“John William’s is a great storyteller, his music is a reflection of the films story.” Giacchino, M (2011).
For this part of my research I decided to look at one of my favourite film composers Michael Giacchino. The quote above was taken from a short behind the scenes film of the film Super 8, which Giacchino composed and directed the music for. Giacchino talks about why he loves John Williams’ work in film music. John William’s ability to connect a piece of music to a film is incredible, through making something so iconic that its constantly connected to the film itself. Quite a lot of Giacchino’s recent and well known compositions have been revitalisations of previous film music – Star Wars and Star Trek. His ability to take something old and create a new fresh version – yet still just as iconic to me is what makes him an incredible composer.
In this interview Giacchino also spoke briefly about his methods to creating music for a big film. He said the most challenging aspect is sitting down with a piano and creating a piece of music that will become a part of the film and represent the entire film. Then continuing on from this he creates themes for relationships within the film that connect characters or highlight them. He also states that the best way to create something great is to believe in the story and love what you are making; without that passion you will struggle to make something great.
The film we are creating is on a different scale to Giacchino’s work however with all his work I feel like the most important aspect to me is the way he connects character through music. This is particularly apparent in the TV series Lost, throughout all 6 seasons the music develops alongside all the characters. This idea of themes are what I have taken from Giacchino’s work, to me this is what blends the music with a film, it not only portrays the story it helps the story itself move along with the film. I also found his description of his method’s useful and have attempted to use them within George as you can read in my music composition process blog.