The force prevailed when Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV series premiered on Cartoon Network. The first two episodes were the 27th and 30th most watched cable shows of the week of their premiere, making them the top non-sports, non-news shows, according to Nielsen. Tomorrow Star Wars: The Clone Wars will be released on DVD. Composer Kevin Kiner (CSI: Miami) created the score for both the series and the film of the same name that premiered earlier this summer.
AWARD-WINNING COMPOSER
KEVIN KINER INVADES THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE WITH ORIGINAL SCORE FOR
STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS
Available on DVD November 11th
Score Album Available on Sony Classic
Hollywood, CA – Award-winning composer Kevin Kiner carries the baton of the Star Wars universe by creating the music for STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS, from creator George Lucas. The first part of the series premiered as an all-new feature film, followed by the television series debut on the Cartoon Network, in a partnership between Lucasfilm Ltd., Warner Bros. Pictures and Turner Broadcasting System Inc.
Having conducted the London Philharmonic and The City of Prague Orchestra, Kiner’s orchestral expertise defines his latest project: composing for a 90-piece orchestra for the animated feature Star Wars: The Clone Wars. At producer George Lucas’ suggestion, Kiner has distinguished each planet in the mythic constellation with an individual geographical palette that incorporates indigenous ethnic sounds from Asia, the Middle East, Egypt, South America and other far flung locales. Incorporating and reimagining a main title theme that may well be one of the most recognizable musical signatures on the planet is a Herculean task and Kiner notes the enormous influence of the great John Williams with these words: “He’s always been my absolute hero.”
Produced by Lucasfilm Animation, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS takes audiences on incredible new Star Wars adventures, combining the legendary storytelling of Lucasfilm with an eye-popping, signature animation style.
"I felt there were a lot more Star Wars stories left to tell," said George Lucas, executive producer of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS. "I was eager to start telling some of them through animation and, at the same time, push the art of animation forward." The theatrical debut of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS is only the beginning of all-new Star Wars adventures that continues in the fall when the long-awaited television series premieres on Cartoon Network, followed by airings on TNT. Details regarding international broadcasts will be announced shortly.
Transcendent orchestral themes, rhythmic global grooves or edgy electronica:
Kevin Kiner’s command of a vast spectrum of musical styles makes him a
Hollywood go-to composer. Film music aficionados will recognize the composer
from feature films including Madison, Wing Commander, The Other Side of
Heaven, Leprechaun, Tremors III, and The Pest, and he has composed
music for network television series and shows such as CSI: Miami, The Star
Trek: Enterprise series, Stargate SG-1, The Invisible
Man, Walker Texas Ranger, The Visitor, Dead at 21 and The MTV Movie
Awards. Honored with Emmy nominations for outstanding achievement in music
composition (Johnny Quest and Stuart Little), he received an
Annie nomination for outstanding music in an animated TV production for
Harold and the Purple Crayon.
A California native who began his career as a rock guitarist in San Diego,
Kiner enrolled in UCLA as a pre-Med student. Gigs playing around Hollywood led
from the stethoscope to the Stratocaster; hired as the musical director for an
international touring group with bookings in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia,
Korean and Japan, he departed Los Angeles for the world. Kiner had previously
composed and performed in the musical stage presentation A Taste of Honey
with composer and future music executive Evan Greenspan. Returning from a
world tour, Kiner planned to return to medical school, but Greenspan, now
working at Alan Landsburg Productions, had a tip about a television show
titled The World’s Funniest Commercial Goofs. Unsolicited, the two
created a theme song and were subsequently employed to score the show. Next,
Kiner scored Foul Ups, Bleeps and Blunders. “There were four different
producers,” he remembers. “They all got their own shows and within a year I
was scoring all four.”
Now entering its seventh season, Kiner’s musical soundscapes underscore the
top rated CBS series CSI: Miami. He notes that the musical components
are constantly evolving. “We manipulate sounds, reverse pianos, and mangle
different bits of audio to make percussion out of little snips of sound. We
use singers, cello for emotional scenes, and sometimes a string section, but
more often than not it’s sounds we create from scratch. That’s an essential
part of the composition.”
Kiner’s evolution as a composer honors both his rock roots and the
sophisticated legacy of the classic film composers. “Take the modern stuff,
keep it modern, but give it a legit flourish; film scores need to evolve. I
don’t sit around and compose unless I see picture or if someone gives me a
script. There’s something about picture -- when I see it, I start hearing
music.”
KEVIN KINER COMPOSER
Can you tell me about your training and background? When and how did you come to work on film music?
Kevin Kiner- I started out as a rock and roller. Playing the Who, Yes, The Allman Bros Band, Uriah Heep, ELP, ELO, etc. I had no musical education. I was in bands all through my teens, and my parents told me that I had to either be a doctor or a lawyer. I chose doctor, and went to UCLA as a pre-med student. I got quite good grades and I think I would have made medical school, but I started gigging around town and finally dropped out of University in my senior year. I started doing arrangements for show bands after that, and then I auditioned and got the theme for a TV show in 1983. I’ve been doing film and Television scores ever since.
How would you describe or characterize your own musical style?
I would say I’m quite eclectic. I do a lot of orchestral work, but I also score CSI: Miami which is electronic. In Clone Wars, I blend orchestral elements with ethnic rhythms and idioms.
How did you come on the « Star Wars : The Clone Wars » project?
It was an audition. I had to compose music to about 10 minutes of film footage, along with other composers. I’m very flattered that I was chosen.
Did you use some themes of Star Wars Saga? How, why?
John Williams has always been one of my heroes. I tried to write music in his style. I don’t think anyone can imitate John Williams – he’s just too great, but I have always aspired to write in his style with his complexity. I hope I succeeded. The general tonality is still heavily orchestral. But George Lucas wanted to introduce an ethnic element into the score. So now every planet has a unique ethnic modality or sound. The reason we used bagpipes was because one of the planets had “Bulgarian” as it’s musical ethnicity. We chose a gaida pipe and a Bulgarian women’s choir to accomplish this sound.
In what way did the very special atmosphere of the film inspire you?
Everyone agreed that we should not be taken out of the Star Wars universe. John Williams helped George create that, and we were intent on doing justice to what he had started with the first six films. At the same time, George in particular is very keen on experimenting with different idioms. He would bring me a track that his kids were listening to as a reference to what was “happening” now with young people, and ask if it was feasible to incorporate some element of that into the score. George is also very into ethnic modalities and textures – particularly percussion, and I have used a lot of ethnic instruments and drums in the score – something that will differentiate this score from the live action scores.
What size of orchestra did you use? Did you use electronic sounds?
We had a 91 piece orchestra in Prague. Very few electronic sounds were used, although a lot of ethnic percussion is in the score, and we do have a bit of electric guitar in 2 of the cues.
To you, what is the most interesting, the most successful or the most complex scene you had to score for this film? Can you tell me how you did it? Could you analyze the relationship you created between picture and music?
The ending where Ahsoka is fighting in the desert and Anakin is speeding toward Jabba the Hut’s palace has a lot going on and was very complicated to score. The problem was the very fast pace of the editing between different confrontations. At first I thought it would be good to keep the same ostinato going through the entire sequence, but that didn’t serve the drama. In the end I had to change tempos and the pace quite frequently in order to tie the music most closely to the action. Also in that scene where Anakin puts his light saber up to Jabba’s throat, I used a bit of John’s Darth Vader theme to give the audience the impression that he was ready to really and truly kill Jabba.
Are you working on another project? If yes, can you tell me about it?
Yes, I currently am in the middle of season 7 of CSI: Miami. It’s really great to have a project that is so different. It puts a lot of variety in my days, and helps me to stay fresh creatively. I really enjoy working with electronic sounds, especially those that start off as something organic – like a voice or an exotic wind instrument. Then I process that sound and chop it up into smaller waveforms and such, it’s like being a mad scientist.
What if you were offered your dream project…? What would it be?
I’m doing it now, it’s called Star Wars: The Clone Wars television series
SPECIAL THANKS TO MELISSA MC NEIL
VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO VINCENT FULGENCE
