Captain Abu Raed

Dir. Amin Matalqa

The notion of writing about and describing my working relationship with Amin seems daunting at best, impossible more realistically. We first collaborated together just a couple months before Captain Abu Raed when we did his AFI thesis, Morning Latte. Fun as that had been, it wasn't able to hold a torch to this project...

Amin said from the first day that he felt this film needed an orchestral score. The movie was shot entirely in Amman, Jordan, and all the actors speak in Arabic. Despite that, it was decided that the film need should not feel like a" foreign film." The script is rooted in universal themes and ideals, and so too was Amin's vision for the score.

Spotting and initial meetings began in late September of 2007, and scoring was fully underway throughout October. Orchestra dates were set for October 27th and 29th at Warner Brothers' Clint Eastwood scorings stage, and just a few days later the whole thing was totally mixed and ready for dubbing.

The photo-diary (coming soon) will tell a more detailed account of the scoring process, but special mention must be made about Lisbeth Scott, and her phenomenal contribution to the film. About 3/4ths of the way through scoring the film I had the sudden notion of incorporating a singer into the end titles of the film, but in a totally unconventional, non-song sort of way. Amin let me proceed, and after several dead ends we found ourselves very happily in discussion with Lisbeth. She sang her own lyrics, translation into Arabic courtesy of Amin, inspired by the framework I had provided via the orchestral tracks. The result is probably the most emotionally powerful cue I've ever had the opportunity to work on. I can't say enough wonderful things about the whole thing...

Audio / video clips and a detailed photo-diary coming soon!

Captain Abu Raed official homepage

Score Credits:
Original score Composed, Orchestrated and Conducted by Austin Wintory
Additional Orchestrations: Christopher Thomas
Composer’s assistants: David Poole, David Stanton

Score Engineered and Mixed by Damon Tedesco
ProTools: Vincent Cirilli

Orchestra Contracted by Peter Rotter, Sandy DeCrescent, and Sandra Kipp
Music Preparation and Copying: Steve Juliani

Score Recorded at Warner Brothers Clint Eastwood Scoring Stage Score
Mixed at Mobile Disc Music Score
Performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony

Concert Master and violin solos performed by Alyssa Park
Cello solos by Steve Erdody
Viola solos by David Walther
French Horn solos by Brian O’Connor
Oboe solos by Tom Boyd, Leslie Reed
Flute solos by Heather Clark
Harp Solos by Katie Kirkpatrick
“In the Fog” written by Austin Wintory and Lisbeth Scott. Lyrics by Lisbeth Scott
Vocals performed by Lisbeth Scott

Special thanks: Peter and the Sandys, Nathan Barr, Lisbeth Scott, and Gabriel Yared. Special love to Nathan and Victoria, and Damon and Melissa. As always, beyond words PGB.