Akira Yamaoka on Remaking Silent Hill 2's Soundtrack (Again) for Return to Silent Hill

The Silent Hill franchise has stood the trial of clip for galore reasons, not slightest of which being the haunting, ethereal soundscapes of these endurance fearfulness games. And erstwhile it came to adapting Silent Hill to film, possibly the smartest happening manager Cristophe Gans did was marque definite that bid composer Akira Yamaoka was inactive involved.

Now Silent Hill is backmost successful theaters with the 3rd movie successful the series, Return to Silent Hill, and Yamaoka is on for the thrust again. IGN was precocious capable to talk with Yamaoka astir his work, however composing a Silent Hill movie is precise antithetic from the games, and which crippled he’d similar to spot adapted next. Read connected to spot what helium had to say. [Note - this interrogation was performed with the assistance of a translator.]

Return to Silent Hill is efficaciously an adaptation of the Silent Hill 2 game. What makes Yamaoka’s engagement absorbing is that this is efficaciously the 3rd clip he’s worked connected this peculiar soundtrack. He scored the archetypal Silent Hill 2 backmost successful 2002, and helium rebuilt his enactment from the crushed up for the 2024 remake. Now he’s tackling that soundtrack from a full caller space for the movie version.

Yamaoka explains to IGN that there’s a cardinal quality betwixt scoring for games and scoring for film. One is an interactive mean wherever the different is linear, and that makes a profound difference.

“One of the large differences betwixt video games and movie is, arsenic you know, movie is simply a linear format arsenic opposed to video games, [which are] an interactive format wherever radical person choices,” Yamaoka tells IGN. “People with a controller tin determine however they acquisition the story. We person to make the euphony and each the elements to beryllium interactive truthful that it tin travel however the subordinate plays the games.”

Yamaoka continues, “But the movie is, of course, different; it's a linear format. So what that means is everybody would ticker the euphony astatine definite scenes, and truthful it's precise overmuch predictable, oregon it's much pre-decided, due to the fact that that's what the movie acquisition is. That gives maine the accidental to make a overmuch deeper affectional experience, thing that we tin person adjacent deeper and sharper originative intent for each moment. That to maine is simply a precise antithetic accidental that I was fixed compared to video games.”

We asked Yamaoka if determination were immoderate peculiar themes oregon motifs from Silent Hill 2 helium was anxious to research and rearrange for Return to Silent Hill, to which helium pointed to a brace of classical songs.

“There are galore songs that came from the games, specified arsenic ‘Theme of Laura’ and ‘Promise.’ And again, arsenic we discussed earlier, linear format movie is antithetic from video games, truthful that allows america to person euphony for definite affectional effects that the manager would similar to stock with the audience. To make the experience, we were capable to alteration the tempo and spot, truly conscionable specifically person the euphony successful a definite mode astatine the tempo and the code and hostility and somesthesia truthful that it would enactment the circumstantial scene. That is simply a truly conscionable fantastic accidental that we person for the film. It's overmuch much than the magnitude of the scenes, oregon possibly conscionable the format of the scenes, but it's conscionable the accidental that we person to beryllium overmuch more, person a micro-control, circumstantial power to person an affectional delivery. So naturally, I bask the process of rearranging the themes, and again, including ‘Theme of Laura’ and ‘Promise’ and different euphony that came from the games to beryllium precise film-specific truthful that we could present the affectional connection and imaginativeness that Christophe Gans had.”

Yamaoka makes it wide that Gans had a precise circumstantial imaginativeness for however helium wanted his sequel to sound. That included selecting definite themes and songs from different games successful the Silent Hill series. It was each astir furthering the director’s imaginativeness for the film.

“It was a originative imaginativeness that the manager had, because, of course, helium focuses connected the emotion and helium focuses connected however to present it” Yamaoka says. “There are definite songs from different Silent Hills that had a precise bully acceptable for what helium was trying to achieve. And of course, it was not one-directional. It was a connection process wherever the manager and myself had to travel to the decision that determination are possibly definite scenes wherever we could usage antithetic music.”

One of the elements that separates Return to Silent Hill from the root worldly is that the movie includes a bid of flashbacks exploring the romance betwixt James Sunderland (Jeremy Irvine) and Mary (Hannah Emily Anderson). We were funny however Yamaoka wanted to instrumentality vantage of that caller worldly and research a comparatively happier play for these characters.

“That's 1 of the precise unsocial elements of the film, and we had a large originative accidental to sermon this with the director,” Yamaoka says. “When I saw it, I archetypal tried to attack it successful a melancholic way, speechmaking towards romanticist euphony and realized that this is an intolerable approach. I had a accidental to stock this with Christophe Gans and tally it by him. He gave maine truly fantastic feedback, and helium suggested that possibly we tin displacement the absorption to a antithetic way, truthful past I tried that direction.”

Yamaoka continues, “So it was precise overmuch a communicative, precise originative process and a connection process that we had that, aft the content that I received, I ran the thought by him sometimes by presenting the euphony to the scenes already. We conscionable had galore of our originative thoughts, truthful we exchanged our ideas a lot. So it was precise overmuch a collaborative process, and I truly enjoyed it.”

Finally, there’s the question of what the aboriginal mightiness clasp for the Silent Hill movie series. To date, the films person mostly adapted worldly from the archetypal 3 games. Assuming a 4th is greenlit astatine immoderate point, what crippled would Yamaoka similar to spot adapted next?

“Of course, I'd truly emotion to spot different Silent Hills go filmed, but if I were to prime one, possibly I would accidental Silent Hill 4: The Room, due to the fact that it's the unsocial Silent Hill successful that it was a first-person crippled experience. And also, the mounting is precise antithetic from the erstwhile Silent Hills from Silent Hill 1 to 3, which has been transported to a antithetic town, but Silent Hill 4 is different. So naturally, the quality of Silent Hill is different, but inactive the originative essence - the acquisition itself - stays the same. So I deliberation it has a fantastic accidental to go a movie and supply the halfway elements and acquisition wrong Silent Hill. And I surely anticipation that it'll beryllium directed by Christophe Gans. He's conscionable truly wonderful, and I truly anticipation that we person a accidental to collaborate connected that too, if we person the opportunity.”

Return to Silent Hill hits theaters connected January 23. Check retired IGN’s Return to Silent Hill reappraisal for much connected the caller film.

Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by following @jschedeen connected BlueSky.