Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes composer John Paesano explains how he went ape with his soundtrack

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes resonates with bestial power, from its photo-realistic performance capture effects to the layered sounds of the various ape factions that tear across the screen. Much of the film's visceral impact owes itself to composer John Paesano who was compelled to mix and match a host of musical styles stemming from the classic Apes franchise. We caught up with John to discuss his approach to the movie, his collaboration with director Wes Ball and what it meant to acknowledge his compositional predecessors.

With the film and soundtrack now on release, how have people reacted to your music?

It's funny, when Wes and I are working, we're in such a bubble. Only the crew knows what the composer is doing at the time and of course the studio. There's never really this pressure of, 'Oh, what will people think?'

While scoring, I'm focused on how the music serves the film, rather than the music on its own. How is it working with the picture? Am I giving Wes everything that he wants? Am I getting everything in there that the studio wants?

The night before the film came out, I realised how much I would be compared to what had come before in the franchise. And let's be honest, what came before was incredible. The previous trilogy starring Andy Serkis was a terrific relaunch.

Wes had such a clear vision when he started this project. He wanted us to honour the 1968 score that was composed by Jerry Goldsmith. That score was iconic and changed the landscape of film scoring from the 1960s into the 1970s.

It was so different from what audiences were used to hearing at the time. It upended the entire scoring industry and what one was able to do with the medium. He used this method called serialism, which is a type of compositional discipline. It was very avant-garde and modern. He also developed a very specific tone row and use of musical scales.