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...
the film, and talks to the director about what sort of music (styles, themes, etc.) should be used — this process is called "spotting.". The director might even have a “temp score”(a score of pieced ol...
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
John Williams once states, “So much of what we do is ephemeral and quickly forgotten, even by ourselves, so it’s gratifying to have something you have done linger in people’s memories.” John Williams is an incredibly talented composer, scoring the music for over hundred famous films. Some films he has composed the music for include: E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Home Alone, several Harry Potter movies, and many, many more. Williams has left a legacy for himself that will not soon be forgotten. John Williams has lead a very interesting life. While many will argue, some of Williams best work is in the movies, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars.
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?
Star Wars is a science fiction adventure novel. The symbolism and characterization was really excellent in the story. The story gives a great look into the future as it has many different types of things we have not yet invented; blaster rifles, space ships that go the speed of light, fat alien slugs, and beam swords. The plot of the story sucks you into the novel and makes you want to continue reading the novel.
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.
the history of Jediism, the current (as of the end of the last movie) status of
“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?
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
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