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Professor Stephen Baysted

Professor of Film, TV and Games Composition

Stephen Baysted

About

Award-winning British Film, TV and Video Game composer Stephen Baysted is well known for his versatility and for his emotionally charged and expressively powerful music. Stephen’s acclaimed music scores have been enjoyed by viewers and players worldwide in a succession of award-winning Films, TV programmes and video games.

For television, Stephen has composed five seasons of Blink Film’s epic documentary series Ancient Mysteries for Channel 5, Smithsonian and SBS Australia; Prehistoric Megabeasts: Giant Croc vs Super Snake for Channel 4 and WNET; Blink Film’s three-part natural history series Volatile Earth for Channel 4 and WGBH Boston; King Tut’s Treasures for Channel 5; Shark-Croc Showdown for Discovery Channel; and two six-part series for BBC2 with two-Michelin-star chef in Tom Kerridge: Lose Weight for Good and A Fresh Start.

Recent game scores include: Fast and Furious: Crossroads; the number one bestselling racing titles: Project Cars, Project Cars 2 and Project Cars 3; Electronic Arts: Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed and Need for Speed: Shift; Atari’s Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends; and Robert Kirkman’s: The Walking Dead: Assault.

Stephen’s recent scores for film include Young Picasso, I Claude Monet, Renoir: Revered and Reviled, The Impressionists and the RTS-winning Matisse Live at the Tate and MoMA with director Phil Grabsky; the cult surrealist psychological drama Strange Factories; and Tim Pope’s Brandy and Pep.

For animation, his additional credits include: Robozuna for ITV and Netflix; and Hulk and the Agents of Smash for Disney Television.

He has also composed the music for cinema, television and radio advertisements, including high profile campaigns for Budweiser, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Samsung and writes for many leading music libraries.

Stephen’s work has been nominated for three Jerry Goldsmith Awards for best score, two Motion Picture Sound Editors ‘Golden Reel’ Awards for best audio in a game, a Golden Joystick Award for best audio and music in a game, and two Game Audio Network Guild Awards for best audio in a game.

Born in London, his passion for music began during his school years singing, touring and recording with the internationally acclaimed Wandsworth School Boys Choir and playing clarinet in the London Schools’ Symphony Orchestra. Stephen went on to study music at Southampton University and at Dartington College of Arts, where he was awarded a PhD in 2003.

Stephen is Editor-in-Chief of the world’s first academic journal dedicated to the study of sound and music in video games: The Journal of Sound and Music in Games.  The Journal is published by The University of California Press and hosted by the University of Chichester in the Department of Creative and Digital Technologies.  He is also on the Editorial Board of International Journal of eSports Research.  Stephen’s recent written outputs include chapters on the compositional and audio design processes of video games which appear in the following books: Ludomusicology: Approaches to Video Game Music (2016) for Equinox; Screen, Music, Sound (2017) for Routledge; The Cambridge Companion to Digital Culture (2019) for Cambridge University Press; The Oxford Handbook of the Creative Process in Music (2020) for Oxford University Press; and the Cambridge Companion to Video Game Music, Cambridge University Press (2020).

Research

Chronological list or research outputs:

2020: Project Cars 3 (Video Game). Bandai Namco Inc. & Slightly Mad Studios Ltd.

2020: Fast and Furious Crossroads (Video Game).  Universal, Bandai Namco Inc. & Slightly Mad Studios Ltd.

2020: Secrets Unlocked (20 x 30 min TV Series Documentary).  Blink Films UK, Channel 4, SBS Australia & Smithsonian (USA)

2019: Leonardo: The Works (Feature Documentary, Cinema and TV). Directed by Phil Grabsky, Seventh Art Productions.

2019: Project Cars GO (Video Game). Bandai Namco Inc. & Slightly Mad Studios Ltd.

2019: Young Picasso (Feature Documentary, Cinema and TV). Directed by Phil Grabsky, Seventh Art Productions.

2019: Tom Kerridge’s Fresh Start (6 x 30 mins TV Series).  BBC Television.

2018: Robozuna (TV Animation). Additional Composition.  ITV Studios and Netflix.

2018: King Tut’s Treasures (3 x 60 mins TV Series). Blink Films UK, Channel 4.

2018: Tom Kerridge: Lose Weight for Good (6 x 30 mins TV Series).  BBC Television.

2017: Project Cars 2 (Video Game). Bandai Namco Inc. & Slightly Mad Studios Ltd.

2017: Shark-Croc Showdown (TV Documentary). Big Wave Productions, Discovery Channel.

2017: I, Claude Monet (Feature Documentary, Cinema and TV). Directed by Phil Grabsky, Seventh Art Productions.

2017: NOVA: Raging Planet (3 x 1 hour TV Series Documentary).  Blink Films UK, Channel 4, PBS (USA)

2017: Ancient Mysteries (8 x 1 hour TV Series Documentary).  Blink Films UK, Channel 4, SBS Australia & Smithsonian (USA)

2017: The River (Short).  Directed by Michael Holley. Trundle Films.

2017: Cured (Short). Directed by Darren Mapletoft.  Trundle Films.

2016: Prehistoric Megabeasts (TV Documentary).  Blink Films UK, Channel 4, WNET (USA)

2016: Ancient Mysteries (6 x 1 hour TV Series Documentary).  Blink Flims UK, Channel 5, SBS Australia & Smithsonian (USA)

2016: Red Bull Air Race: The Game (Video Game). Red Bull Gmbh, Wing Racers & Slightly Mad Studios.

2016: Renoir: Revered and Reviled (Feature Documentary, Cinema and TV). Directed by Phil Grabsky, Seventh Art Productions.

2015: War Dogs. (Feature Film). Directed by Darren S Cook, Lionsgate Films Ltd.

2015: Brandy and Pep. (Short) Directed by Tim Pope. Trundle Films.

2015: The Impressionists and the man who made them. (Feature Documentary, Cinema and TV).  Directed by Phil Grabsky, Seventh Art Productions.

2015: Project Cars. (Video Game). Bandai Namco Inc. & Slightly Mad Studios Ltd.

2015: Deep Cuts (3 x 1 hour TV Series). Directed by Darren Bransford.

2014: Hulk and the Agents of SMASH (TV Animation, additional composition).  Disney Television Animation/ABC/Film Roman Productions

2014: Matisse Live at the Tate and MOMA (Live Worldwide Cinematic Simulcast Documentary). Directed by Phil Grabsky, Seventh Art Productions.

2014 World of Speed (video game). My.com & Slightly Mad Studios Ltd.

2013 Mercs (feature film), directed by Darren Cook, Lionsgate Films Ltd.

2013 My Name is Georgina (film short) directed by Michael Holley, Trundle Films

2013 Submerged (film short) directed by Darren Mapletoft, Trundle Films

2013 Save Armstrong (Animation), Sumatran Orang-utan Society

2012 Strange Factories (feature film), directed by Paul Harrigan.

2012 Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends (video game), Atari, Ferrari S.p.A. & Slightly Mad Studios Ltd.

2012 The Walking Dead (video game), Skybound & Skybound Asia, & Gamagio.

2011 Need for Speed – Shift 2: Unleashed.  Electronic Arts Inc. & Slightly Mad Studios Ltd.

Research Output

Book Sections

Baysted, S. and Summers, T. (2020) The Creative Process of Composing for Video Games: From Pitching to Gold Master and Beyond. In: The Oxford Handbook of the Creative Process in Music. Oxford Handbooks, 42047 . Oxford University Press, online. ISBN 9780190636203 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190636197.013.29

Baysted, S. (2019) The Game within a game: the realities of composing for virtual realities. In: Cambridge Companion to Music and Digital Culture. Cambridge Companions to Music . Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 204-208. ISBN 9781316676639

Baysted, S. and Summers, T. (2018) The Creative Process of Composing for Video Games. In: The Oxford Handbook of the Creative Process in Music. Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN 9780190636197 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190636197.001.0001

Baysted, S. (2017) Simulation: squaring the immersion, realism and gameplay circle. In: The Routledge Companion to Screen Music and Sound. Routledge Music Companions . Routledge, New York, pp. 328-338. ISBN 9781138855342

Baysted, S. (2016) Palimpsest, Pragmatism and the Aesthetics of Genre Transformation: Composing the Hybrid Score to Electronic Arts’ 'Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed'. In: Ludomusicology - Approaches to Video Game Music. Equinox Publishing, Sheffield, pp. 132-171. ISBN 9781781791974

Conference or Workshop Items

Baysted, S. (2012) Palimpsest, pragmatism and the aesthetics of genre transformation: Composing the hybrid score to Electronic Arts’ 'Need for Speed Shift 2: Unleashed'. In: Royal Music Association Study Day: Ludomusicology: Game Music Research, Approaches and Aesthetics, 16 Apr 2012, St Catherine’s College, Oxford. (Unpublished)

Compositions

Baysted, S. (2020) Fast and Furious: Crossroads. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. and Legg, S. (2019) Young Picasso. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. and Legg, S. (2017) I, Claude Monet. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. (2017) Project Cars 2. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. and Legg, S. (2016) Renoir: revered and reviled. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. (2015) The Impressionists and the man who made them. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. (2015) Project Cars. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. (2013) Strange Factories. [Compositions]

Baysted, S., Harvey, J. J. and Kirkman, R. (2012) The Walking Dead: Assault. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. (2012) Test drive: Ferrari racing legends. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. (2011) Beam. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. (2011) Der Mann mit Dem Fagott. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. (2011) Life Lines: A Reflection on Organ Donation. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. (2011) Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. (2011) Shift 2 Unleashed: Attacking Corners Trailer. [Compositions]

Baysted, S. (2011) Shift 2 Unleashed: Dangerous Corners Trailer. [Compositions]

Other department members

Aisha Taylor-Samson
Apprentice Department Administrator
Alan Green
Lecturer for Audio Production & Music Technologies
Alan Stewart
Alan Stewart
Programme Coordinator: Games Design & Development

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