Chris Field is a Los Angeles-based composer, songwriter, producer and musician. He was raised in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

, and played guitar in Los Angeles for groups among multiple genres including electric guitar,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

, and rock music. He learned how to compose music by inputting compositions from

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

and

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

into his computer. Through his music associates, he became acquainted with two friends who started

X-Ray Dog Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music com ...

, and he began to contribute musical compositions to this company. Field also works with Extreme Music, and through them, Field's music has been placed in numerous television shows. In December 2014, a part of Field's catalogue was acquired by BMG Chrysalis, with whom he continues to work, on major film and television campaigns. Field's music has appeared in the films, "

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

", "

Tropic Thunder ''Tropic Thunder'' is a 2008 satirical action comedy film directed by Ben Stiller, who wrote the screenplay with Justin Theroux and Etan Cohen. The film stars Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Jay Baruchel, and Brandon T. Jackson as a gro ...

", "

Dumb and Dumber To ''Dumb and Dumber To'' is a 2014 American buddy comedy film co-written and directed by the Farrelly brothers. It is the third installment in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise and a sequel to the 1994 film ''Dumb and Dumber''. The film stars Ji ...

", as well as countless television shows. Field's work as a musical composer for movie

theatrical trailer A trailer (also known as a preview, coming attraction or attraction video) is a commercial advertisement, originally for a feature film that is going to be exhibited in the future at a movie theater/cinema. It is a product of creative and tech ...

s has included '' Valerian'', ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

'', ''

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a 1997 fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. The first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series and Rowling's debut novel, it follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers hi ...

'', ''

XXX XXX may refer to: Codes and symbols * 30 (number), Roman numeral XXX * XXX, designating pornography ** XXX, an X rating#United_States, X rating ** .xxx, an internet top-level domain intended for pornographic sites * XXX, a symbol of the straight ...

'', ''

Austin Powers in Goldmember ''Austin Powers in Goldmember'' is a 2002 American spy comedy film directed by Jay Roach. It is the third in the ''Austin Powers'' film series and stars Mike Myers in four roles: Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Goldmember, and Fat Bastard. Myers and M ...

'', '' Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'', ''

Hotel Rwanda ''Hotel Rwanda'' is a 2004 drama film directed by Terry George. It was adapted from a screenplay co-written by George and Keir Pearson, and stars Don Cheadle and Sophie Okonedo as hotelier Paul Rusesabagina and his wife Tatiana. Based on the Rw ...

'', '' Kinsey'', '' Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'', '' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'', and '' The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring''. His first contribution to a film trailer was for ''

The Full Monty ''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film is s ...

''. Field is the composer of "Gothic Power", which developed an international cult following. "Gothic Power" was the main theme for the trailer for ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series; this piece was later in the trailer for

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spie ...

's ''

War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

'' and in the trailer for a

film within a film A story within a story, also referred to as an embedded narrative, is a literary device in which a character within a story becomes the narrator of a second story (within the first one). Multiple layers of stories within stories are sometimes c ...

in a sequence for

Ben Stiller Benjamin Edward Meara Stiller (born November 30, 1965) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is the son of the comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Stiller was a member of a group of comedic actors colloquially known as ...

's movie ''

''. The piece was internationally published by X-Ray Dog. Field became recognized for having started a new direction in cinematic music. In 2014, Field's composition "Acts of Courage" was released on the album, This Is Epic Music, Volume I, through Imperativa Records, via iTunes and on CD. The album notes state that the piece "Gothic Power", written by Field in 1999, started a new direction in cinematic music that came to be identified as epic music. Through this album, by Imperativa Records, Field's trailer compositions became available for sale to the public for the first time. Field's catalogue of film trailer music has since become available for sale to the public on iTunes through X-Ray Dog.

Albums

In 2020, Field released his third album "Beneath the Sun", an orchestral work which includes new music derived from his most popular film trailer themes, available on iTunes and all major platforms. Field released his second album "Personal Elegy", a rock album, in 2015. This album is classic rock, vintage rock, and retro seventies. The original music and lyrics are presented in a retrospective of classic rock styles, in high audio fidelity. This album is not available to the public but is for license only. The track "Movin'", about being tired of being in the same scene, and needing a change, has been licensed for a number of major television shows. Field co-produced, recorded, mixed and mastered the jazz album "Distance Traveled", in 2014, for David Becker Tribune. This album is available for sale in digital format on iTunes, cdbaby, and Amazon. Field's trailer composition, "Acts of Courage" was made available to the public, for sale for the first time on the album "This Is Epic Music, Volume I", through Imperativa Records, in 2014. Prior to that time, Field's trailer compositions were never made available for sale. Since that time, X-Ray Dog has released its catalogue of Field's music to the public for sale. In 2017, the pieces "Act of Courage" and "The Vision", respectively, reached the number 1 and number 9 positions for top sales in the X-Ray Dog catalogue on iTunes. Field released his debut album, "Sub-Conscious" in 2006; it was made available on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

CD Baby CD Baby, Inc. is an online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. The CD Baby music store was shut down in March 2020 with a statement that "C ...

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

, and for retail sale. It received a positive reception, and his song "Floating" from the album reached spot number eight in the

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

genre for

in Luxembourg on July 7, 2011. Sub-Conscious was awarded Best Neo-Classical Album, 2006, by New Age Reporter.

Early life and family

Field was raised in the

. He played guitar in Los Angeles for a period of time as a young man. He contributed to productions including electric guitar,

, and rock music. He acquired his first computer about 1998, wherein he began to learn musical composition and production. He experimented by taking compositions from

and

, and inputting them electronically into his computer. He noted in a 2006 interview that his wife Katie O'Brien Field helped with promotion of his music.

Career

Film trailers

He met associate Mitch Lijewski through his guitar playing, and was introduced to Tim Stithem. Lijewski and Stithem started

and he started contributing musical composition through work with this firm. Field has worked as a composer for

s for films. His trailer musical composition work has included films such as ''

'', ''

'', '' Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines'', ''

''; he worked on this piece with friend

Mark Griskey Mark Griskey (born 1963) is an American composer for video games such as '' Marvel Heroes'', '' Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords'', and '' Star Wars: The Old Republic'' as well as several titles for ''Disney Publishing Wor ...

who was a fellow composer at

. Field explained his thought process on the film trailer: "A trailer, is like a one-minute or whatever, mini movie that's got to have its own feeling and form to it — trailer music is very intense and gets right to the point. It sounds simple, but it's taken me some years to really figure out. I call it 'rock and roll orchestra' because it's got orchestral elements and, sometimes, a choir, but it also has a lot of rock elements like the drive, the drums and the way it just builds and builds." His musical composition piece "Gothic Power" was used in trailers for ''The Lord of the Rings'' film series. The debut of the first trailer in theaters was quite popular with fans. Subsequently, the piece was utilized by

in a fictional movie trailer for a

in ''

''. He composed a piece called "The Vision" which incorporated

string music A string is the vibrating element that produces sound in string instruments such as the guitar, harp, piano (piano wire), and members of the violin family. Strings are lengths of a flexible material that a musical instrument holds under tensi ...

; it was utilized for the end of the trailer for the 2007 film ''

Atonement Atonement (also atoning, to atone) is the concept of a person taking action to correct previous wrongdoing on their part, either through direct action to undo the consequences of that act, equivalent action to do good for others, or some other ex ...

''. Although uncredited on the film, Field's composition, "The Journey" is the music for the end credits of the 2006 DVD release of the movie ''The Secret.''

Solo artist

Field released his debut album, ''Sub-Conscious'', in 2006. It featured orchestral music from the

Northwest Sinfonia The Northwest Sinfonia is a session symphonic orchestra based in Seattle, mostly renowned for recording soundtracks to motion pictures and computer games. It was founded in 1995 and is credited with over 100 recordings. It draws its members mostl ...

. He created the album as a way to branch out from theatrical trailer composition into work as a

solo artist In music, a solo (from the Spanish and Italian based-word: ''Solo'', meaning ''alone'' or ''by yourself'') is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung featuring a single performer, who may be performing completely alone or supported by an ...

. Field utilizes

Logic Pro Logic Pro is a digital audio workstation (DAW) and MIDI music sequencer, sequencer software application for the macOS platform. It was originally created in the early 1990s as Notator Logic, or Logic, by German software developer C-Lab which ...

and

MIDI MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...

for his musical composition; after this process he delivers these files along with an MP3 to the individual in charge of

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...

, who uses Finale software to convert this to musical notation. The album was made available on

, and for retail sale]. The album received a positive review from Jamie Bonk of ''ZoneMusicReporter.com'', who commented: "As far as debut albums are concerned, composer/producer/multi- instrumentalist Chris Field's ''Sub-Conscious'' is an outstanding record: great compositions and arrangements, first-rate performances and most importantly a defined point of view.". Sub-Conscious has since become a top seller and editor's pick in two categories on the cdbaby platform, with citations on the site as top seller editor's pick in both the Ambient and Neo-Classical genres at https://store.cdbaby.com/Picks/240 for Ambient and https://store.cdbaby.com/Picks/586 for Neo-Classical.

Discography

;Track listing

Filmography

The following is a complete list of music Field has composed.

Film

Video games

References

External links

* * *
Chris Field
videos on

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Chris Living people Musicians from Los Angeles Singer-songwriters from California Year of birth missing (living people)

Albums

Early life and family

Career

Film trailers

Solo artist

Discography

Filmography

Film

Video games

See also

References

Further reading

External links