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MI6 got together with the 2003 Emmy award winner
Sean Callery late last year as he was in the midst
of finishing up the score to "Everything or Nothing."...
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Interview - Sean Callery (Part 2)
22nd January 2004
MI6 got together with the 2003 Emmy award winner Sean Callery
late last year as he was in the midst of finishing up the score
to "Everything or Nothing."...
Continuing..
The music scores have been very solid over the last few games,
how are you bringing something new to the music in the series?
We recorded nearly 67-68 minutes of new music recorded for
this game using a 65 piece orchestra. We wanted the score to have
a rich cinematic feeling to it, and we experimented with spotting
the music as it would be done for a movie. For example, many Bond
action sequences from earlier films have no music whatsoever,
and it was just as exciting. I remember in the finale of Goldfinger,
when Bond and Oddjob are fighting at Fort Knox, much of that action
sequence is unscored, and it is brilliant, in my opinion. We tried
to find areas of the game where we could observe moments where
music wouldn't be needed all the time, while not compromising
the game's intensity. The visual graphics of this Bond game are
astoundingly brilliant. I don't know how they do it. I strived
to bring an arc to every piece of music I wrote. Even though the
pace of the
game is completely determined by the player, I designed the music
so that the game programmers could introduce different musical
sections as a player advances onward. I hope the fans like what
was done.
At what stage of the production is the 'Everything
or Nothing' score? When is it due to be finished? As
of this writing all the music has been written and mixed.
I should add the music was mixed in 5.1 surround sound.
We mixed the score at Glenwood Studios in Burbank, California.
Glenwood is one of the industry's top state of the art mixing
facilities.
What equipment are you using to compose the music?
How are you balancing the mix of synthesized and orchestral
aspects?
Back in the early 90's I was a sound designer for the television
series, "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine". I enjoyed
designing special sounds for that series. That practice
extended onward into my composition work. I like to sound
design textures that have as an organic feel as possible,
so that when they integrate with live instruments, there
is no division where a listener would say, 'oh, that's a
nice orchestra piece with synths". I try to have them
integrated as if the synthesizer player is sitting in the
orchestra with the players.
How did you feel about wining the Emmy?
Great! I received an Emmy award in 2003 for my underscore
composition work on "24".
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Above: Sean Callery served as sound
effects editor on "Star Trek: Generations" as well
as "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" |
Above: Le Femme Nikita - Cast |
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When writing the music for the game, did you relate
to any pieces written by previous Bond composers? Do you
admire John Barry's famous work on the Bond series?
I am a tremendous admirer of John Barry and his work. He
has such beautiful haunting melodies in his Bond scores,
and when I was hired by EA to do this project, it was explained
to me that they wanted to have a very modern score while
incorporating some of the brilliant sonorities that have
stood the test of time. I was thrilled to received that
direction, and I strived to find that balance between fusing
the musical styles from earlier Bond films with newer textures.
Fans have been eagerly awaiting isolated soundtracks
for the previous games, since the 'Tomorrow Never Dies'
video game soundtrack was released in 2000. Would you like
a soundtrack of the 'Everything or Nothing' music to be
released, and are there any plans of such an idea at this
stage?
From the beginning of my tenure at EA there has always
been discussion of having a soundtrack for the game. The
music
of this game covers a broad variety of musical styles.
I was contracted to compose 60-70 minutes of music. It
ended up being close to 95-100 minutes of original recorded music
for this game.
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Do you know if the music you have created for the James
Bond game will be release on a CD at any point?
EA is considering releasing a CD of the Bond Music, and I hope
they do. I hope the fans will enjoy the game. I thought
it was pretty amazing, the things I was able to view and see.
I think it would be a great soundtrack. I think if the fans demand
it, it will come faster.
Do you think your involvement with 'Everything or Nothing'
will lead onto scoring further video games? If approached to score
another Bond game in the future, do you think it will be more
difficult to come up with new original ideas?
Great questions. I have seen a little of the earlier Bond
games, and despite the fact that these action games involve similar
actions
(i.e, 3rd
person shooting, vehicular mission, etc.), the music for each
Bond games is very different. I think this is because the Bond
character has so many possibilities in terms of story. He travels
all over the world. He's put in impossible situations. He's even
funny. Even using the themes that are four decades old, musically,
I don't think the well can ever really run dry in the Bond franchise.
Many thanks to Sean Callery.
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MI6 Biography
Name: Sean Callery
Portfolio
"Everything or Nothing" - Composer
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Related Articles:
Interview - Sean Callery
(Part 1)
"Everything or Nothing"
MI6 Coverage
Interview - Dave L