Wednesday, November 21, 2012

SoundCast Interview: Jack Wall (Call of Duty: Black Ops II)

SoundCast Interview: Jack Wall (Call of Duty: Black Ops II)

Interview: Jack Wall (Call of Duty: Black Ops II)

Composer Jack Wall talks with Marius Masalar about his score for the fastest selling video game to date, Call of Duty: Black Ops II.  They talk about his transition from audio producer to working in the video game world, his thoughts on the use of "melody" in game scores, working alongside and around Trent Reznor's main theme, and a bit about his upcoming score for Lost Planet 3 in 2013!

Episode Highlights


0:00 Introduction
2:12 Early reviews of Black Ops II
3:42 Going from studio work to game audio, meeting Trent Reznor
9:00 The evolving game audio workflow, coming full circle
10:38 The attraction of Black Ops II, the value of story in the game
14:41 Dynamic range and the musical direction for the game
16:10 The story of the Niño Precioso cue
22:03 Influences from other series and previous Call of Duty scores
23:39 Melodic themes in games and emotional moments
28:07 Orchestras, the recording process, and the nuance of live performances
30:04 The mixing team and attention to detail in production
32:59 Electronics, field recordings, combining and using sounds
36:01 Learning synthesis and working on Mass Effect
37:12 Jack's favourite sound and the trouble with ringtones
39:14 Working alongside Trent Reznor, the main theme
40:30 The challenge of creating a fresh Call of Duty experience
43:34 Witnessing trends in the gaming industry, the power of indie
49:03 Wrapping up Lost Planet 3 and its…unusual musical direction
54:30 Game scores and composers that Jack admires
56:20 The growing appreciation of music in games
57:40 Conclusion


Music Selections


00:00 "Savimbi's Pride" (Call of Duty: Black Ops II) by Jack Wall
15:15 "Hidden " (Call of Duty: Black Ops II) by Jack Wall
16:30 "Niño Precioso" (Call of Duty: Black Ops II) by Jack Wall
20:20 "Raul Menendez Theme" (Call of Duty: Black Ops II) by Jack Wall
24:40 "Heros Theme " (Call of Duty: Black Ops II) by Jack Wall
32:55 "Spider Bot" (Call of Duty: Black Ops II) by Jack Wall and Jimmy Hinson
58:32 "Adrenaline (Call of Duty: Black Ops II) by Jack Wall




No comments:

Post a Comment

Thank you for posting your comment! As soon as we verify that it is suitable for publishing, it will be published.