Director Ruben Fleischer's Uncharted film (Sony Pictures Entertainment) – based on the game series originally developed by Naughty Dog – takes audiences on a cross-globe adventure. Here, award-winning composer Ramin Djawadi talks about finding inspiration in the games' scores and classic adventure films, working in comedy beats, recording the orchestra during Covid, and more!

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Interview by Jennifer Walden, photos courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment

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Award-winning composer Ramin Djawadi‘s multifarious project credits include everything from huge Hollywood film like Iron Man and Pacific Rim to AAA video games like Medal of Honor and Gears of War 4 to iconic TV series like Game of Thrones and the much-anticipated upcoming prequel House of the Dragon . He’s even scored videogames-turned-films like Warcraft, and now Uncharted.

With the Uncharted film, Djawadi was diving into an IP that has a huge gamer fanbase, and a number of award-winning game scores written by several different composers over the years. Not only did he want to honor the already-established sound of the Uncharted game scores, but he wanted to bring a signature sense of adventure and fun to the film. There were many threads his score needed to weave together.

Here, Djawadi talks about finding inspiration in the Uncharted game scores, working with Director Ruben Fleischer to find the voice of the film score, supporting the comedy musically, paying homage to a classic globe-trotting adventure film, recording the orchestra during Covid, and more!

UNCHARTED – Official Trailer 2

The Uncharted game series is much beloved by fans, and the soundtracks for those games have won numerous awards – particularly composer Greg Edmonson for his score on Uncharted 2. Has the work of those composers (G. Edmonson, Henry Jackman, and Clint Bajakian) inspired/impacted your approach to the score on the Uncharted film?

Composer Ramin Djawadi

Ramin Djawadi (RD): Yes, 100%. It’s wonderful what was written for the games – beautiful themes. So, of course, I hope I fit in there somehow. It was definitely challenging.

I had the same challenge when I worked on the Warcraft movie. It was a well-established game with established music. When you’re brought on to write new themes, you hope that you find your place in there somewhere.

Stylistically, I looked at what was done, and hopefully, my music fits with that.

Can you talk about your collaboration with director Ruben Fleischer? What were his thoughts on the direction for this score? And what were some initial ideas you brought to the table?
 

RD: It was a wonderful collaboration with Ruben. His overall thought was for this to be a classic adventure movie, just like the games – a fun adventure.

His overall thought was for this to be a classic adventure movie, just like the games – a fun adventure.

And so stylistically we wanted to have a bit of a hybrid, to stay orchestral and have traditional thematic material in there but also make it contemporary and bring in fun electronic elements.

Since this is a globe-trotting adventure, did world instruments come into play?

RD: Definitely. We played with a lot of instruments. There are three main locations in the film: New York, Spain, and the Philippines. I tried to connect them all, but for New York, it’s very electronic-heavy to go with the heist that’s happening there.

For Spain, we brought in some nylon string guitars and also some bells for the scenes in a church.

For Spain, we brought in some nylon string guitars and also some bells for the scenes in a church. These are little accents; we didn’t want to overdo it.

There is some ethnic percussion and some flutes.

The main instrument besides the orchestra is the electric guitar. We found that was a fun instrument that felt right for the vibe of the film.

Uncharted isn’t all adventure; it’s comedic, too. How were you able to balance those two aspects in your score?

RD: Exactly. It had to be adventurous and funny, and also very emotional because there’s a big brother story in there. We had to make sure we supported those three elements in the score.

It had to be adventurous and funny, and also very emotional because there’s a big brother story in there.

Without getting too cartoony (hitting every little move and comedy beat with the music, like in a Looney Tunes cartoon), we had to make sure the humor was accented by the music and that the comedy comes out because there were so many fun moments in the film.

What are some ways you accent the humor without making it feel contrived?

RD: It’s tricky! I wish there was a formula to writing music because it would make everything so much easier.

With writing comedy music, it can be tricky because if you overdo it then you flatten the joke. But then if you don’t acknowledge it at all then you flatten the joke.

With writing comedy music, it can be tricky because if you overdo it then you flatten the joke.

So the answer is somewhere in between. It’s different for every scene. Sometimes there were moments that we wanted to have some music, but then later we decided to just take the music out because it was funnier without any music. It didn’t need any support or any accents.

Sometimes, I’ll do music for the scene but then have a hard out to land a line of dialogue or a movement on the screen.

There are different approaches and every scene calls for a different approach.

I love your theme song for Uncharted. It has that “Indiana Jones” vibe with the big timpani hits and the brass melody line. Was that an inspiration for you when writing the theme?

RD: 100%. Again, the initial thought was to make this a classic adventure movie, and so, of course, Indiana Jones comes to mind.

I’m a big fan of John Williams and so this was my interpretation of the classic adventure theme.

I’m a big fan of John Williams and so this was my interpretation of the classic adventure theme. It sets the tone because this is a globe-trotting adventure and that direction captured the mood pretty well.

What was the most challenging cue for you on Uncharted? What were your challenges and how did you work through them?

RD: I don’t think I can point out one particular scene. I’d say the biggest challenge was to keep it all cohesive because we change locations.

I’d say the biggest challenge was to keep it all cohesive because we change locations.

The electric guitar was one element we liked as a through-line, besides the orchestra. It gave the soundtrack a Rock ‘n’ Roll vibe, making it a bit of a wild ride for the characters. That helped to connect everything nicely without overdoing it.

I wanted to make sure we didn’t have too much orchestra but still had enough. I had to find a balance between that and the electronic elements.

Can you talk about your experience of recording the orchestra for this film? Where did you record? Were there any Covid restrictions that complicated things?

RD: We were dealing with Covid restrictions but it wasn’t as crazy as it was at the height of the pandemic.

We were recording in London. Normally, I like to be at the recording sessions. My favorite part of the whole scoring process is hearing the orchestra play it. You write all the music but then it really comes to life when the musicians interpret it and play it. It’s such a rewarding experience.

You write all the music but then it really comes to life when the musicians interpret it and play it.

But, I had to attend the sessions via Zoom. At that point, we had perfected the technology and workflow. We had multiple Zoom sessions going and they were in sync so that when they hit record, I had the picture running in time with the session and I could see how the music worked to picture. Everything went smoothly. But, it was a challenge.

At least we were able to have the recording sessions at the studio. I remember when the musicians had to record their parts at home and send those to us. That was very tricky.
 

We recorded at AIR Studios… the engineers there figured out how to place the musicians, including having the doors open to the overdub room and having players in there.

When we recorded the orchestra, the restrictions were already lighter. We were able to have 50 players in a room. That’s a good size. They still had to sit 6-feet apart from each other. The musicians don’t like that. The traditional orchestral setup is to have the musicians sit in pairs, for tuning and page-turning. There’s a reason why they sit the way they sit. So, that was a challenge to have them spread out, but the musicians were so fantastic. The tuning was great and it all worked out.

We recorded at AIR Studios, which is one of the largest scoring stages in London. The engineers there figured out how to place the musicians, including having the doors open to the overdub room and having players in there. All the technical aspects they had perfected by this point, so it wasn’t an issue.

What was your favorite cue for Uncharted? Or, what cue do you feel best supports a particular scene in the film?

RD: There are two that come to mind.

One is in the first half of the film when they’re in New York during the heist. I really enjoyed working on that scene and seeing how it came out. It’s a long scene and has a long build. Ruben was very fond of that cue. He felt it was a great blend between the electronics and the orchestra, how it builds and which instruments come in when.

That cue summarizes the film pretty well because there’s comedy and tension. It has all these different emotional bits.

That cue summarizes the film pretty well because there’s comedy and tension. It has all these different emotional bits.

The other cue is when Nate finds the treasure and the ships. There’s an emotional payoff to the brother story and the treasure story. It’s quite the contrast to the heist cue that I just described. This track is purely orchestral and very emotional and has that big adventure feel.

A big thanks to Ramin Djawadi for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of Uncharted and to Jennifer Walden for the interview!

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