Only the Brave tells the story of these men as they courageously and selflessly battled that wildfire and sadly ended up paying the ultimate price.įor the music, Trapanese sought to create a score that was “human and vulnerable”. A few days after that lightning strike ignited the fire, all but one of the crew perished when the fire overtook them. The Prescott Fire Department at the time had a specific group of firefighters whose specialty was wildfires, and they were called the Granite State Hotshots. It grew to encompass a large enough area that the entire city of Yarnell and part of a neighbouring city had to be completely evacuated. The horrific combination of a lightning strike, strong winds that day, and a severe drought turned a small fire into the imposing, gargantuan wildfire that necessitated extreme measures. The 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona was one of the deadliest wildfires in United States history, killing 19 firefighters and injuring more than 20 others. For their third film together (the first two being Tron: Legacy and Oblivion), director Joseph Kosinski and composer Joseph Trapanese set out to do something a little different with the score for Only the Brave. He collaborated with Anthony Gonzalez on the music for the 2013 thriller Oblivion and his score for Earth to Echo was not without merit, making him a composer to watch.

Lately, though, he has become a more recognisable name in film music, branching out and writing entire scores for films. This is mainly because he has worked in the background on a number of projects including Tron: Legacy and acts as an arranger, orchestrator, and producer of film (and other mediums) music.

Joseph Trapanese is a name that does not come up often in friendly, casual conversations concerning film music.

Only the brave movie wiki