D’Artagnan co-star Emmanuelle Béart
Ant Music, a New York City–based multimedia music house, recently completed work on the soundtrack for a new European/Canadian television mini-series, D’Artagnan and The Three Musketeers, scheduled to air in France, Germany, Spain and Italy this month.
The four-hour film, based on a novel by Alexandre Dumas, was produced by GMT (France), Transfilm (Canada), and Spice Factory (UK). The music was composed by Matt Dunkley (orchestrator on Moulin Rouge, The Quiet American) and performed by The Czech Symphony Orchestra and the Prague Philharmonic Choir.
Anthony Vanger, creative director of Ant Music and Music Supervisor of D’Artagnan and The Three Musketeers notes that the scoring, recording and mixing of the series went smoothly despite language barriers. “The technical side of the project was surprisingly seamless considering the language barriers and the distance factor,” explains Vanger. “I speak fluent French, so I started things rolling creatively, but it did not take Pierre [director] and Matt [composer] long to develop their own method of communication.”
The score includes over two hours of music and 90 cues. Vanger organized the posting of music and images from the UK onto a common Website so that all producers in the UK, France and Canada had access to the materials and could then give feedback to the composer in the UK.
“The key factor in the whole process was choosing the right composer for the job and Matt Dunkley was that man,” says Vanger. “From the minute I heard the theme he demoed for the project, it was clear that he had the skills to pull it off.”
The music was recorded in Prague and mixed by Geoff Foster at Air Studios, London, UK.
For more information, visit www.antmusicny.com.
