University’s world-renowned composer speaks of award-nominated year
ONE of the country’s leading media composers who has written the soundtracks to a string of award-winning films and videogames has spoken of his successful year.
Dr Stephen Baysted, a Reader in Film Composition at the University of Chichester, discussed his critically-acclaimed score for best-selling racing simulator Project Cars, which topped the charts worldwide after its release in early 2015.
He said: “Like all authentic racing simulation titles, there is no music during gameplay, car engines always take precedence. My job as a composer is to try to enhance the player’s sense of immersion in this world of racing and deepen their emotional and psychological responses to it by preparing them for the race.”
Project Cars, which was nominated at an international awards ceremony for its music, is also a candidate for the upcoming BAFTA Games awards within a number of categories, including best audio achievement.
Last year also saw Dr Baysted renew a collaboration with award-winning documentary filmmaker Phil Grabsky on two feature films: The Impressionists and the man who made them, and Renoir: Revered and Reviled.
Dr Baysted explained: “The Impressionists tells the oft-forgotten story of the man – Paul Durand-Ruel – who single-handedly took artists like Monet, Manet, and Renoir from poverty, obscurity, and ridicule to their position as arguably the most important masters of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It’s a fascinating story of risk, belief, and determination in a surprisingly conservative Paris.”
The score itself takes several original piano works by Debussy as its starting point, but, as Stephen remarked: “In order to make them work cinematically, they needed to be either arranged so that they fit into the prevailing context of what was happening on screen or indeed made to fit the timespan required for a particular scene. One has to always remember that in film, the music is there solely to serve what’s on screen, and as such it must be fashioned into a shape that will fit.”
The film was screened worldwide in May 2015 and has received much critical acclaim including nominations for best score. Stephen recently completed the score to Renoir which features vocal performances by the University of Chichester’s Head of Vocal Studies Susan Legg.
Renoir looks at the painter’s later works and their problematic reception and is due for worldwide release next month. The culmination of Dr Baysted’s efforts throughout the year saw him twice nominated for best original score at the prestigious Jerry Goldsmith awards in Cordoba for his work on Project Cars and The Impressionists.
He added: “There were hundreds of entries in each category and more than 1,000 composers represented overall.” 2016 is also shaping up to be a busy year for the composer. For television he is currently scoring a six-part documentary series, commissioned by Channel 5 and the Smithsonian Channel, about mysteries of the ancient world.
Meanwhile, he is working with Red Bull on the score and sound design for new simulator Red Bull Air Race: The Game, which is due for release in late 2016, and a sequel to Project Cars is in development for 2017. For film, Stephen will begin work shortly on the score to Phil Grabsky’s latest film which looks at the life and work of painter Hieronymus Bosch.
To find out more about Dr Stephen Baysted and his work visit www.stephenbaysted.com or, alternatively, for more about studying with him at the University of Chichester go to www.chi.ac.uk/department-film-and-media.
