Hello Everyone! And welcome to week 5 of classes! We are given the amazing opportunity to study under Gerard Marino, composer of the God of War game scores. In the featured photo above, 2nd year students are in class with Gerard, going over their work. A nice addition to the program starting this year is the composer in residency program. Every eight weeks a new composer is brought in that gets to speak with the students about his/her work and advise them on their work. The second year students mainly get this opportunity, but Gerard has graciously accepted to meet with year one students also. He’s not only taking the time with the graduate students, but also the undergraduate students. The second years are currently working on a game with him.

Here is a better photo for all of you to see the paneling job in the classroom! It’s been a great opportunity to just sit in this room and listen to music or mix our personal compositions. We can hear exactly how dry Lana Del Ray’s music can be when listening to it in this room, but also hear how wet another piece can sound. A testimonial from Harry Hunt, first year student; “The room gives you a good perspective on how the music actually sounds, and we’re able to analyze and hear everything clearly and compare with other professional composers work and mixes.” It’s truly an experience, and all of the students are very happy to have it available!

This past weekend, myself and another student, Tyler Durham, saw the film “The Martian.” I knew nothing about the film before seeing it, and Tyler had a general idea of what it was about, but we both didn’t expect the humor within the story. For those of you who haven’t heard of the film, Matt Damon’s character, Mark Watney, goes on a mission to Mars, and is left behind because he is thought to be dead after a pretty intense storm. His character is put through many challenges as well as many trial and errors, but yet he keeps a positive mentality and has a great sense of humor throughout his time on Mars. His humor is not only shown through his acting, but through the use of score and popular music too. Harry Gregson-Williams composed the score for this film, and he definitely didn’t limit himself. He created both electronic and orchestral work, and used woodwinds to create some very unique and colorful flourishes that made both Tyler and I tilt our heads to the side in question. I highly suggest the film, and I highly suggest listening to the score by itself. Overall, it is a delightfully unique experience, and stands out from other recent films.

Until next time everyone!