Latest news with #GustavoSantaolalla
Forbes
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘The Last Of Us' Composer Gustavo Santaolalla Talks Scoring The Hit Franchise Across Gaming & Television: ‘A Very, Very Special Thing In My Life'
Gustavo Santaolalla, composer and laureate of two Oscars, attends a press conference at the 18th ... More Film Music Festival in Destilo in Krakow, Poland, on May 28, 2025. (Photo by Klaudia Radecka/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Most composers would never consider going into video games after a pair of back-to-back Oscar wins, but Gustavo Santaolalla isn't most composers. For the 73-year-old musician/producer, the medium is utterly irrelevant, so long as the story contains a wealth of emotional resonance. Following a pair of Academy Awards for his work on Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Babel (2006), the Argentine native was 'approached by several companies' with tantalizing job offers that he turned down, the composer tells me over Zoom. 'I knew what I wanted to do. I think that whatever success I have achieved has to do not only with the things that I've done, but [also] the things that I've said no to. So at the time, there was the possibility of these big projects, but I knew what I wanted to do wasn't in the market yet." One thing he really wanted to see, for example, was a new breed of video game after years of watching his son and Bajofondo bandmates play games like FIFA. 'I always thought, 'Man, if somebody, someday connects in an emotional way with a gamer, aside [from] His prayers were ultimately answered by Neil Druckmann, a creative executive and director at video game developer Naughty Dog, who pitched a title that would connect 'with the player on an emotional level,' Santaolalla remembers. That's how he came to score The Last of Us (2013), its 2020 sequel, and the current HBO series adaptation. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder Set in a post-apocalyptic reality ravaged by a mutated strain of the zombifying Cordyceps fungus, The Last of Us quickly gained the status of a modern classic, with plenty of widespread critical acclaim aimed at its character development, weighty themes, palpable emotion, player mechanics, and music, of course. 'When we found out that some people were crying while playing the game, we thought, 'This absolutely works,'' says the composer who never really viewed the project as a mere video game. 'I've never felt that I was composing for a game,' emphasizes Santaolalla. 'You can tell a great story in any medium. That's why I think it works great in a [TV] series [format]. It would have worked as a puppet theater show because it's a great story … It really talks about human relationships; parent-child relationships, father-daughter relationships — all that stuff.' Santaolalla, who likes to work on a project from the script stage, began scoring the original Last of Us about three years before the public officially stepped into the shoes of grizzled smuggler Joel and Cordyceps-resistance Ellie. 'In almost all the projects that I've worked on, I would say 80% of the music has been composed prior to anything,' he explains. 'I relate [to material] The resultant soundtrack — which utilized everything from acoustic and electric guitars to more obscure instruments like the Bolivian ronroco, vintage Fender Bass VI, and common PVC pipe — was achieved by an almost paradoxical approach. 'I work a lot with silence,' Santaolalla continues. 'I'm talking about an eloquent silence. Not silence as in the absence of sound, but a contrary silence that can sometimes sound louder than the loudest note you can have with an instrument. The use of space, the use of imperfection, which is a something that I love.' MADRID, SPAIN - JUNE 29: Argentinian musician Gustavo Santaolalla attends "Inteligencia Musical" ... More workshop at TAI University on June 29, 2023 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by) When the long-awaited screen adaptation finally got rolling at HBO under the eye of Emmy Award-winning writer Craig Mazin (Chernobyl), Santaolalla and series collaborator David Fleming knew they'd have to walk a narrow tightrope in order to please die-hard fans and newcomers alike. 'When things connect so deeply with people and you change it, they go, 'I liked the [original] much better!' notes the former. 'I think it was important to keep the themes [from the game], keep the sonic fabric. It didn't turn into an orchestral score … I think that was very important and and helped not to alienate the people who love the game and who have now embraced the series, too." He continues: 'I'm always thinking about supporting and pushing, not overstating or manipulating. You are manipulating in a way because you are trying to make the audience feel things, but in a subtle way. You want to make sure you are doing things dramatically and not melodramatically. That's a big challenge when you go into live-action, especially in stories that have such heavy dramatic content. I've composed music for films [before], but I particularly like to be very cautious with the use of music.' In terms of his working dynamic with Fleming, Santaolalla says the collaborative process was 'organic and natural" from the start, but even more so in the second season. 'We started to really exchange and infect each other's work. It's a great partnership," he adds, voicing excitement for what they'll come up with for Season 3. While not always the case, Fleming often gravitates towards action-oriented scenes, whereas Santaolalla prefers emotional and tension-filled moments. Prior to boarding The Last of Us franchise, Santaolalla thought he'd pretty much seen it all in a professional music career that began when he was 17 over half a century ago. However, the video game truly marked the beginning of a fresh and "totally unexpected" chapter for him after decades of scoring many lauded titles. 'The way that people have connected with the music through the game is different. It has such an intensity … That I could suddenly be involved in a project that connected me with a totally new audience that is now opening its ears to other stuff that I've done? It's a fantastic present that life has given me,' he concludes, recalling a particularly memorable fan interaction during a meet and greet in Helsinki last year. 'This girl comes up to me and says, 'I'm 21 years old and I've been a fan of yours since I was 10. Now I play the guitar because my dad played the game all the time.' It's a very, very rewarding project, and a very, very special thing in my life." Bella Ramsey, Gustavo Santaolalla, Alejandra Palacios at HBO's "The Last of Us" Season 2 Premiere ... More held at TCL Chinese Theatre on March 24, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)
The Verge
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
The soul of The Last of Us is in Gustavo Santaolalla's music
When fans nervously tuned in to watch HBO's adaptation of one of their favorite video games, there was one familiar presence that immediately calmed their nerves: the mournful guitar of Gustavo Santaolalla. As certain story beats changed and beloved polygonal faces were replaced with new actors, the beating heart of The Last of Us — its mesmerizing, tension-ridden score — survived the transition to TV intact. '[Series creator] Neil Druckmann has said that my music is part of the DNA of The Last of Us,' Santaolalla says. 'I think the fact that we kept the sonic fabric — that we didn't do an orchestral score for the series — has been instrumental in keeping those fans of the games fans of the series, too.' Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Santaolalla first started releasing music when he was 17. Loving both English rock bands and the traditional Argentine folk music that he was raised on, Santaolalla melded both into his own unique sound, part of a genre called rock nacional. Before he could fully make his mark, Santaolalla's family fled the Argentine junta dictatorship in 1978, moving to Los Angeles, where his unique sound soon caught the attention of filmmakers. Snapped up to score the 2000 film Amores Perros and 2003's 21 Grams, their success led to Santaolalla composing the soundtracks for Brokeback Mountain and Babe l, both of which won him Oscars. Santaolla's sonic secret? Embracing the eloquence of silence. 'I work so much with silence and space, because silences sometimes can be louder than a note that you're playing,' says Santaolalla. 'I remember on Brokeback Mountain when I first sent them the music, the producer said 'I thought you were pulling my leg at first, because you wait so long to play the next note!'' 'Silences sometimes can be louder than a note that you're playing.' After winning two Oscars back to back, Santaolalla carefully considered his next career move. Despite being a self-professed 'terrible gamer' Santaolalla tells me he always loved watching his son play, mesmerized by the on-screen kineticism. 'I always thought that if somebody connects this at an emotional level with a player, it's going to be a revolution.' It turns out, the universe had picked up on Santaolalla's newest interest. Post-Oscars, he was approached by several game companies to do music, but turned them down because 'I'm very picky about the work that I do.' That includes a lucrative gaming project that he is careful not to name. 'Everyone thought I was crazy!' he chuckles. Still, Santaolalla quietly hoped that a more emotionally-resonant project would materialize. 'So, I waited… and then Neil appeared,' Santaolalla says. 'When Neil told his colleagues that he wanted me to do this, [his colleagues ] said, No, Gustavo is not going to be interested — he won two Oscars! But when Neil [told me] the story, and that he wanted to do a game that connects with people on an emotional level… I was sold. What even Neil Druckmann wasn't prepared for, however, was that Gustavo's music would become just as crucial a presence as Ellie and Joel. In a post apocalyptic world where life is scarce and danger lurks around every corner, silence hangs in the air like a threat. Santaolalla's scuffed notes, discordant melodies and screeching fret slides reverberate across the dilapidated city streets, feeling as unpredictable as the world Ellie and Joel inhabit. 'I love the use of imperfections, even errors or mistakes.' 'I love the use of imperfections, even errors or mistakes,' Santaolalla explains. 'Any professional guitar player when they're recording tend to avoid all kinds of noises; when you run your hand on the fretboard or little glitches in your playing. But sometimes, I'll push those in my mix, and I think that humanizes it. That's why many people have said that my music becomes like a character — a presence. It's why I play things myself.' In the second game, Gustavo's music becomes a physical part of the fiction, with Ellie carrying a guitar throughout her quest for vengeance. She takes out the instrument during welcome moments of downtime, offering cathartic respite. And just like Gustavo's score, these beautiful vignettes break up the harrowing silence, which carries through in the second season of the show. 'I love the TV series too,' says Santaolalla. ' For the show, Neil associated himself with another incredible talent, Craig Mazin — the guy that did Chernobyl — who knows that media and that language. I think it was a big, big challenge, because when you go from one media to another one, people say no, I like the original better! So, I think, once again, that the way we have used the music has been instrumental to keep that fan base attached.' He adds that 'I think that when a story is really great, like a theatrical piece — like Shakespeare — it doesn't matter who plays the character. Obviously Pedro Pascal's Joel is different than the Joel from the game, but the substance of the character is so powerful that those things are just superficial. They could have done this as a series, as a feature film, as a puppet theatre piece, or an animation and it will still land regardless — because it's just great writing.' Now as Santaolalla finds himself releasing his very own instrument — the Guitarocko — it feels like the culmination of the musical journey he started as a teen. Melding the traditional Bolivian 10 stringed ronroco with the form factor of a Fender Stratocaster, Gustavo feels a father-like pride for his musical creation: the 73-year-old is invigorated by what The Last Of Us has given him at this stage in his career. 'I've been blessed with the fact that I have connected with an audience since I was very young,' he says. 'But the way I connect with the fans of The Last of Us and the way they connect with the music… here's a special devotion that is really beautiful. I have this new audience which is fantastic, and I love that they didn't know me as an artist or as a film composer! Now they look for my music, and they discover these things. It's been a gift for me, at this point — after everything that I've been through — to be involved with a project like this.'
Cosmopolitan
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Cosmopolitan
The Last of Us composer narrowly avoided a 'terrible' mistake
The Last of Us composer, Gustavo Santaolalla, has shared that the show could have made a "terrible mistake" - but it was narrowly avoided. For those yet to see the HBO drama series, it follows smuggler Joel and teenager Ellie as they travel across a post-apocalyptic world in search of a cure to an infection that caused the collapse of society. It's based on the popular video game franchise developed by Naughty Dog. Avid gamers who have both played the game and watched the series will also know that the show remained loyal to the original source material. This was done through the game's director Neil Druckmann working closely with writers Craig Mazin and Halley Gross. Not to mention also using Santaolalla, who composed the music for the game and its TV adaptation. In a new interview with Screen Rant, Santaolalla revealed that it was important for them to keep the main themes of the game, as well as transition the original "sonic fabric" into the show. He said: "I think it was a great help to bridge this transition from one thing to the other. I think it would have been a terrible mistake to change that. The fact that we kept [the music] was a very good decision." The composer then delved into the difference between writing for video games and television. He explained that he separates his work into two categories: art and craft. While the art "involves the creation of the themes, melodies, harmony" (aka the sonic fabric), the craft deals with making it all fit together. Santaolalla also added that even though there is a lot of new music in the series, it doesn't feel like a leap away from the game. "We have lots of new music too, but that music, in a way, is siblings with what I created before," he concluded.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Deadline Launches Streaming Site For Sound & Screen Television
Deadline on Monday launched the streaming site for 2025's Sound & Screen Television, its annual TV music showcase that took place May 7 at UCLA's Royce Hall. The event featured the composers from 11 buzzy awards-season series discussing their music and then playing it with the help of a 60-piece orchestra. This year's participants ran the gamut with shows based on video games, graphic novels, comics and iconic novels, as well as genres ranging from thrillers and mysteries to sci-fi, comedies and dramas. The list of composer panelists is equally diverse, with Oscar winners including Gustavo Santaolalla and Volker Bertelmann and Emmy winners like Bear McCreary and Siddhartha Khosla the mix. More from Deadline Deadline's Contenders Television Streaming Site Launches Deadline Launches Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety Streaming Site Emmy Winner Siddhartha Khosla On The Creation Of The 'Paradise' Theme: "A Lot Of The Loops Are Sounds Taken From My Voice" - Sound & Screen TV The complete lineup featured music from Apple TV+'s Severance and Shrinking, HBO | Max's The Last of Us and The Penguin, Hulu's Paradise, Netflix's Squid Game, Peacock's The Day of the Jackal, Prime Video's The Boys and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, Riot Games and Netflix's Arcane, and Sony Pictures Television and Peacock's Long Bright River. Sound & Screen Television is the latest Deadline event to turn the spotlight on the TV awards season, following the two-day Contenders Television and the virtual Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety. Best of Deadline 2025 TV Series Renewals: Photo Gallery 2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More
BreakingNews.ie
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Levelling up: The emergence of video game movies, music and TV shows
For decades, video game fans were wary of movie or TV adaptations because of the poor track record of studios translating games to the screen. The 90s saw some atrocious adaptations of video game's hottest properties with Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter and even a terrible Super Mario Bros movie. Advertisement The 2000s were not any better with the likes of Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia and Silent Hill all being panned critically and only performed modestly at the box office. At times, it felt like there would never be a faithful adaptation, but thankfully, that has all changed in recent years. With video games as a medium maturing, studios started to realise what medium suited each game. Instead of making a two or three-hour movie based on the groundbreaking The Last of Us (which is around 15 hours), HBO decided to make a TV series to fully flesh out the dark and brutal world of the source material. Amazon Studios decided to create a brand new story in the world of Fallout rather than rehash the story from one of the games. It was a great decision, as it introduced the world of Fallout to new viewers and with a new set of characters to get invested in. Advertisement It also meant they did not have to try and translate gameplay moments onto the small screen and instead come up with their own set pieces for TV. Box office receipts With both shows being nominated and winning multiple Emmys, it highlighted how far video game series had come. When it comes to the big screen, we are seeing more family-friendly movies based on video games having great success. The recent Sonic trilogy has grossed a total of $1 billion (€88 million) and The Super Mario Bros movie alone grossed €1.36 billion (€1.2 billion) at the box office. It once again shows how, when you match a video game franchise with the right format, you can have a massive hit. Advertisement With the likes of a God of War show and a Legend of Zelda movie in the works, there are plenty of games still waiting to be adapted. It is not just movies and TV shows, as music from video games has become increasingly popular, with some of the best composers scoring video games. It is not just movies and TV shows, as music from video games has become increasingly popular, with some of the best composers scoring video games. Bear McCreary, Gustavo Santaolalla, Nobuo Uematsu, and Christopher Tin have all created iconic soundtracks for the biggest games out there. It is just another way to relive the experience of playing your favourite games without having to play. This was certainly the case on Saturday, April 19th, at the 3Arena when PlayStation kicked off their global tour which showcased the music from their biggest franchises, like Ghost of Tsushima, God of War, Horizon and The Last of Us. Advertisement A visual feast A group of 15 multi-instrumentalists put on a brilliant show that mixed epic anthems with more intimate numbers. Accompanying it was an incredible visual feast for the eyes that was a pleasure to experience in person. Several transparent screens came down from the roof and had impressive visuals displayed on them to complement the story being told through the music. The mix of footage from the games and custom-made videos for the concert was spellbinding. It was truly an audio-visual experience as everything blended together so seamlessly. The only drawback of the show was at times, the orchestra played some of the lesser-known songs from these games and could have added main themes from some of the smaller games in the PlayStation library instead. Advertisement The PlayStation concert had some of the best live visuals I've ever seen! The orchestra were incredible as well and got a deserved standing ovation at the end. What a show. #PlayStationTheConcert — Kenneth Fox (@kennyboyfox92) April 19, 2025 Video game concerts in general are becoming more popular with the likes of Sonic Symphony, Final Fantasy's New World and Video Games Live gathering fans from far and wide. Sadly, many of these tours do not grace our shores and are centred around North America. Thankfully, the likes of the PlayStation Concert, coming here hopefully, means more concerts will be headed our way. Entertainment The Last of Us thrills viewers with an episode for... Read More It is clear video games are a hot property at the moment, and studios realise it is better to give the adaptation the care it deserves as opposed to a cheap cash-in. It is clear video games are a hot property at the moment, and studios realise it is better to give the adaptation the care it deserves as opposed to a cheap cash-in. In truth, that is the real story of video games being translated to movies and TV. Executives saw the money they could make from these successful franchises without thinking about how to make a faithful version of it. As they slowly started to learn this lesson, we have thankfully seen brilliant adaptations that not only expand on the game's original stories but have garnered millions of new fans who are more likely to play the next game and watch the next show.
