Interview With “Captain America: Civil War” Composer Henry Jackman

Captain America: Civil War has been released to rave reviews. Now let’s meet the man behind the score to this 2016 summer blockbuster—Henry Jackman.

When Bam Smack Pow interviewed music composer Henry Jackman last year, he was in the middle of scoring Captain America: Civil War—which was still in post-production. Last week, on May 6, 2016, the world got to experience the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe installment and the fruits of Jackman’s labor.

Bam Smack Pow recently spoke with the British maestro to talk about how he created the score to one of this summer’s biggest blockbusters. So join us as we explore his thoughts and creative process.

Bam Smack Pow: Were you shown Captain America: Civil War before composing the score for it?

Henry Jackman: I was very much involved since the start. I got to read the script months before production even began. It was very helpful. This gave me a sense of the architecture of the story. In terms of the music, it’s important to understand the narrative behind what you’re writing.

BSP: What track was your favorite one out of the overall score?

HJ: Hmm, that’s tricky. It would have to be the “Siberian Overture,” the introduction to Captain America: Civil War. It started out suspenseful, but ends with a little bit of promise.

BSP: What were the most challenging aspects of creating the score for Captain America: Civil War?

HJ: Funny enough, I actually had to try and not be too heroic. I mean, this is Captain America. But you have to remember that in Civil War, the teams are split and there are so many characters. I was constantly doing a balancing act, making sure I wasn’t tipping it too much. This is Captain America’s movie. However, you don’t want to let the audience know that he’s going to win. There was always a constant danger of tipping it too much.

What I ended up doing was making a generic theme to balance everything out. I had a Civil War theme. Even with that theme, I had to be a bit careful. There was still that danger of making it too much of a thriller or too heroic. It was quite difficult to maintain.

BSP: Knowing that this is the second time you’re collaborating with the Russo Brothers on a Marvel movie, are there plans to return to the franchise for Avengers Infinity War since they’re directing that one also?

HJ: I have no idea. If I had a choice, yes, definitely! But the choice of whether I’m on a project or not is a decision made by people above me—people who are way above my pay grade. Wherever they need me, I just launch into action. I’m excited for it though, and I definitely wouldn’t mind if they chose me again!

BSP: Any other projects coming up that you would like your fans to know about?

HJ: I’m very proud to have worked with director Nate Parker on The Birth of a Nation. It’s completely different than Captain America: Civil War. The Birth of a Nation is a very disturbing, honest flick. It’s just such a powerful story, and I’m impressed by how it turned out.

Captain America: Civil War – Official Synopsis: Captain America: Civil War picks up where Avengers: Age of Ultron left off, as Steve Rogers leads the new team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers while they try to protect the world from a new and nefarious villain.

Captain America: Civil War had a United States release date of May 6, 2016.  It was directed by Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and starred Chris Evans as Steve Rogers / Captain America, Robert Downy Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / The Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Falcon, Paul Bettany as Vision, Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton / Hawkeye, Don Cheadle as James “Rhodey” Rhodes / War Machine, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter / Agent 13, Tom Holland as Peter Parker / Spider-Man, Frank Grillo as Brock Rumlow / Crossbones, William Hurt as Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa / Black Panther, Daniel Brühl as Helmut Zemo, John Slattery as Howard Stark, Kerry Condon as F.R.I.D.A.Y., Martin Freeman as Everett Ross, Alfre Woodard as Miriam Sharpe, Marisa Tomei as May Parker, John Kani as T’Chaka, and Hope Davis as Maria Stark.

Next: Captain America: Civil War Review

Henry Jackman is an English composer, conductor, arranger, pianist, musician, and songwriter.  Born in Hillingdon, Middlesex, Jackman studied classical music at St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir School, Eton College, Framingham College, and the University of Oxford.

Jackman’s experience includes programming and production work with Mike Oldfield, Sally Oldfield, Trevor Horn / Art of Noise, Elton John, and Gary Barlow.  He also co-produced Seal’s unreleased 2001 album Togetherland.  The track This Could Be Heaven — which was released separate from the album and co-written by Jackman — was used in the Nicholas Cage film The Family Man (2000).  The track was also later included in Seal’s compilation album Hits.

Since 2006, Jackman has worked on scoring various films.  Working with his mentor — Hans Zimmer — Jackman has been involved in the scores for multiple blockbusters: as a music programmer for The Da Vinci Code (2003); as a music arranger for The Dark Knight (2008); and creating additional music for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (2007), The Simpsons Movie (2007), Kung Fu Panda (2008), and Hancock (2008).

In 2009, Jackman, along with Hans Zimmer and John Powell, won the 2008 Annie ward for Music in an Animated Television Production or Short Form for their work on DreamWorks Animation’s Secrets of the Furious Five (2008) — a sequel to Kung Fu Panda (2008).

As a sole composer, Jackman has worked on the scores for Monster vs. Aliens (2009), Henri 4 (2010), Gulliver’s Travels (2010), X-Men: First Class (2011), Winnie the Pooh (2011), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012), Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Pixels (2015), and Captain America: Civil War (2016).  His first foray into scoring video games will be for the upcoming Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (2016).

Jackman himself has released a number of albums: Utopia (2003), Transfiguration (2005), and Acoustica (2007) with Augustus Isadore.

Source: Wikipedia