“The thing about a capella is you can’t hide behind the music.” With one exception, she notes: “An a capella group couldn’t do the choreography that they’re doing and probably sound as good.” “The bells and whistles we put on are maybe in some of the background vocals, but an a capella group could take what we did and sing it as well on stage,” Michels says.

There isn’t much difference between real-life a capella and movie a capella. They’re just amazing beatboxers that really helped fill out the arrangements.” “We brought in special beatboxers-people that do this for a living-and some of them are on camera in the rival group,” Michels says. The team recruited professional a capella musicians to help out. If you have 135, you either need to half-time it or double-time it. “When you’re mashing up songs, an even beat does not mash well with an uneven beat,” Banks says. He was incredibly chill and was just very cool, really funny, and had fingernail art, which was really exciting to me.” “So that was a seriously embarrassing day to have to sing a children’s Christmas carol in front of Snoop, who is arguably the coolest man on the planet. “I was asking if I could sing something cooler than the song that I sang because it’s essentially a children’s song,” Kendrick says. Kendrick wanted to sing a different song with Snoop Dogg during his cameo. When it hits you, that’s clearly the one.”

Once we knew that she could, then it was all about, ‘What’s the funniest way to reintroduce Fat Amy to the world?’ Someone literally played ‘Wrecking Ball’ in the meeting and we all started laughing. and made sure she could move around in those silks. “We brought Rebel to Cirque do Soleil in L.A. “I knew that I wanted Rebel doing that silks routine before we ever chose the music,” Banks says. “Wrecking Ball” was an instant favorite for the opening scene. Here are some of the highlights from those interviews: TIME spoke to executive music producers Jordan and Michels director Elizabeth Banks Universal Pictures’ president of music, Mike Knobloch and star Anna Kendrick for a story in the May 25 issue of TIME (on stands now) about how the music in Pitch Perfect 2 came together. Thanks in no small part to the music, the first film grossed $113 million worldwide, spawned a platinum soundtrack and turned Anna Kendrick into an unlikely chart-topper. It’s also one that’s as important as the the script or the cast. It’s a process that requires a lot of manpower: a team of 20 people, including producers, arrangers and editors, worked on Pitch Perfect 2‘s music. Music supervisors typically work in post-production with pre-existing tracks, but Pitch Perfect producers had to consider hundreds of tunes for its many musical moments-the sequel, out now, features more than 60 songs-and start the process of recording all-new versions before cameras start rolling. His decision will not just settle a score it will define who he is.They went in the next day and (successfully) pitched themselves as a team-for good reason. For Jake, there is much more at stake than mere victory. Roqua will take Jake under his wing, but it is up to Jake to find the patience, discipline, willingness and reason within him to succeed.

It is immediately apparent to Jake that MMA is not street fighting, but rather an art form he wants to master. He sees a star in Jake and asks that he meet with his mentor, Jean Roqua, played by Djimon Hounsou (Blood Diamond, In America). While he is defeated and humiliated in the fight, a classmate introduces himself to Jake and tells him about the sport known as Mixed Marshall Arts (MMA). Making an attempt to fit in, at the invitation of a flirtatious classmate, Baja (Amber Heard), Jake goes to a party where he is unwittingly pulled into a fight with a bully named Ryan McDonald (Cam Gigandet). Jake was a star athlete on the football team at home, but in this new city he is an outsider with a reputation for being a quick tempered brawler. He has recently moved to Orlando, Florida with his family who has relocated to support his younger brother's shot at a professional tennis career. Jake Tyler, played by Sean Faris, is the new kid in town with a troubled past. Set against the action-packed world of Mixed Martial Arts, NEVER BACK DOWN is the story of Jake Tyler, a tough kid who leads with his fists, and, often, with his heart.

Never back down 2 soundtrack