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 CC:
So you recorded this
in August of 2007 and
that recording was a
first for LucasArts.
MARK GRISKEY: Yes. For
the first time in
LucasArts history they
recorded union and
recorded at Skywalker
Sound.
CC: A moment ago you
mentioned, the pre-viz
you were able to see
early on which helped
you write. Now there
is a full graphic
novel with the same
title coming out as
well. How much of the
storyline were you
privy to early on to
assist you in your
writing process?
MARK GRISKEY: By the
time I got involved,
the storyline was
really dialed in.
LucasArts' goal in all
of their games is to
have a compelling
storyline and
particularly with the
Star Wars franchise.
The story is great and
I had a full script
from which to
work...and I loved it.
It's a great story
with great characters
with a classic, Star
Wars plot. That and
the concept art really
guided the direction
of the music.
CC: Describe your
process in writing for
this game. Did you
start with the main
themes and then move
on to the music loops?
MARK GRISKEY: We
wanted to nail down the themes
first. I could right some "generic,"
so to speak,
John-Williams-action-music, but they
already had tons of that available
to them, so we discussed, early on,
that my role should not just be
writing music that sounds surprising
like a John Williams score, but
isn't one. We discussed what was
unique to this story and what are
the themes for those things: the
main character, the apprentice, Kota
(his mentor ), Juno Eclipse, (the
love interest).
CC: Ah. Juno Eclipse's
theme is beautiful.
MARK GRISKEY: You know
when we were recording
it at Skywalker Sound,
Jesse Harlin looked
over at me and said,
"Isn't it amazing that
we can put something
like this into a video
game?" It was great to
be able to incorporate
this big, sweeping,
love theme into a
video game!
CC: Now what about
John Williams' themes
- how did you decide
which to utilize?
MARK GRISKEY: Well, we
wanted to use his
well-known themes
where appropriate. It
was great to have the
ability to quote some
of his stuff. For
instance, when the
Rebels come onto the
scene you want to have
that theme that
everyone has come to
associate with them.
CC: Now that you bring
up The Rebel's theme,
if you look at
chronologically, you
are actually
introducing that
famous Rebel theme!
How exciting was that
for you?
MARK GRISKEY: Yes.
This is where I relied
on Jesse Harlin the
musical supervisor. He
was able to give me
some direction as far
as letting me know
that when he hit a
certain level in the
game, that this is
when we will introduce
a theme, like the
Rebel's theme. He was
figuring out when to
use the original
material, when to use
my theme, William's
themes and so on.
That's the great thing
about writing music
for the Star Wars
franchise - you get to
write music that you
can't anywhere else.
It just doesn't work
to have a "Juno
Eclipse" theme in say,
Jurassic Park game or
a World War II game.
It's a certain style
that you can only get
away with in the Star
Wars world.
CC: Now you have
worked on some other
major game releases
which happened to also
be tied to major movie
franchises: PIRATES OF
THE CARIBBEAN, THE
CHRONICLES OF NARNIA,
how would you compare
the writing experience
for those games versus
THE FORCE UNLEASHED?
MARK GRISKEY: Well
every project is different
regardless of whether or not it is a
well-known franchise. It's almost
like learning to write all over
again! Each project is just going to
be different. You have to spend some
time at the beginning and just
decide which way you want to go. I
would say that it's equally as
satisfying as well. I really enjoyed
working on these projects. They
are all different with
their own unique
challenges and their
own unique rewards.
CC: THE FORCE
UNLEASHED was recorded
months ago, but the
game release-date has
been pushed back. Do
you find yourself
wishing you could go
back and modify any of
you work for it.
MARK GRISKEY: Yes.
That's true for just
about every project I
work on. You listen to
your work a year later
and you hear it with
fresh ears, then you
might wish you had
done something
different. Then there
are the cases where
you think that even if
you could go back to
do it all over again,
you wouldn't change a
thing. So, overall, I
have to say that I am
really pleased with
how THE FORCE
UNLEASHED came out.
CC: You mentioned that
GEORGE LUCAS was very
much involved with the
game. Was he involved
with the direction of
the music at all?
MARK GRISKEY: Not
directly with me. I'm
not sure how much he
was involved with the
different areas of
development, but I do
know that he was
involved with the
story. I'm sure he
must have heard some
of my music in
context, but I don't
think it was ever
presented to him to
get his specific
opinion on.
CC: And what about
JOHN WILLIAMS? Was
there any involvement
there?
MARK GRISKEY:
Unfortunately, no.
I've never met John
Williams, but I'd love
to have that
opportunity someday. I
think he is a fabulous
composer and I have
heard that he is so
very humble and
down-to-earth.
CC: Do you think THE
FORCE UNLEASHED will
have a soundtrack
release?
MARK GRISKEY: I can
always be hopeful! I
don't have much
control there. That's
really up to the legal
and PR folks to
decide.
CC: Where would you
put THE FORCE
UNLEASHED in your own
body of work thus far?
MARK GRISKEY: It's
definitely a career
highlight. It was one
of the best
experiences I've ever
had especially in
terms of the recording
sessions. We had John
Kurlander engineer
those sessions - he
did all of the LORD OF
THE RINGS scores - and
Lesley Anne-Jones, who
is a grammy award
winning engineer,
mixed everything. It
was just incredible to
hear it all come
together. We had an 80
piece orchestra with
some of the best
players in the world,
the best engineers,
one of the best
sounding studios in
the world...and it
just came out
fantastic. It just
doesn't get any better
than that.
CC: It would be a very
wise choice to bring
you in on it! Mark,
thank you so much for
your time today!
MARK GRISKEY: Thank
you very much!
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