99.

Where you at the SXSW Film Festival this year, and did you have a chance to see Little Potato?
Film, Game Music

Latest Storybundle Includes BEEP: The Complete Interviews Book!

March 29, 2017 | Ryan Paquet | Comments Off on Latest Storybundle Includes BEEP: The Complete Interviews Book! Share this

Last year, OSV reviewed Beep: A Documentary History of Game Sound which is an excellent overview of the world of game audio. The companion book, Beep: The Complete Interviews written by Karen Collins and Chris Greening collects over 100 interviews with the leading names in the game sound industry and is part of the latest Storybundle. The Pay What You Want bundle (minimum $5) titled The Rogue Souls Bundle is available until April 13, 2017. Additional details on the bundle are below:

Love video games? Then The Rogue Souls Bundle is PERFECT reading material for when you can’t play video games!

Among the ten phenomenal ebooks we have in the bundle is You Died – The (Unofficial) Dark Souls Companion from Keza MacDonald & Jason Killingsworth, a history of FromSoftware’s majestic, tough as nails action RPG that’s at the same time interviews with key figures from playing & translating it, plus a bird’s eye view of the entire phenomenon. Also we’ve got a StoryBundle exclusive Bug Voyáge! A Tour of Classic Game Glitches by John Harris. Harris has delved deep into classic games – from Pac-Man to Galaga and beyond – to point out some amazing glitches, how you trigger them, and the underlying logic that makes them possible. In addition to all the wonderful game ebooks, we’re happy to feature the Video Game History Foundation as the designated charity for this bundle.

Storybundle

You can grab yourself a copy of this bundle over at Storybundle website. I already grabbed mine!

If you haven’t had a chance to watch Beep: A Documentary History of Game Sound yet, you can rent or purchase the film here.