The newcomer Starz series Outlander has become immensely popular with audiences after only one season on the air. Based upon a series of historical fiction novels, the show has created an immense sense of immersion with regards to its Scottish locale. However, as the next season of the series will shift the drama to France, the style and music of the series will reportedly change to reflect that move.
During a recent interview with Collider, Outlander composer Bear McCreary explained how the show would change in its second season:
I think it’s essentially a different show while they’re in Paris. The look of it’s different, the costumes are opulent, and I intensely researched the music of the time period. In fact one of the characters in the book who makes an appearance is the Count of St. Germain, and when he made his appearance I looked him up on Wikipedia because I thought, ‘This feels like a real guy,’ and he is a historical figure who actually, among his many skills, was a composer and wrote music! And I actually had my music historian pull up some old music of his and I found a piece that I liked, so he wrote his own theme. The guy, when he’s on camera the music that’s being played is his theme that his character actually wrote in real life.
To put all of this in layman’s terms: the entire spirit and vibe of the show will change in accordance to its new setting. The first season of Outlander took place in Scotland, and as such much of the series’ mise-en-scene was crafted to match that locale. With the second season taking the action across the English Channel to France, the members of the cast and crew have endeavored to craft a tone and aesthetic that will fall more in line with the new region. The way Bear McCreary explains it, this helps create a TV universe that feels as authentic as possible for the viewers at home.
Those aren’t the only changes in store for the next season of Outlander, however. Last year we reported on the coming second season, and details emerged revealing that the show’s next season would deviate from the literary source material. While many of the benchmark scenes and characters will be represented in some form or another, the show will try to strike out and carve an identity for itself separate from the books, much like The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones.
As always, we here at Cinema Blend will bring you the latest and greatest Outlander news as it becomes available to us. The second season of the popular series will hit Starz on April 9; stay tuned for more details!
