Locating a single person who does not at least recognize the iconic musical theme of Star Wars as created by John Williams would be a difficult task indeed. The film music of Star Wars has enchanted both young and old viewers for decades and the majestic orchestral compositions are crucial elements of the franchise’s vast popularity. The score of the first movie, Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), not only won an Academy Award for Original Score, but also a Golden Globe for Best Original Score, and a BAFTA for Best Film Music, among other awards. More than thirty years later, Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) held its own in terms of fantastic music as it was nominated for the Academy Award and BAFTA. Overall, the film score from Star Wars: The Force Awakens emotes originality with a touch of nostalgia, synchronizes beautifully with the visual on-screen cues, and enhances the emotions and depth of the characters. John …show more content…
Darth Vader’s dramatic military-esque theme, for example, (as featured in the original trilogy) is just as iconic and popular as the main title theme. Also, in The Force Awakens, even though the main protagonist of this film, Rey, is the only character to get a track specifically declaring it as her own theme (“Rey’s Theme”), each of the main characters has his or her own distinctive melody line incorporated in their opening and/or pivotal scenes. “Williams has always woven deeper meaning into his compositions…that tendency was pronounced in his scores for the prequels” (Arikan) and his score for The Force Awakens is no different. Each distinctive theme reveals the traits that are most unique to each character, whether that be an epic sweeping score that screams heroism, or an ominous stentorian strain only fit for an evil villain. Rey, however, is quite a contrast to an evil villain, and her musical theme is clear evidence of
The film soundtrack was an important element in creating the juxtaposed world that Taymor desired. Taymor selected Elliot Goldenfall, a veteran composer for the stage and screen whom she had known for twenty years, to head the scoring. Their long association served them well in this endeavor - the final film score was both stunning and effective in combining ancient and modern musical elements. Goldenfall manipulated four main musical styles to score the film (symphonic, jazz, hard rock, and aria), and each style represented particular emotions.
In this film, John Williams revived the technique of using leitmotif –a recurring musical theme or melody associated with a particular person, place, object, or idea that is “characterized by a single harmonic or rhythmic trait” (Brown 15). In films, leitmotifs are melodies or musical phrases inserted into a specific character’s music background specified. It was originally developed by Richard Wagner and commonly used in his¬¬ operas during the Golden Age. These are used by film music composers
To fully understand the relationship between a filmmaker and a composer, it is helpful to take a closer look at the filmmaker’s position towards music in film in general; these can of course differ substantially from one director to another. It seems, one must think, that the complete narrative and emotive potential of film music is not yet fully recognized and appreciated in many film produc...
sides, opinions, and conditions to explore and debate that it could take one a lifetime to discover a suitable answer that would satisfy both sides. So, rather than attempt to fit it all into a single essay, I will focus on one facet of the debate; Is John Williams use of other music scores
Wu, C. Y. (2007). A Study of Joe Hisaishi's Film Music in Hayao Miyazaki's Animation. (Master's thesis, Taipei University of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan), Available from National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan. (003604684)Retrieved from http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/cgi-bin/gs32/gsweb.cgi/login?o=dnclcdr&s=id="095TNUA5249003".&searchmode=basic
the history of Jediism, the current (as of the end of the last movie) status of
Having scored over 100 films, awarded in the highest regards, and one of the most financially successful composers in United States history, John Williams is arguably the most popular film composer of the modern era. Williams has composed some of the most prominent scores of motion picture history, many of which have often been directed by the legendary Steven Spielberg.
Many people have commented on the ingenious use of top rock-n-roll hits that Lucas incorporated into the fabric of the film. But did you know that the reason this was done was because the budget on the film was so small that the filmmakers literally could not afford an original score?
Director Chris Columbus chose John Williams to compose the music for a promotional reel (John Williams). After Columbus heard the song for the promotional reel, he knew they had to have Williams compose the entire movie (John Williams). Williams created an entire score for the movie and called it “The Harry Potter Suite.” “The Harry Potter Suite” has a song for each important event that happened throughout the film. John Williams adds magic and tells the story of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone through his composed music.
J.R.R. Tolkien's concept of too much power is summed up by Lord Acton when he once said, "Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely." In Tolkien's first book of his fantasy based trilogy, Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Rings tells a story of a quest to destroy a powerful ring throughout Tolkien's created "Middle Earth". This quest was headed by a "Hobbit" named Frodo Baggins who, in the end, becomes corrupted by power himself. This corruption begins when Frodo uses his ring to become invisible over and over again to escape certain situations. The quest to destroy the powerful "Ruling Ring" forms the basis for this story.
Music and films: Good reputation for the Soundtrack Music and movie usually have gone together. Actually, before 'talkies' arrived, the only real seem you'd hear inside a quiet movie could be music. Quiet film star, Charlie Chaplin was among the finest physical comics to ever sophistication the big screen. But regardless of this, without music without anyone's knowledge, even his best films could be missing something. There's without doubt about this, music adds a psychological element to whatever might be occurring on film.
“May the Force be with you” is a phrase that has stuck in the minds of a whole generation, as a lasting impression of a film that has influenced many. Star Wars is one of the best conceptual films of all time, and it gave way for future films to experiment with film techniques that have never been done before. Star Wars gave me a sense of involvement with the film, because the camera angles immersed the viewer in the film and gave them an interactive experience. In my mind Star Wars is arguably the best film of all time, because of the next generation techniques used such as special effects, and the way the film makes you feel while viewing it. Star Wars takes place in a distant galaxy many years before the creation of Earth, many civilizations have evolved, and the leading force in the galaxy is an Empire created from the ruins of
Imagine you’re watching Star Wars or Inception, The people…. composers who wrote the soundtrack for the movies are an important part for the movie success. Re-watch the movie and keep the volume down, turn the subtitles on and see the experience and how it differs. Fast forward time, okay so you did right?
In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), the movies Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012), and Thor: The Dark World (2013) contain the characters Thor and Loki: mythological brothers from the fictional realm of Asgard. The music written for these characters from the different views of all three of the composers who scored these films: Patrick Doyle, (Thor, 2011), Alan Silvestri (The Avengers, 2012), and Brian Tyler (Thor: The Dark World, 2013) is a fascinating study because without music, a movie does not carry as large of an emotional impact, and because each composer tells the story of the character in his own unique way. The music tells the story of these two brothers, and their relationship with each other and those surrounding
After watching the trailer of Guardians of the Galaxy, I knew that this movie is going to be a hit of this summer. The trailer follows along with the song of Blue Swede “Hooked on a Feeling”, which is a successful attention-getter because it really hooks many audiences. Once the audiences have watched the trailer, this song will hardly go away from their heads, especially “Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga, Ooga-Chaka Ooga-Ooga, I am hooked on a feeling, I am high on believing.” Also, unlike other trailers of Marvel’s movies, such as Captain America, which mostly focused on the heroism, love stories, and action, this trailer puts more effort into entertaining audiences. Even for the audiences who are not fans of science fiction movies, they will find themselves enjoying this movie and swaying to the