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This essay explores the influence composers had on the musical output of John Williams. Throughout his career, Williams has been able to provide his audiences with emotions and thoughts that were brought upon with the use of his musical compositions. Williams’ work has been able to capture the thoughts and feelings of individuals both onscreen and off screen. His film scores were able to tell a story in ways that previous composers were not able to. Williams’ music was influenced at an early age beginning with the music of his father. Growing up, his musical stylings were altered because all of the amazing composers and conductors he had the pleasure to meet during his time working in Hollywood. Without these individuals,
Not only is he the most nominated living individual in the history of the Academy Awards (with 49 nominations), but he is also the third most-nominated person in Hollywood History, second only to Metro Goldwyn Mayer (62) Walt Disney (59). In his credentials he holds five Academy Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, 22 Grammy Awards, and 4 Golden Globe Awards. Considering that obtaining a single nomination for any of the aforementioned awards is remarkable in itself, this astounding number is truly
The purpose of this essay is to analyse music from the film ' Star Wars' and discuss in detail, the function of this music, the elements of music used and how this music embellishes the film. This includes the purpose of the music. It is to represent a character/ action / set a geographical location/ create atmosphere/ to psychologically unite the audience.
Music plays a critical role in the narrative films as it is important technique that filmmakers use to support the narrative and influence the way that the viewer interacts, responds and interprets the events as they unfold. The godfather, which is one of all time Hollywood movies, represents a good use of music that succeeded in supporting the dramatic events that take place in the movie. Moreover, both diegetic and non-diegetic music in the godfather movie are used to achieve the overall purpose by using the different principles and functions of film music that range from setting the mood of the viewer to providing continuity within the movie. In this essay, we will take part of the godfather movie in which we can observe and analyse the
In 1923 one of Americas most prolific composers Clifton Williams was born in Traskwood, Arkansas. Later in the 1930’s Williams moved to Little Rock Arkansas and even though his family was having a hard time during the depression. Even through this Williams fared well in high school. during this time Williams learned to play the French horn, the piano and the mellophone . After high school Williams went to Louisiana Tech University where Williams studied composition for a year under
Through studying and analyzing ‘Maestro’ ,written by Peter Goldsworthy, and by viewing and analyzing the film ‘Edward Scissorhands’ directed by Tim Burton, it is evident that the composers of these texts allow the audience to see distinctive experiences with our eyes as well as with our minds through distinctively visual. The many visual, written and literary techniques have the ability to create a significant and impacting visual.
Through the use of techniques and themes, a composer is able to create distinctively visual images when describing the setting and characters in detail which help us to understand and form meaning of what the composer is trying to convey in their texts. The use of techniques such as body language, symbolism, lighting, music and photographic background slides create distinctively visual images same with themes that are being used within the texts such as truth which is evident in the dramatic text ‘The Shoe-Horn Sonata’ by John Misto, the song ‘Lose Yourself’ sang by Eminem, and the film ‘The Eye’ directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud featuring Jessica Alba. These three texts demonstrate how the responders are impacted and what is
From the creation of harmonies to singing to instruments, music has been an abstract form of human expression. Although an auditory collection of pitches and volumes, musicians can manipulate the same notes and bring them alive for their audiences. The true emotion and energy that’s felt in music really comes from the player as feelings are transferred to and through the listener. This interaction between performer and the house is catharsis, the complete release of strong repressed emotions. Thanks to the musician, music has the ability to grasp people and cause them to sense emotions and feelings without lyrics or images even being necessary. Although it’s believed we can only hear with our ears, something about music makes it emotionally if not physically tangible. In James Baldwin’s short story “Sonny’s Blues,” a narrator certainly unaware of the impact of music invites himself to experience jazz for the first time. Baldwin uses the final scene of his story to argue that music has an effect on those who are able to experience it. Baldwin does this in one single moment by letting the fixed, practical minded, “well-intentioned” narrator experience catharsis from jazz as his growing, free-spirited brother communicates with him through jazz.
A composer depends entirely upon the nature of the film for all the clues needed to write a suitable score for a film. Brought into the production after a certain amount of film has been shot, the films concept will dictate how the composer will write the music. Whether based on the story line, or providing information by setting an atmospheric state, film music will always have different purposes between different films. Penguin Ballet by Nigel Westlake was composed to focuses upon the graceful, almost ballet like movements of the penguins underwater. Whereas, Writings on the wall by Sam Smith conveys ideas and messages which will be expressed throughout the film, especially through the use of lyrics. Although positioned within the film to provide contrasting messages, both these songs use similar musical elements to support the piece, and its position with the film. The discussion of this essay is that there are similarities between the musical elements that support the lyrics in a song and the action in a documentary. Through this, we will discuss the musical element’s of pitch, and timbre and texture.
Newsies, a classic musical based on the late 1800’s is a very entertaining and family friendly musical-- except for the few profane words. On a cloudy, partially rainy saturday morning, I laid out on the couch and watched the movie from the comfort of my own home. I was hesitant to watch this movie because I am not much of a musical person. About midway through I found myself at the edge of my seat hypnotized by the movie. As the movie drew to an end, I was completely sucked in and waited for something more. The movie I so dreadfully did not want to watch became something I did not want to end. In this movie the director and composer correlated their scenes and music perfectly together to touch the thoughts and emotions of the audience watching.
This music is not useful as background music. It cannot be used in the same way the 30 years worth of Miles’ previous music can be used. It demands attentiveness. It is militant and arrogant. It is sometimes more a display of audacity and an assertion of absolute independence then a lovely palette to summon dreams. The dream is over. All the romantic ballads and pleasurable entertainment is history. With this sound he describes a new reality for which he invents a
John Towner Williams (considered February 8, 1932) is an American creator, conductor, and piano player. With a calling over six decades, he has influenced some to out of the most standard and prominent film scores in imaginative history, including Jaws, the Star Wars course of action, Close Experiences of the Third Kind, Superman, E.T. the Additional Earthly, the Indiana Jones course of action, the underlying two Home Alone motion pictures, the underlying two Jurassic Stop films, Schindler's Rundown, and the underlying three Harry Potter films.Williams has been connected with official Steven Spielberg since 1974, making music for everything aside from three of his component films.Other surprising works by Williams fuse signature music for the
film music. On the one side there are the purists, who cry foul at the piecing together of
Since the days of the ancient Greeks, music has been an integral part of drama and theatre. Many composers wrote music to accompany plays, and sometimes the music became more well-known than the play it was written for … It
In this piece we can see that Schindler’s List in a way is Williams’ attempt at a magnum opus. Though it’s melodies and themes are much simpler than some of his famous sweeping popcorn movie scores, it manages to carry the ambition of a major symphonic composition. This especially holds true in the sections that are graced with superbly rich and evocative violin solos by the world famous Itzhak Perlman. Perlman's masterful performances give Williams' compositions an authenticity and grounding that offsets the composer's predilection for sentimentality and bombast. "Restraint" was the word that appeared most frequently in discussions of Steven Spielberg's Holocaust epic. The critical consensus was that the director had managed to depict the
The stage directions in A Streetcar Named Desire rely heavily on the music to set the mood of the play. Tennessee Williams play about a mentally unbalanced woman, and her complicated relationship with her younger sister, is punctuated by the resonating music. One almost feels like they can hear the music simply by reading the engrossing text. The combination of the “blue piano”, along with the Varsouviana set the tone for the play, and without these elements of sound, the play would not be as well understood or imagined.