Interview: The Flight (Joe Henson, Alexis Smith)

Marius Masalar talks to Joe Henson and Alexis Smith of ‘The Flight’ about their work on the multiplayer segment of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, as well as the full score to Alien: Isolation.

From performing things live on esoteric instruments to the challenges of building on Jerry Goldsmith’s work, the duo discusses their process and offers a glimpse into their workflow and how their extensive experience producing for pop artists has informed their approach to media scoring.

Episode Highlights

00:00 — Intro

00:45 — Getting the opportunity to score the multiplayer for Assassin’s Creed IV

02:20 — Working in parallel

03:38 — How pop producing experience influences game scoring

07:50 — How multiplayer scoring differs from campaign/singleplayer work

11:25 — Live performances, and creative instrumentation

14:35 — A team of three for Alien: Isolation

17:55 — Building on the franchise’s musical history

23:05 — Scoring the alien

25:40 — Implementation and interactive music challenges for horror

30:08 — Diversity of mediums and the growth of game audio

34:28 — Advice for aspiring media composers

38:31 — Conclusion

Music Selections

00:00 - Saba Island (ACIV: Black Flag) by Joe Henson, Alexis Smith

08:14 - La Havana (ACIV: Black Flag) by Joe Henson, Alexis Smith

12:45 - Prison (ACIV: Black Flag) by Joe Henson, Alexis Smith

18:38 - Promo Cue 1 (Alien Isolation) by Joe Henson, Alexis Smith

20:54 - Promo Cue 2 (Alien Isolation) by Joe Henson, Alexis Smith

23:12 - Promo Cue 3 (Alien Isolation) by Joe Henson, Alexis Smith

26:56 - Promo Cue 4 (Alien Isolation) by Joe Henson, Alexis Smith

39:18 — 03 Tampa Bay (ACIV: Black Flag) by Joe Henson, Alexis Smith

58:27 - "Humans Are Predators" (Twilight) by Carter Burwell

61:25 - "Monkey See, Monkey Coup" (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) by Michael Giacchino

62:40 - "Main Titles" (Pillars of the Earth) by Trevor Jones

65:00 - "Hercules and Hebe" (The Legend of Hercules) by Tuomas Kantelinen

69:04 - "April 1945" (Fury) by Steven Price

72:05 - "I Am Iron Man" (Iron Man 2) by John Debney

73:35 - "Battle of Vanaheim" (Thor: The Dark World) by Brian Tyler

Notes:

Follow The Flight on Twitter (@theflightmusic)

Follow Marius Masalor on Twitter (@mostlymarius)

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