May 5, 2019
Nicolas Alvarez: Facing SKY SHARKS – with Music
– Randall D. Larson
Having an admitted affection (some may call it an affliction) for the growing sub-genre of Mega-whatsis versus Giant-croctosharkpiranhasaur type movies, the news about an interesting mash-up of Third Reich-related science fiction and monster shark movies piqued my interest when I read about the forthcoming SKY SHARKS in an announcement on DreadCentral. The film sounded to be right up my dark alley of guilty pleasures.
In all seriousness, SKY SHARKS sounds like a lot of fun. This military/monster thriller, inspired, perhaps, by IRON SKY and the MEGA-SHARK movie franchise – is soon to be completed by writer/director Marc Fehse, with cast members Cary-Hiroyuki Takagawa, Tony Todd, Naomi Grossman, Robert LaSardo, Amanda Bearse, and the voice of Diana Prince.
Here’s the film’s synopsis: Deep in the Antarctic ice, a team of geologists uncover an old but intact Nazi laboratory still where dark experiments once occurred. In their continued attempts to conquer the world, these soldiers and scientists true to the Third Reich created modified sharks who were able to fly, and whose riders are genetically mutated, undead super-humans. A military task force called the “Dead Flesh Four” – reanimated US soldiers who fell in Vietnam – is put together to fight these fiends and prevent world downfall.
The film has been in the works since 2017, and its completion is now looming large for release later this year. In anticipation of its appearance at a film festival near you, I had a chat with composer Nicolas Alvarez about where he’s going his music for SKY SHARKS, which is now completing post-production.
The Colombian-born composer, now residing in Tokyo, Japan, began working in score production, arranging, and music prep in a number of films and video games around 2009, and recently stepped up into composition with 2018’s fantasy thriller, CAESAR’S RING. SKY SHARKS is his second feature film score.
When Alvarez heard about the movie, he was as intrigued about its possibilities as I was. “I immediately loved the concept of the film,” he said. “I managed to find the number of the production studio in Germany and called them and luckily the director, Marc Fehse, answered. We had a very nice chat and we kept in contact for about a year before I was asked to score a scene to see if my style fit with what he and the producers were looking for. Fortunately the sound was right on the money.”
“I started working at Arriba Entertainment 10 years ago,” Alvarez explained. “Arriba is a well-established production company in Tokyo. In the beginning I was managing the production of soundtracks for major video games and films, and over the years I’ve had the opportunity to learn much about the process of music scoring, from writing to mixing. I’ve also had the opportunity to direct live orchestral recordings in various studios around the world. All of this experience has given me a solid foundation in soundtrack production and I feel very fortunate to have been able to work with many top-level professionals in the industry.”
Once he was brought onboard SHY SHARKS, Alvarez had several meetings with Fehse discussing the sound he was looking for. “Although I’ve written some music for the film already, the official production of the score hasn’t started yet as the film is still at the final stage of post-production,” the composer explained. “What I can tell you now is that it won’t be a typical score you hear in most films of this kind. The film presents a mixture of dark comedy, action, and horror; therefore the challenge here is to create a sound that brings all these three styles together. The intensity of the sound will be on a different level.”
Working on SKY SHARKS is giving Alvarez the opportunity to score a multi-level science fiction thriller, and I’ll look forward to exploring the film’s music with him in more detail when the score is finished and the movie is in release. “I see myself scoring for movies that have a darker edge,” he added. “I love creating dark musical atmospheres for science fiction and dark-comedy films.. It’s a major element of my style and I want to explore my creativity more in this area.”
For more information on the composer, see www.nicolas-alvarez.com
Watch SKY SHARKS’ latest official preview trailer:
