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Walt Disney Records will release the original soundtrack for Walt Disney Pictures/Walden Media’s The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian on May 13, 2008. The recording features score written by award-winning composer Harry Gregson-Williams and songs performed by Switchfoot (“This Is Home”), Regina Spektor (“The Call”), Oren Lavie (“A Dance ‘Round The Memory Tree”), and Hanne Hukkelberg (“Lucy”).

In 1950, the scholar, critic and writer C.S. Lewis published The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the first of his seven-volume series, The Chronicles of Narnia, and established a modern legend. Adults and children alike fell in love with his stirring, action-packed adventure that was set in the middle of World War II bombing raids yet transported readers into an alternate and far more enchanted universe of mythological creatures waging an epic battle between good and evil.

Harry Gregson-Williams reunites with director Andrew Adamson for the 5th time after composing the scores for his Academy Award®-winning Shrek (co-composed with John Powell), the hit sequels Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third, and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, for which he collected Golden Globe and Grammy nominations for his score. He is one of Hollywood’s most sought after composers, working on a variety of high-profile projects, both animated and live-action.

Over the last several years, Gregson-Williams has composed such notable scores for Shrek the Third,Gone Baby Gone, Chicken Run, Man on Fire, Flushed Away, Domino, Spy Game, Déjà vu, Phone Booth, Veronica Guerin, Smilla’s Sense Of Snow, The Replacement Killers, Bridget Jones: The Age of Reason, Enemy of the State, Antz and Kingdom of Heaven, among others.

The multi-platinum selling rock band Switchfoot has written and recorded the original song “This Is Home,” which is heard in the body of the film and over the end title credits. They shot a video for the song with director Brandon Dickerson, who filmed their most recent video for “Awakening.”

“We are so honored to be a part of the Prince Caspian film with ‘This Is Home,’” says Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman. “The Narnia stories have a really special place in my brother Tim and my lives. Our dad used to read these to us at bedtime when we were boys. Our imaginations were shaped on these amazing novels.”

The characters of C.S. Lewis’ timeless fantasy come to life once again in this newest installment of the Chronicles of Narnia series, in which the Pevensie siblings are magically transported back from England to the world of Narnia, where a thrilling, perilous new adventure and an even greater test of their faith and courage awaits them.

“As [the film's director] Andrew Adamson and I began early discussions about the musical possibilities for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” composer Harry Gregson-Williams said, “it became clear that the movie could take a score with plenty of edge and bite to it this time around, supporting the fast moving action and adventure that quickly unfolds.”

One year after the incredible events of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Kings and Queens of Narnia find themselves back in that faraway wondrous realm, only to discover that more than 1300 years have passed in Narnian time. During their absence, the Golden Age of Narnia has become extinct, Narnia has been conquered by the Telmarines and is now under the control of the evil King Miraz, who rules the land without mercy.

The fast forward 1300 years in the future allowed Gregson-Williams to re-address themes from the first film as well as creating new ones. Director Andrew Adamson described, “For Prince Caspian, Harry drew not only on the beloved themes of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but also developed original, sympathetic themes for Caspian and the Telmarines. Harry has threaded these themes with the same beauty and originality as he has woven all the notes that form his wonderful scores.”

The four Pevensie children will soon meet an intriguing new character: Narnia’s rightful heir to the throne, the young Prince Caspian, who has been forced into hiding as his uncle Miraz plots to kill him in order to place his own newborn son on the throne.

Gregson-Williams embraced the challenge of composing for these new characters. He described, “The early introduction of a fearful Prince Caspian fleeing for his life from the dangerous Lord Miraz gave me a wonderful opportunity to introduce this new and somewhat darker musical landscape right from the opening.”

Also drawing inspiration from C.S. Lewis was Switchfoot. “‘This Is Home’ was inspired by the book after re-reading it for the opportunity to write for the film,” continues the band’s frontman, Foreman. “I am always taken by [C. S.] Lewis’ ability to write about the bittersweet beauty in this world; this home we aren’t really made for but is the place we work out our humanity in the midst of our longing for our true home.”

Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media present The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian in theaters on May 16, 2008. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Original Soundtrack will be in stores on May 13, 2008.

BOOM director Brandon Dickerson has just completed the latest Switchfoot music video for the bands new release “This Is Home.” The song was written exclusively for Disney’s highly anticipated feature release of “Prince Caspian” in theaters May 16th.

After seeing an early cut of “Prince Caspian,” Dickerson came up with a concept born out of the way the Pevensie siblings get back to the fallen world of Narnia: They enter an underground railway station that mysteriously transports them to this magical land. The idea was to draw a parallel between this, the film experience, and that of the Switchfoot performance in an underground Los Angeles metro station. The metro trains provide a motivated transition in and out of the “Prince Caspian” footage in a way that highlights both the film footage and the band s performance.

“Music videos for feature films have the challenge of merging two forms of pop culture ” music and film ” with a third art form, the video “says dickerson. “This is an instance where each part is enhanced and complements each other to create a new whole. Everyone is thrilled at the result.”

Dickerson, a fan of shooting on film, chose to shoot this video using the RED ONE camera, due to the projects tight turn-around. By working in the 4k realm there was no delay in the editorial process and visual effects could be immediately integrated.

“I believe in selecting the right technology for the job, but still came to this with a healthy dose of skepticism because of my passion for film,” notes the director. “We approached the shoot the same way we would using film, with the exception of being mindful of contrast and over exposure. I was impressed that we were able to create a distinct look with RED that worked incredibly well with the 35mm footage from “Prince Caspian.”

Switchfoot’s song This Is Home now has a music video. We still hope to have a higher resolution version sometime this week, but here it is, for those that can’t wait:

Switchfoot – This is Home: Lyrics

I’ve got my memories
They’re always inside of me
But I can’t go back
Back to how it was
I believe it now
I’ve seen too much
But I can’t go back
Back to how it was
Created for a place I’ve never known

[Chorus]
This is Home
Now I’m finally where I belong
Where I belong
Yeah, this is home
I’ve been searching for a place of my own
Now I’ve found it,
Yeah this is home
Yeah, this is home

Belief over misery
I’ve seen the enemy
And I won’t go back
Back to how it was
And I’ve got my heart set on what happens next
I’ve got my eyes wide and it’s not over yet
We are miracles
And we’re not alone

[Chorus]

And now after all my searching
After all my questions
I’m gonna call it home
I’ve got a brand new mindset
I can finally see the sunset
I’m gonna call it home

[Chorus]

Now I know, Yeah this is home
I’ve come too far
No, I won’t go back
This is home

For the 2005 movie “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” composer Harry Gregson-Williams was given an ambitious task: Write the score for a movie where the good guy is a talking lion who is a literary allusion to Jesus, the bad guy is a candy-toting wicked witch and the whole action is set in a fantasy world entombed in winter that children access via a wardrobe.

Gregson-Williams delivered, earning Golden Globe and Grammy nominations for the film’s score.

In late 2007, he received a new assignment from Disney: Can you do all that again?

Scoring “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” the sequel to the original hit that arrives in theaters May 16, was daunting, Gregson-Williams admits. But in an industry where sequels are the studios’ bread and butter, composers often are pushed to expand their vision and find new themes in their previous works.

For “Caspian,” it was a matter of picking up some of the underlying themes in the first film and expanding upon others from the new one. “A composer is one own’s harshest critic,” Gregson-Williams says. “I thought, ‘I’ll take that scene and develop it,’ and ‘I don’t think I’ll bring that scene with me.”‘

Gregson-Williams says he had the benefit of “Caspian” taking place in a vastly different Narnia from “Wardrobe” — one that is ravaged by chaos and war. “Narnia is not quite so beautiful and snow-laden,” he said. “The place is a wreck when the children arrive there.”

As a result, the score is more foreboding and imposing than the one for “Narnia,” in which Gregson-Williams tried to express the Pevensie children’s glee in finding an alternative world.

In addition, he has two new major characters to introduce musically: the titular hero, Prince Caspian, and the tyrannical Lord Miraz. “Prince Caspian is being pursued from almost the start of the film,” he said. “The tone of the movie is more urgent, dark, driving.”

Read the rest at Reuters

Next week, we’ll have the music video from the soundtrack, featuring footage of the band playing the song, and clips from the film. Today, you can listen to the song.

Listen to This is Home, Switchfoot’s song from the Prince Caspian soundtrack

The multi-Platinum selling rock band Switchfoot has recorded a new original song, “This Is Home,” for the highly anticipated Walt Disney Studios and Walden Media May 16 theatrical release, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The song will be featured during the end credits of the film, and will appear on the Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack CD releasing on May 13.

Switchfoot recently taped a companion music video for “This Is Home” in Los Angeles with director Brandon Dickerson who filmed Switchfoot’s most recent video, “Awakening,” from its current, acclaimed studio album, Oh! Gravity..

“We are so honored to be a part of the Prince Caspian film with ‘This Is Home,’” says Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman. “The Narnia stories have a really special place in my brother Tim and my lives. Our dad used to read these to us at bedtime when we were boys. Our imaginations were shaped on these amazing novels.

“‘This Is Home’ was inspired by the book after re-reading it for the opportunity to write for the film,” continues Foreman. “I am always taken by [C. S.] Lewis’ ability to write about the bittersweet beauty in this world; this home we aren’t really made for but is the place we work out our humanity in the midst of our longing for our true home.”

“We are encouraged to continue our collaboration with Walt Disney Studios with the new Switchfoot song ‘This is Home’ for the new Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian film,” says Peter York, EMI CMG Label Group president. “The band continues to create thought provoking music and has been truly inspired by the C. S. Lewis series. It felt likea natural fit, and it’s an honor to continue to work with the Music/Creative team at Walt Disney Studios.”

“Going back to our first Narnia film, ‘The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe,’ Switchfoot was at the top of our creative list of artists whose sound and artistry we felt was a perfect fit,” said Mitchell Leib, President of Music and Soundtracks for Walt Disney Studios. “When approached for ‘Prince Caspian,’ Jon Foreman had a concise read on the story and delivered a stellar, important composition and record, which we feel reflects our film brilliantly. We are proud to have Switchfoot involved and to be working with our friends at EMI CMG once again.”

In conjunction with local market promotions around the film designed to build excitement toward the release of the new “Narnia” movie, EMI CMG Label Group will release “This Is Home” to AC and CHR Christian radio as Red Light Management/Entertainment works the single at mainstream AC and Triple A radio formats. Fans can also see the band debut the song live nationwide tonight (April 23) between 8 – 10 p.m. (ET) on the Gospel Music Channel television network as part of the 39th Annual GMA Dove Awards telecast.

Interlinc-Online has the video in Quicktime here

Land of Broken Hearts posted this in our forum: As I’m sure a lot of you know, alt-rock band Switchfoot was chosen to have a song in the soundtrack. The song is called This Is Home and you can listen to the soundtrack version of the song HERE.

Lisbeth Scott is the voice that you heard in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe during the train sequence, singing “One Breath.” According to her website, she will be appearing on the soundtrack to Prince Caspian. There is no word on the capacity of her appearance.

I loved her song “Where” from the soundtrack, and hope that she’ll be allowed to record another song.

She has also apparently seen the film, as in her news post from Tuesday, April 8th says: Many films as always..Prince Caspian is awesome!

You can also pick up a free MP3 of “Where” on her website, here.

You heard it here first! Look for an interview with Lisbeth Scott coming soon!

This is from my Interlinc e-mail: Narnia Insiders: Narnia Dispatch 5:

Great news! Switchfoot has been chosen to record a song for the official Prince Caspian movie soundtrack! Jon and the guys will be shooting a video with footage from the movie interspersed. You will receive that video as soon as it is available! (Rumor from the battlefront: Jon will be performing the new Prince Caspian song at the Willowcreek Student Ministries Conference on April 10.)

Be on the lookout for Switchfoot’s song and video “This Is Home” from Prince Caspian!

ScoringSessions.com travels across the globe to bring you an exclusive in-depth look at the scoring sessions for Harry Gregson-Williams’ highly anticipated score to The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Recorded at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios, they’ve got a lot of photos for you, so come check it out!

Since last December, composer Harry Gregson-Williams has been hard at work in London, writing his score to the upcoming Walt Disney Pictures/Walden Media’s feature film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The film adaptation is the next chapter in the saga by C.S. Lewis, and takes place after the events in 2005’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Directed by Andrew Adamson (who directed the first film), with a screenplay by Adamson, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, the movie follows the four Pevensie children as they are called back to Narnia to help Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) defeat the forces that are plotting against him.

Gregson-Williams began recording his score in late January, where a cycle of writing/recording/mixing took place. This approach allowed him to work with the filmmakers as the edits in the film changed. At the beginning of March there were three days of scoring, and ScoringSessions.com had an opportunity to travel across the globe to attend them at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios, in London, England.

The music for Prince Caspian follows the style that Gregson-Williams established for the first film, but due to the nature of this sequel, it’s a bit darker and more aggressive. New themes have been written, and some old familiar themes from the first film also make appearances.

Visit ScoringSessions.com for all the awesome pictures and the rest of the story!

Thanks to Dan Goldwasser for the report!

In an announcement for the composer of Bond 22, the James Bond fan site MI6 has revealed that film composer David Arnold will be composing the score for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader:

David will also be scoring the third Narnia film, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” for Disney/Walden and directed by Michael Apted, with whom David has scored three films (“The World is Not Enough“, “Enough” and “Amazing Grace“)

It is pretty typical for a composer and director to team up on movies as they have already established their relationship. They tend to work together quickly and efficiently as they’ve got a short-hand in which they can communicate more effectively than a new composer coming in. This is the type of relationship held by Steven Spielberg and John Williams, M. Night Shyamalan and James Newton Howard, and Andrew Adamson and Harry Gregson-Williams.

You can visit David Arnold’s official website for more!