Alan Silvestri Details His Experience Scoring Captain America: The First Avenger!

"There’s a kind of grandeur that comes with the brass. There are also some very simple logistical and sonic reasons. In a film, every body is fighting for real estate sonically. You have to have the dialogue clear and intelligible. And sound effects have a huge presence in action films in order to create a sense of reality. So you have to find a sound that will live in this sonic environment, which brass often allows. Take for instance the middle of CAPTAIN AMERICA’s motorcycle chase, when engines are screaming and there’s all kinds of gunfire. Brass is something that can complete sonically and give the music some kind of presence where it might not have any. But although I love to use the brass, I don’t feel that I start from there. Certainly, in some of these heroic scores like BACK TO THE FUTURE and PREDATOR, the brass plays a huge part."

"I got called in late in the game. When I had my first and only meeting with Joe, we were seven and a half weeks out to having to score in England. We said, “Hi, it’s really nice to meet you.” And then we sat down and spotted the movie. Then I got in the car, went home, and seven and a half weeks later, we met again in London to record the score. Through it all, Joe was fantastic, and an absolute pleasure to work with."

"It was in a sense, and that all had to do with Joe and his original thoughts about the film. CAPTAIN AMERICA is a very interesting combination of influences. You’re dealing with parallel universes, because it’s a period piece that’s set in a futuristic, high tech sci-fi environment. Joe wanted a full-on orchestra score to allow for movement between these two different genre worlds. He was very instinctive about that, which was great for me. And he actually said the “Theme” word in our first and only meeting. That’s something I have a great fondness for me. To have some kind of musical signature either for a character or some aspect of the film, truly holds the score together. A theme makes the music feel like one piece in a sense."

"I wouldn’t say I was thinking of any particular movie score, but for sure there are certain kinds of elements that we have over time, associated with that kind of heroic statement. You can go back to Aaron Copland and his “Fanfare For The Common Man” for instance, which has certain types of percussive elements, intervals and instrumentation, with French horns playing these types of naked, but powerful statements. When you think of a fanfare, you usually think of French horns, trombones, and trumpets. A bugle call in battle is not usually played on strings, or by the strings. Certainly in these patriotic kinds of events, again there’s a tremendous association we have with the brass sounding the call. So there’s a whole kind of vocabulary that, we as an audience have been associating with this heroic aspect for many years. CAPTAIN AMERICA was a chance to really go right for that. He’s a character that you can be musically bold with, even given his name."

"Very little. I was not a very big reader of Captain America, though I’d come across him over the years, I’ve certainly learned a great deal about the Captain in the last three months though!"

"As I start to do the research, I found that one of his great qualities is loyalty. And since he started in 1941, you’re dealing with a character that has been loved by so many, for so long, that if you really try to consider it, you can become scared to death by the prospect of scoring him. So I really just watched Joe’s movie. And when a filmmaker really does their job, their work will tell you everything you need to know about the character you need to write for."

"It’s interesting, because the good guy can be stereotypical in his heroism. But if you have a really bad guy, that gives even more dimension to his character. Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader are good examples of that. And like Darth Vader, The Red Skull was very much a tortured being. He’s someone who’s been scorned and cast out, which makes him an emotionally understandable character. Certainly I played him as the bad guy, and always took him seriously. So when The Red Skull talks about his past. there’s a way to have a compassionate approach for him, even if he’s the arch villain. That made him a very interesting character to write for. He wasn’t just a one-dimensional bad guy."

"It all comes down to Joe Johnston in that regard. When you write music for a film, you are signing on to a crew that you’re not the captain of. So you need to have a leader who can clearly communicate to insure a successful outcome. You have to know what you’re doing, and how to get there, especially when you really don’t have the time to go on a musical exploration. So if you’ve done your job as well as Joe Johnston has, then the film will do all the heavy lifting, and will tell you where it needs you to go."

"The song was written by Alan Menken and his partner David Zippel, and was in the film before I even got on it. It’s certainly different in tone from my score, but when you see where, and how it’s used in CAPTAIN AMERICA, you’ll see how absolutely perfect it was for the mission. I think Alan did a fantastic job, and we both had a great visit together in England, as we were both recording there at the same time."

"Everyone was fantastic to me on this film, from Joe Johnston to the Marvel people. So that would be great. If I’m asked, I would be very happy to continue the relationship. Absolutely."