Austin Wintory

Austin Wintory (born September 9, 1984 in Denver, Colorado) is an American film and video games composer.[1] He is known for scoring the video games Flow and the Grammy-nominated Journey, the only video game score to ever be nominated for the awards.[2]

Austin Wintory
Wintory conducting the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra
Background information
Born (1984-09-09) September 9, 1984
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
GenresVideo game music, electronica
Occupation(s)Composer, conductor
Years active2002–present
Associated actsTina Guo
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life

Austin Wintory was born in Denver, Colorado in 1984 and started learning piano when he was ten years old,[3] after he was introduced to composer Jerry Goldsmith by his teacher. Before the age of ten, Wintory did not play any instruments and barely listened to music.[4] By the age of sixteen, Wintory started writing for and conducting the Cherry Creek High School Orchestra during their performances of the "Spirit of the Cosmos" pieces. Two years later, at the age of eighteen, Wintory conducted the Utah Symphony during its recording of "Cosmos", which became one of his most popular projects, although he refers to it as "atrocious garbage".[4] Since 2003, Wintory has composed over three hundred musical scores.[4]

Career

Beginning of game composing career and Flow

Wintory met Jenova Chen while both attended the University of Southern California (USC).[5] After networking with an interactive media student at USC and scoring a small game project, his name was passed along to Chen, who asked Wintory to score his thesis project, Flow[5] later re-released on PlayStation Network. Wintory, Chen and Nick Clarke developed the first version of Flow as a three-man team, with Wintory remarking that Chen had an incredible way of processing information, seeing far beyond code and reaching into the emotional implications of things.[5] As a traditional orchestral student at the time, Wintory considered the music of Flow was radically unlike any he had written before.[5] Wintory regards the pink area of the game, where the player controls a jellyfish-like creature, as the humorous area of the game, describing his music for it as almost "circus-like" compared to the overall soundtrack.[5]

Monaco

Originally, Monaco developer Andy Schatz sought out licensed music as a backdrop to the game's setting, feeling that the style of music needed was too esoteric to hire a composer. Wintory, however, was able to convince Schatz that he could create an original score that fit the project's vision. Likening 2D sprite-based games to the silent film era, Wintory agreed with the notion that the soundtrack to a game like Monaco should have an earnest yet self-aware nostalgic feeling, stating "There's no way to just objectively listen to that style of music without automatically being like 'This reminds me of a bygone era.'"[5] Wintory was excited at the chance to create an old-timey score with wit and humor, stating "when else am I ever going to be asked to write anything remotely like this?"[5]

Works

Films
Year Film
2004 Nuts & Bolts
One Three Zero
Blind Visions
Man Child
Alter Ego
Love Parade
2005 It's About Ugliness
Not Too Long Ago
We Gonna Get Ronald Kim
Keepsakes
Painting Ava
New York
TAG
2006 Vollarians, Unite!
Oleg's Overcoat
Long After...
The Sunset Sky
Project: Illegal Alien
Happy Days
The Good Man
The Late Bloomer
Confessions
The Proposal
The Professor's Daughter
Johnny Montana
2007 Mr. Sadman
Captain Abu Raed
If You Could Have
Back Soon
Serpent and the Sun
2008 Knuckle Draggers
Print
Grace
Live Evil
3-Day Weekend
The Acquirer
TK's Corner
Hubristic
2009 A Little Help
The Sunset Sky
The River Why
The Echo Game
Make the Yuletide Gay
2010 A Beautiful Game
Leave
Playing House
Majid
Workshop
Let the Game Begin
The Incredible Adventures of Jojo
2011 Remnants
Home Run Showdown
The Grief Tourist
Junction
2012 Strangely in Love
Inverse
Targeting
The War Around Us
It's a Disaster
Lost on Purpose
Aftermath
2013 Targeting
Inverse
2015 The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown
Dark Summer
Tales of Halloween
The Rendezvous
Standoff
2016 After the Sun Fell
Diane
Mercury Plains
2017 Legacy
The Last Movie Star
Bullet Head
2018 Tread
Big Dogs
2019 Clean
2020 Born a Champion

Games
Year Game Developer
2002 Ages of Athiria (Theme Only) Elysian Productions
2006 Flow Thatgamecompany
2007 Flow Expansion Pack Thatgamecompany, Super Villain Studios
GroundTruth: Toxic City Sandia Nat’l Lab, USC-Gamepipe
Replay Take Action Games
2008 GroundTruth 2: Lock Down Sandia Nat’l Lab, USC-Gamepipe
My Virtual Tutor 1st Playable Productions
2010 Census Draft FCB
Super Awesome Mountain RPG Codename Games
2012 Journey Thatgamecompany
Horn Phosphor Games
2013 Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine Pocketwatch Games
Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded [6] N-Fusion Interactive
Dropchord Double Fine Productions
2014 Soul Fjord Airtight Games
Sunset Tale of Tales
The Banner Saga Stoic
2015 The Order: 1886 (co-writer of The Knights theme, with Jason Graves) Ready at Dawn, Santa Monica Studio
Assassin's Creed Syndicate Ubisoft Quebec
2016 The Banner Saga 2 Stoic
Abzû Giant Squid Studios
2017 Deformers Ready at Dawn
Absolver Sloclap
Tooth and Tail Pocketwatch Games
Luna Funomena
2018 Pode Henchman & Goon
The Banner Saga 3 Stoic
2019 Erica Flavourworks, London Studio
John Wick Hex Bithell Games
2020 The Pathless Giant Squid

Awards
List of awards and nominations
Year AwardCategoryRecipients and nomineesResult Ref.
2007 British Academy Games Awards (BAFTAs) Innovation Flow (Jenova Chen, Nicholas Clark, Austin Wintory) Nominated [7]
2012 Video Game Awards Best Original Score Journey Nominated [8]
2012 Video Games Awards Best Song in a Game Journey Nominated [9]
2012 International Film Music Critics Association Awards Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media Journey Won [10]
2012 Spike Video Game Awards Best Song in a Game "I Was Born for This" – Journey Nominated [11]
2013 Game Developers Choice Awards Best Audio Journey Won [12]
2013 British Academy Games Awards (BAFTAs) Audio Achievement Journey Won [13]
2013 British Academy Games Awards (BAFTAs) Original Music Journey Won [13]
2013 D.I.C.E. Awards Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition Journey Won [14]
2013 Grammy Awards Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media Journey Nominated [15]
2014 NAVGTR Awards Original Dramatic Score, New IP The Banner Saga Nominated [16]
2014 International Film Music Critics Association Awards Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media The Banner Saga Nominated [17]
2015 British Academy Games Awards (BAFTAs) Best Music The Banner Saga Nominated [18]
2015 British Academy Games Awards (BAFTAs) Audio Achievement The Banner Saga Nominated [18]
2015 SXSW Gaming Awards Excellence in Musical Scoring The Banner Saga Nominated [19]
2015 Game Audio Network Guild Awards Music of the Year Assassin's Creed Syndicate Nominated [20]
2015 Game Audio Network Guild Awards Best Original Soundtrack Album Assassin's Creed Syndicate Nominated [20]
2015 Game Audio Network Guild Awards Best Original Instrumental Assassin's Creed Syndicate – "The Assassin's Two Step" Nominated [20]
2015 International Film Music Critics Association Awards Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media Assassin's Creed Syndicate Won [21]
2016 International Film Music Critics Association Awards Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media Abzû Won [22]
2016 International Film Music Critics Association Awards Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media The Banner Saga 2 Nominated [22]
2017 International Film Music Critics Association Awards Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media Deformers Nominated [23]
2017 International Film Music Critics Association Awards Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure/Thriller Film The Rendezvous Nominated [23]
2017 British Academy Games Awards (BAFTAs) Music Abzû Nominated [24]
2017 Game Audio Network Guild Awards Best Original Soundtrack Abzû Won [20]
2018 Hollywood Music in Media Awards Original Score — Independent Film The Last Movie Star Nominated [25]
2018 Hollywood Music in Media Awards Original Score — Video Game Pode Nominated [25]
2018 Hollywood Music in Media Awards Original Song — Video Game "Only We Few Remember it Now" (The Banner Saga 3) Won [25]
2019 Game Audio Network Guild Awards Best Original Soundtrack Pode Nominated [20]
2019 Game Audio Network Guild Awards Best Original Song "Only We Few Remember It Know" The Banner Saga 3 Nominated [20]
2019 International Film Music Critics Association Awards Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media Erica Nominated [26]
2020 Game Audio Network Guild Awards Best Interactive Score Erica Won [20]
2020 Game Audio Network Guild Awards Best Original Instrumental Erica Won [27]

References
  1. "Austin Wintory". soundtrack.net.
  2. Morris, Christopher (December 5, 2012). "Frank Ocean, Fun lead 55th Grammy nominations". Variety. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  3. "Wintory Biography". Classic.FM. Archived from the original on March 17, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  4. Wenzel, John (May 16, 2012). "Denver-born composer Austin Wintory's musical journey". Denver Post. Archived from the original on August 29, 2016. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
  5. "IndieGames Podcast #23: Sleigh Ride", IndieGames, UBM Tech, December 23, 2011, retrieved February 17, 2012
  6. Campbell, Colin (June 5, 2013). "Austin Wintory: Larry is more romance than sex". polygon.com. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
  7. "Games in 2007", bafta.org, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 2007, archived from the original on March 5, 2016, retrieved February 17, 2012
  8. "Best Original Score - Video Game Awards 2012", Spike, Viacom, November 15, 2012, retrieved February 17, 2012
  9. "Best Song in a Game - Video Game Awards 2012", Spike, Viacom, November 15, 2012, retrieved February 17, 2012
  10. "2012 IFMCA Awards". IFMCA: International Film Music Critics Association. February 27, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  11. "2012 Spike Video Game Awards Nominees Announced". Game Rant. November 16, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  12. "Game Developers Choice Awards". www.gamechoiceawards.com. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  13. "Games in 2013", bafta.org, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, February 12, 2013, retrieved February 17, 2012
  14. "2013 D.I.C.E. Awards", Grammy.com, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, February 1, 2013, archived from the original on June 24, 2016, retrieved February 17, 2012
  15. Nessif, Bruna (December 5, 2012), "55th Annual Grammy Awards: Complete List of Nominees", E! Online, E! Entertainment Television, retrieved February 17, 2012
  16. "NAVGTR Awards (2014)". National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers. Archived from the original on March 22, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  17. "2014 IFMCA Awards". IFMCA: International Film Music Critics Association. February 20, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  18. "Games in 2015 | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  19. "SXSW 2015 Gaming Award Finalist Release" (PDF). Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  20. "Awards – G.A.N.G". Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  21. "2015 IFMCA Awards". IFMCA: International Film Music Critics Association. November 23, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  22. "2016 IFMCA Awards". IFMCA: International Film Music Critics Association. September 14, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  23. "2017 IFMCA Awards". IFMCA: International Film Music Critics Association. February 6, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  24. "Games in 2017 | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  25. "'A Star Is Born,' 'Black Panther' Lead Hollywood Music in Media Awards Nominees". Hollywood Reporter. October 17, 2018.
  26. "IFMCA Award Nominations 2019". IFMCA: International Film Music Critics Association. February 6, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  27. "Awards - Game Audio Network Guild". Game Audio Network Guild. January 19, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
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