Rocketman to Godzilla: Alumni Create Music for Summer Films

On top of all the standard artistic considerations to scoring major feature films, composing for a film like the Elton John biopic Rocketman poses its own challenge: writing music to support a movie built on iconic music.

Composer Matthew Margeson B.M. 02, who cut his scoring teeth on films such as Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children and Kick-Ass 2, had every bit of preparation he needed for the gig, from his dual major studies in composition and film scoring at Berklee to training and working with scoring titans Hans Zimmer and Henry Jackman.

In a recent interview in Score It Magazine, Margeson recounts how he found his approach, asking, Why are we trying to reinvent Elton John, musically? We have all of these amazing musical threads...so why don't we attempt to use those as part of the fabric of the score? To make that happen, Margeson worked closely with the films music producer, Giles Martin (son of George Martin, legendary producer for the Beatles). Giles and I had to combine forces...and figure out creatively how to make the score seamlessly fade away within a song... It was a clever collaborative process between Giles and his team.

Find Out What It Takes to Score a Film

Learn the art, craft, and tools of scoring for a variety of media, with Berklees Film Scoring Department. In addition to Rocketman, other summer films that feature music Berklee alumni helped create include:

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Warner Bros.): Jason Akers B.M. 11, scoring assistant; Angelina Park B.M. 15, assistant to the composer; Kaiyun Wong B.M. 14, scoring coordinator

Shaft (Warner Bros.): Bobby Villarreal B.M. 13, MIDI programmer

Marooned (Dreamworks): Amie Doherty M.M. 13, composer

Childs Play (Orion): Jason Akers and Etienne Monsaingeon 17, scoring assistants

Dark Phoenix (20th Century Fox): Alejandro Moros 17, technical assistant

Astronaut (Buck Productions): Virginia Kilbertus M.M. 16, composer

Seize & Secure: The Battle for La Fi re (PBS feature documentary): Lauren Butcher, composer

Watch the trailer for Rocketman:

Video of Rocketman (2019) - Official Trailer - Paramount Pictures

Related categories:

News

Related Reading

Sean McMahon Named Chair of Berklees Film Scoring Department McMahon, a successful film composer and orchestrator who currently serves as assistant chair of the department, succeeds Alison Plante as chair on September 1.

Toby Chu Harmonizes East and West for Pixar The film composer shares his personal connection to scoring Bao, Pixars animated short that runs before The Incredibles 2.

Berklee Silent Film Orchestra Creates and Performs New Score for The Passion of Joan of Arc The piece will premiere at the Coolidge Corner Theatre on Thursday, June 6.

More from Berklee Now

Most Popular

Nashville Said Her Gender Was a Liability. Now Shes Starting Her Own Label. Emma White B.M. '10 talks songwriting, launching a female-centric record label, and navigating the unsolicited advice given to performers.

Latest

Imogen Heap Receives Berklee Honorary Doctorate in Valencia President Roger H. Brown presented the degree at the commencement ceremony for the masters degree programs at Berklees campus in Valencia, Spain.

Terri Lyne Carrington Named 2019 Doris Duke Artist Carrington will receive a $275,000 award in recognition of her ongoing contributions to the field of jazz.

aa92ed_4c15f3cf5c0341c189510b988676dc4c mv2_d_5815_3877_s_4_2.jpg

Ziggy Alberts on Authenticity and Rest At the recent Wanderlust festival, the Aussie singer-songwriter shared his thoughts on keeping it real, cutting through the noise, and getting enough sleep.

Read All

Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.

Berklee Blogs

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Instagram

Snapchat

Soundcloud

Spotify

LINK:	https://www.berklee.edu/news/berklee-now/rocketman-godzilla-alumni-sco...
	See more stories from berklee

Most recent headlines