'Chuck' composer scores 'Human Target' gig

(from the Hollywood Reporter)

Tim Jones will take over scoring duties for second season

By James Hibberd and Lesley Goldberg

July 25, 2010, 01:12 PM ET

"Human Target" is about to get a new sound.

"Chuck" composer Tim Jones is going to take over scoring duties on the Fox action drama for the show's second season.

Jones is taking over for Bear McCreary, who is shifting to AMC's zombie drama "The Walking Dead." (Jones will continue to work on the NBC show too).

This is just one of a few changes coming to the Warner Bros.-produced show. There's a new showrunner (Matthew Miller from "Chuck") and a new female main character played by Indira Varma.

Miller told Comic-Con that there's another cast addition yet to come, that Christopher Chance's team will soon include its first female member.

"We're adding an as-yet-uncast 22-year-old woman who's a despicable thief," said Miller, who added that she'll figure into Chance (Mark Valley) and Guerrero's (Jackie Earle Haley) back stories.

Touching on having a new female boss joining the show in Varma, Chi McBride (Winston) said it would "set up a lot of great tension and great comedy."

Miller also talked about the show's move to Friday nights, a night that's been very difficult for recent Fox genre shows.

"It's not always the best time slot, but 'The X-Files' did well on Friday nights," he said.

The new season

Thanks to all of you for sending me suggestions for the upcoming soundtrack. We've got more than enough and I want to thank every fan who helped. I'm working on it as quickly as I can but I've got some new changes and projects taking a huge amount of time.

As you've no doubt heard, "Chuck" has been picked up for another season. I've moved to a new studio with a large recording space. We're busy setting everything up, planning the new season and dealing with those pesky issues like the phone company and internet providers, so please bear with us.

Thanks again for all of your support, both for my music and for "Chuck."

Tim

The Agony of Waiting

So,

It's been quite a while since my last post. I want to thank the individuals who responded to my last posting. I'm here in Sunny California, awaiting the fate of my beloved TV show, 'Chuck'. I can honestly say it's a show I would watch, even if I were not working on it. ('Fringe' is also another favorite of mine) We, (everyone involved in making the show) and the fans are anxiously awaiting word from the network about the fate of our season 4.

Why is waiting so hard? I remember waiting for each one of my children right before they were born. The excitement and worry that comes with that is pretty potent. This is different though. This is my first television series (I did mostly films before 'Chuck').

To have the opportunity to craft a theme over the course of the last three years, has been really cool. I feel like there is a lot more 'Chuck' music in my head. I remember Paul McCartney talking about the release of the CD, 'Let it Be : Naked". Basically, they were the tracks recorded by the Beatles for 'Let it Be' before Phil Spectre got his grimy, gun-toting hands on it. What Paul said about the studio outtakes and dialog from the sessions, was that it was the sound of his 'Favorite band in the world breaking up'. I don't want 'Chuck' to break-up yet. Hence, the agony. Anyway, I've digressed from my original point.

Waiting sucks. There, I put it out there. I'd rather go to the dentist and have serious work done than be subjected to 'waiting'. Especially when there is a potential negative outcome. (ie Cancelled show). So, have I enraged the Gods of Positive thinking, by suggesting the very thing I don't want to happen… could happen? Not sure. It's important to have a positive outlook in life. Some (I include myself in this group) agree it's an essential component to a happy existence. That said, who wants to be like the string quartet on the Titanic? Playing Paganini with your pants in a puddle of ice water…? Not me baby. I'd rather be playing 'Dire Straits' cover tunes and when the boat hits the iceberg: 'OK boys, this gig is lame. Last one to the lifeboat has to coil the cables and pack the van…'

Seriously, would most of us want to know if bad news were coming? It's so much easier to be blissfully unaware and go all 'Ostrich' on the hard things. I've been trying to stay busy and (have been), but the waiting has driven me to the point of blogging… That should be evidence enough of the ends to which I've travelled.

Will I die if 'Chuck' is cancelled? Most likely, no. Will I be forced to go on a three-state, cow tipping spree? I reserve the right to keep that one open-ended. Will I be deeply and profoundly disappointed? Absolutely. I really like my job and all the people on the show. Well, except for maybe xxxxxxxxxxxx (deleted for personal and legal reasons).

OK, well maybe the real purpose of this blog entry was to assassinate an innocent 20 minutes. That's 20 more minutes I don't have to fill by stacking golf balls or organizing and cataloging my vintage lawn gnome collection. (which is killer, by the way.)

Anyone have any decent ideas for waiting out a full two weeks? It can't involve a drug induced coma. I've already ruled that out, on the grounds that it's cheating. Hope this message finds you well. As always, 'I salute you, Mr. Yahoo webcrawler computer. May you scan some juicy text. [Tasty Morsel] (that's for the webcrawler computer. Somebody's got to remember to feed him…)

Peace People. Last one to the lifeboat is a slug.

Tim

The Blank Page

Blogging,

Is it selfish, self-serving? I'm not sure (probably is). With that thought firmly in mind, I'll TRY to be brief in these missives.

I really prefer to speak in musical expression. The only problem, is that it's so open to interpretation…

Let's be hypothetical (OK everyone ready? got your lycra suits and Matrix style sunglasses on? Good, begin.)

I might write a piece of music (hypothetically) displaying my gooey, inner-soul for all to peruse and mock. Invariably, you present this highly intimate and personal expression to an early listener. You wait for it… the part about your childhood goes by… the chord that represents your long, lost love rings out… Your most embarrassing adult moment calcified in three part harmony… finally, mercifully it's done. The person says, "Wow man, nice piece. I particularly like the squiggly thing that came in after the weird sound in the beginning." and I think, Holy S**t! I just poured my heart out there, the musical equivalent of pulling my pants down and he said, "Wow man, nice piece".

You know what? That's perfect. All as it should be. The music hit that listener in just the way that he or she was ready to hear it. No explanation, no set-up. The music did its job and went home to it's family. The 'Trans-Lingual' (I've never heard that word before) quality of music, is what is so exciting to me. You (the listener) and I, don't have to speak the same language. I don't speak Czech or French or Klingon. (You might…) You don't speak English (you know who you are…apparently you can read it). BUT, we both speak 'Emotion'. Cheesy, I know. But true. You either like what a piece of music has to say, or you don't. Regardless, it spoke.

I think part of the craft of being a composer is finding ways to say something musically, that will speak to different people in a similar way. What makes something feel heroic, or scary or romantic? I have some ideas about that. (It's my job, I'd be remiss if I didn't…) But, let's discuss it. Is something that's scary to a 6th grader in New Guinea, scary to a 'large for his age' Swiss fifth grader? I don't have the foggiest. I bet someone knows, and I intend to check it out.

I am interested in how humans respond emotionally to moving images on a screen. How does the sound and musical information that goes with it, change a person's perception of the experience? All good questions. For later.

To the sole sentient being reading this blog, the artificial intelligence computer at Google, (who has to! it's his job.) I apologize for the random acts of violent punctuation and the out-right making up of words like 'Trans-Lingual'.