Goldsmith…Horner…Williams. Though he is too modest to agree, Andrew Lockington’s score for Journey 2: The Mysterious Island has all the luster one would expect from the greats when they were in their prime. Building off of the thematic sense of adventure heard in the first film, Andrew takes the music in this series to another level entirely for the follow-up, even by going as far as exploring the jungles in Papua New Guinea to research the score. This rather extraordinary phase of the project is best summarized with an excerpt from the press release:

“Lockington’s incredible journey included living far up the treacherous Sepik River, home to many of the world’s last remaining un-contacted indigenous tribes. Armed with a backpack full of recording equipment and an HD camcorder, he spent time with two tribes – documenting not only their ceremonies and their music, but also getting unprecedented insight into their unique way of life.”

Clearly, Andrew’s not in this business just for a paycheck. What makes this story even better is that there is a happy ending. The score is marvelous!

In an experience I will liken to my first listen of Stargate by David Arnold, Journey 2 offers up a sweeping engagement with four themes pacing the way. The ‘Journey’ theme itself is reprised from the first movie, which sounds just as good as I remembered, but the real backbone of the score is the interplay between the Family and Mysterious Island themes. If adventuring to a mysterious island could be bottled up in the form of music, these themes would emerge when uncorked.

Another quotient of beauty in the mix is the tactful use of choir and solo voice. Unlike so many soundtracks where we hear the yearning female voice echoing endlessly in the background, Andrew opted for a more engaging approach as the soloist here brings to life the mysteries of the island in an enticing manner. Equally in synch, the choir is embedded into the framework in a way that services the score without disrupting it (today’s choral works are often too overstated). That said, when the chorus needs to make a bolder statement, the voices hit their mark in a grand, uplifting way. Suffice it to say that all the choral elements have been pulled together into a cohesive mix and the end result is completely spot on.

So the percussion instruments is another piece to obviously make mention of. Andrew went halfway around the world, how can I not? Given that so much time and research went into this aspect of the score, it could have been very easy to unleash a bombardment of drumming and no one would have second-guessed it. Well, it’s awesome to hear that the tribal elements were implemented with great care and does not supercede the impact of the orchestra. In fact, much like the choral arrangements, the percussion instruments are scripted to be only one part of a larger musical picture. It’s so meticulously plotted, in fact, that we don’t get any full signs of the island/tribal influences until track 8, at which point it kicks off a series of cues that are full of action and excitement, all paced by variations of the main themes and the unique rhythm of the drums. These are the types of tracks that will rekindle the sense of wonder many of us had when filing into multiplexes in the 80′s. Indeed, I’d say that tracks 8 thru 10 are what I would deem the best of the best, highlights from a superlative score.

After a calendar year in which many of the greats skirted with rekindling their past successes, such as the tandem of John Williams releases and the Captain America score by Alan Silvestri, along comes Andrew’s efforts, that in my opinion, easily tops those experiences. I have a feeling that this score will be remembered as one of the year’s best, and that’s conservative. To me, this is one of the best types of action/adventure scores that anyone can hope to listen to.

Source: Scorenotes.com

Film to be released on February 10, 2012.

Film Music Reporter has been able to confirm that Andrew Lockington will be back to score the sequel to the family adventure Journey to the Center of the Earth, which the composer scored in 2008.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island stars Josh Hutcherson , Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine, Vanessa Hudgens, Kristin Davis and Luis Guzman. The movie is loosely based on Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Islandand tells the story of Sean Anderson who takes on a trip to a mythical and monstrous island to find his missing grandfather.

The film marks the second feature film for director Brad Peyton. Journey 2 was shot in 3D and will be released by Warner Bros.

HOLLYWOOD, CA – OCT 12- Nominations for the annual Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA) were announced today including Original Score, Original Song and Outstanding Music Supervision in Film, TV, Video Games, Commercial Ads and Movie Trailers.

The eclectic list of nominees for Original Score–Feature Film is Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network),Hans Zimmer (Inception), Howard Shore (The Twilight Saga: Eclipse), Tom and Andy (Resident Evil: Afterlife), Craig Armstrong (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps), Marcelo Zarvos (Brooklyn’s Finest), Chingon (Machete) and Clint Mansell (Black Swan).

Additional music categories include Original Score for TV, Video Game and Indie/Short/Documentary and Best Song for TV, Film Video Game and Commercial Advertisement. The HMMA is also the only award show to recognize and award music supervisors for their work in TV, film, video games and movie trailers.

Nathan Barr, who won last year for Original Score-TV (True Blood), is once again nominated for his work on HBO’s cult favorite. Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman, nominated last year for NBC’s “Heroes,” received a nod for their work on Showtime’s breakout hit “Nurse Jackie.” Other nominated television scores are “Hawthorne” (TNT), “Criminal Minds” (CBS), “24” (Fox) and “Sanctuary” (SyFy) composed by Andrew Lockington.

Video game composer nominees include Petri Alanko, Garry Schyman, Knut Avenstroup Haugen, Martin O’Donnell, Michael Salvatori, Tom Salta, Jesper Kyd and Jim Dooley.

Nominated music artists MoZella (Best Song –Commercial Advertisement) and Gram Rabbit (Best Song-TV Show) are two out of the seven live musical performances taking place the night of the HMMA. Other performers will be announced in the coming weeks.

A special Outstanding Career Achievement honor will be presented to film composer and educator Christopher Young (Spider-man 2 & 3, The Shipping News, Swordfish, etc.)

Music genre nominees for independent artists around the globe have also been announced and posted. For a complete list of music and visual media nominees, visit www.hmmawards.com and click on the “Honors” tab.

Source: www.hmmawards.com

Hoping to duplicate the feat Jeff Bridges pulled off last year when he became a surprise last minute entry into the Oscar race — and winner — with Crazy Heart, Halle Berry is launching an awards season qualifying run for her indie effort Frankie & Alice. It opens December 17 in New York and Los Angeles before its regular theatrical release set for February 4 in the top 20 markets (shortly after nominations are announced). Freestyle Releasing will handle distribution with P and A reportedly provided by private funding the producers raised. Berry is also a producer on the 1970s–set psychological drama, a true story in which she plays a woman suffering with multiple personality disorder, exactly the kind of meaty role (and Oscar bait) that actors covet. Berry, an Oscar winner for Monster’s Ball (2001) has shepherded this as a “passion project” and is said to feel this is her best work since Ball –hence the awards push. I’m told 10,000 DVD screeners will go out to the entire Academy, critics groups, SAG Nominating Committee and others. As one of the more visible aspects of the campaign, Berry will be a prominent part of this year’s AFI Fest on November 9 in “A Conversation With Halle Berry.”

The Best Actress race is already overcrowded this year with a boatload of contenders all jockeying for attention including Jennifer Lawrence, Annette Bening, Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, Diane Lane, Hillary Swank, Sally Hawkins, Noomi Rapace, Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman, Nicole Kidman, Lesley Manville and Michelle Williams — to name a few. Whether it might have been wiser to wait until next year remains to be seen but this is an especially tough field. The last minute stealth entry could be an effective strategy but she will also be vying for attention with Kidman’s Rabbit Hole opening on the same day, with Lionsgate employing a similar strategy for their well-reviewed Toronto Fest pickup. Like Berry, Kidman is also a producer on her film.

“Bringing this story to the big screen has been a challenging, yet very satisfying, filmmaking experience,” Berry says. “Her struggles with mental illness came at a time when the medical community and the public were still grappling with the veracity of multiple personality disorder, and I approached this role with feelings of humility, yet great responsibility.”

Geoffrey Sax directed from a script by Cheryl Edwards and Marko King & Mary King & Jonathan Watters and Joe Shrapnel & Anna Waterhouse (story by Edwards and Oscar Janiger and Phillip Goldberg). Producers also include Berry’s partner Vincent Cirrincione, Hassain Zaidi and Simon DeKaric. Tom Ortenberg’s One Way Out Media is reportedly consulting on marketing plans. Ortenberg worked with Berry on the successful Monster’s Ball campaign when he was at Lionsgate.

Berry’s films since winning the Oscar include the Bond entry Die Another Day, the X-Men films, Catwoman, Perfect Stranger and Things We Lost In The Fire.

Source: deadline.com

Composer signs on for 3rd Season of ‘Sanctuary’
Epic Art Magazine
- Dyllan Waits

“Composer Andrew Lockington (Journey To The Center of the Earth, City of Ember) has been secured to score the 3rd season of “Sanctuary”. After his industry-changing music (including songs) written for the second season of the popular TV series, it’s no surprise the show’s creator and producers were quick to ink Lockington to another 20 episodes. The composer’s tunes had such an impact on viewers that numerous blogs and websites quickly emerged devoted to the music. Rumor has it a soundtrack album may also make it’s way to itunes later this year. Fingers Crossed!

*The Blu-ray / DVD release of Sanctuary Season II is June 15th.”