Aliens, Mad Scientists, and Swamp-Things Line Up Out the Door to Meet the Minds Behind the Music
(San Diego, Friday morning, July 10th) Six talented composers from Syfy’s most popular shows: Chris Ridenhour (Sharknado 1-3), Shawn Pierce (Haven), FM Le Sieur (Being Human), Reinhold Heil (Helix), Jason Gallagher (Z Nation), and Bill Brown (Dominion), came together for the first time at San Diego Comic-Con to discuss how music influences the viewer experience, as well as the subtle details that go into making sounds for the Syfy network’s top hit shows. The panel was moderated by charming Syfy star Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Gallactica, Continuum, Haven), who helped fill the room with over one hundred attendees.
To start off the panel, panelists discussed what interested them most about scoring for Syfy, and the challenges that come with scoring a science fiction score. Shawn Pierce expressed how much he loved working in the Sci-fi genre, saying, “In this genre what’s so fun for us is that the box of what’s expected is expanded. We’re taken to a real fantastic space, so our boundaries are expanded and we can do so much more.” Bill Brown spoke about how he treats different characters in his projects, and how a character’s sounds and themes evolve as a project develops: “With Dominion, I went into it with the idea that I really wanted it to be thematic. I actually dreamed two of the themes. Michael’s theme is exactly as I dreamed it… Alex’s theme became the main title.”
The panel also expressed that the musicians were just as excited about the shows they work on as the fans, and how that was a huge inspiration for them. FM Le Sieur discussed his process, saying “Every time I receive a new episode I watch it before I start composing because I want to see what happens next.”
Chris Ridenhour discussed his thoughts on live versus digital instrumentation, and how they impacted his scores: “For me, having live musicians is absolutely crucial…when you try to emulate an orchestra, it’s like being in a beautiful garden where everything is made out of plastic.” The panelists highlighted some of their personal favorite instruments, ranging from Reinhold Heil’s vast collection of obscure instruments, to Brown’s Millennium Falcon shaped electric guitar.
Heil also talked at length about his strong interest in cutting-edge sound technology, and how he enjoys pushing the envelope of what sound and music can do in a show. In my case, anything that can happen, happens…” he laughed, “except for the orchestra because there’s no money for it.” Jason Gallagher added his perspective, saying “I lucked out with Z Nation because the direction I got was ‘let’s make music out of stuff that would be found in the apocalypse…’ Let’s replace the orchestra with things that can be found.” This led to Gallagher incorporating sounds from eclectic materials such as wood, metal, and amps powered by battery.
ABOUT BEHIND THE MUSIC
“Behind the Music with CW3PR” is a touring series of music panels at Comic-Con, WonderCon and other worldwide festivals that focus on a different aspect of the art of music composition each time. The panel celebrates various themes for scoring films, television shows and video games. In past years, the panel has played host to composers and singers behind fan-favorite projects such as “Spider-Man,” “The Incredibles,” “Star Trek”, “Scream,” “Game of Thrones,” “True Blood,” “Lost,” “24,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “Arrow,” ”Once Upon a Time,” “The Tudors,” “Heroes,” and many more.
ABOUT CW3PR
CW3PR is a mold-breaking company founded in response to the growing and constantly evolving needs for Public Relations in our modern, connected world. Embracing a wide variety of creative and corporate individuals and companies, the firm specializes in achieving positive results for clients in places, events and demographics that expand well beyond their industry’s automatic focus. For more info please visit www.cw3pr.com.