Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Fallout 3 Composer Inon Zur Recalls the Challenges of his Latest Score
By Louis Bedigian

“I tend to look at [the] musical score as the emotional dimension of a game or movie.”

Bethesda is known for making some of the most immersive and beloved games on the planet. So when it was announced that they were working on Fallout 3, hundreds of thousands of players were instantly excited – even those who had not played the Fallout series before. This week, we'll finally get to delve into Bethesda's first big project since Oblivion.

One of the things people love about this developer is the attention they give to game's sound, particularly the music. When searching for the perfect score, they looked no further than Inon Zur. Coming off the success of Crysis and a host of others, Inon Zur is one of the game industry's leading composers. But it was sound of the previous Fallout games that inspired his music for Fallout 3.

"We definitely looked at the previous games for inspiration and the sense of continuation, but this time the approach was more aggressive and cinematic," he says. "If the previous Fallouts were mostly ambient music, this time there are many battle music cues and the array of musical genres in the game has also gotten more vast and diverse."

What was your first thought when asked to work on a sequel as strongly anticipated as Fallout 3 – excited? Nervous? Something else?

Inon Zur: Well, I actually composed the previous sequel, Brotherhood Of Steel, so I was familiar with the story and genre. However, this is a different company, Bethesda Softworks, and these people created Oblivion – so I was very excited to work with them, and I was REALLY excited to take on another Fallout game!

You've worked on both sequels and brand-new franchises. Is one of these more challenging than the other?

IZ: Each case presents different challenges. In the case of a new franchise you know that what you do will be the first musical impression for this project, so it puts a bit of a pressure on me. I want to do something that will be very memorable and while creating the right impact for the first time playing this game.

In the case of a sequel, the genre is already there and the anticipation is too. So you don’t need to come up with something brand new, and you have some references of what already worked well; this is the easy part. The real challenge is to make it close enough to the original source so it won’t spoil the player’s expectations, while on the other hand lend some of your own creative writing and improve the existing score.

Were there any guidelines or requests from the developers?

IZ: Yes, they were working to put the game together way before I was brought into the picture, and during the creative process they imagined what music could work with each specific map. Then, they explained it to me and together we try to bring to life what they have envisioned.

Some of the songs that went live on Fallout's official site were "Main Title," "Megaton," and "Into the Wasteland." The latter is pretty dark and ominous, the Main Title gives the hint of impending doom, while Megaton has more of a curious, "What's next?" kind of feel. Are these the showpieces for what the rest of the score will sound like?

IZ: They represent only a small portion of the score, there is much more that will be revealed during gameplay. This is a big and extensive game, and the music tends to be specific to the actual point in the story and setup, along with the actual location of the player. This is why the music changes quite a lot during gameplay and between maps.

Do you know if Bethesda plans to release other song samples after the game's release?

IZ: It is possible we will release more tracks after the game launches. Stay tuned to my website www.inonzur.com for updates!

Under the May 8th story on the Latest News page of InonZur.com, Todd Howard (exec producer of Fallout 3) comments: "[Inon has] created a score that has epic sweep; from the lonely ambience of the wasteland to dramatic fights for survival." We got a taste of that with the song samples, but could you tell us more about this and how you're helping to bring the game to life?

IZ: I tend to look at [the] musical score as the emotional dimension of a game or movie. This is why I always try to understand what the developer wanted the gamer to feel from an emotional point of view, rather than trying to describe what is REALLY happening right now. In this way, the score taps into the psychological realm instead of staying passively as a mere description of what you see. Therefore, the music is helping to create the realistic elements of the drama.

Are there any sounds, styles, and/or instruments in Fallout 3 that you've not previously used in a game?

IZ: Overall, the sound in certain places can remind the gamer of some of the previous scores. What has changed is the way we play the music in places, and the actual techniques of implementing the music. There are also many new elements that are being introduced for the first time in this game.

As the ship date approached, tons of new screenshots and artwork were released. Was all of this available to you when you came on board the project?

IZ: Unfortunately, no. I had to use A LOT of imagination to try to picture and to visualize with what I had which was mostly written documents as my resources.

How far in advance of the game's completion were you able to finish the score? Was it an ongoing process?

IZ: Yes, but most of the score was done in 2007, so I could see how the game was evolving and coming to life with the music.

Now tell us about Crysis. Its soundtrack was finally released in March.

IZ: The Crysis soundtrack combines many of the different aspects of the musical score in the game. There are the alien’s music, the American and the North Korean style music. There are action cues and there are more ambient cues. It is very broad stylistically, and you almost can follow the story by just listening to the music. There are combinations of orchestral music with electronic music and some Asian ethnic music. Together they form the Crysis musical style, which is very different than other projects and games I previously composed.

Within the game, Crysis' music was very well received. What has been the response to the soundtrack release?

IZ: Very positive. I wanted to thank the fans who took the time and patience to listen to the soundtrack. For me it is always the best reward – to hear that the score has moved people and it meant something to them. Thank you very much!

Share | Digg This | Glink It

---