Dylan's research on composers for film

These are the two film music composers that I know the most about:

John Williams

Born in 1932, Williams is known for the famous ‘E.T. Extra Terrestrial’, ‘Jaws’, ‘Jurassic Park’, ‘Indian Jones’, ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Harry Potter’. Williams is a very talented man, creating music for well-known block buster films. Almost every one of his pieces have a familiar tune which is usually the theme of the individual film, I love how in the films that his music is used in, that usually the main title composition is played in and out the film but sometimes played in a different way (i.e. extracts of the music but slightly different melody,different texture, and of course the dynamics).I think this idea is brilliant, Williams creating variations of the main title music to use throughout the film. This would be something we would consider if we were to complete the whole film from our opening sequence. The music certainly does intertwine with the theme/genre, for example the tense music for ‘Jaws’ that builds up, creating giant suspense just before a possible attack occurs, in this way, the music definitely does generate an intense effect on the audience, if they heard a mysterious tune, gradually building up, dynamics rising and tempo increasing then there is huge impact on how the audience are feeling- alarmed, worried, afraid etc. I want the music to make an impact on then audience, to feel emotion, positively and negatively, the type of music I want to create is something that isversatile towards the mood of how the audience feel about the music whilst watching the film. Here is the link to the 'Jaws' music.

Danny Elfman

You may know Elfman for writing music for Tim Burton’sfilms including; ‘Corpse Bride’, ‘Alice In Wonderland’ and ‘Charlie And The Chocolate Factory’. Personally, I think that Elfman is probably the most talented, creative musician for film. In all Tim Burton films that I have seen with Elfman providing the music, the atmosphere is perfectly set and creates the appropriate mood for the scenes. The films that Elfman write for have quite a haunting approach I feel that style is at his best, although whatever the genre (whether the scene is comical or emotional), the music is always expressed in the suitable way. I would say that he is a major influence to my composing, I love the use of a full orchestra with sometimes experimental synth sounds (as used in the main theme song for ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’), where in ‘Alice in wonderland’, the main theme song includes not only a full orchestra but also a powerful choir, the tense strings and the soaring choir harmonising form such a beautiful and atmospheric piece of music. Here is the link to 'Alice's Theme'

Other famous composers for film include:

Elmer Bernstein

I only know the famous composition for the film ‘The Great Escape’, which is an adventurous, dramatic and gives us a positive sense of victory which almost perfectly fits the genre (Adventure, war, history etc). The use of brass instruments add to that triumphant, military style which tells me that the use of instruments is a very important factor to create the right piece of music appropriate for the film. Here is the link to 'The Great Escape' music.

Jerry Goldsmith

famous composer known for the ‘Star Trek’ series. Having only listened to the theme song of ‘Star Trek: Voyager’, Goldsmith can create quality music, giving impact to the audience, however In my opinion, listening to this composition- I would never have guessed that it was for a Sci-Fi series, the piece of music has a full orchestra with mostly perfect cadences, which gives us a sense of comfort, I think that a composition for Sci-Fi films or television series should include more of an intense and a mysterious approach to add to the mystery of being alone in universe. I would like to make sure that my piece of music doesn’t just appeal to the audience, but to add onto the effect that it is a romance film, and a tragedy- producing a mixed sense feeling whether it’s positive or negative. Here is the link to 'Star Trek:Voyager' theme song.

David Newman

Composer, still around writing for modern family films such as the ‘Ice Age’ and ‘Scooby Doo’ films. Like some of the other composers, Newman has the ability to achieve a perfect atmosphere whether the genre is emotional, enthusiastic, comedic or haunting. One of my favourite pieces by Newman would have to be ‘To the Libarary and Beyond!’ starred in Danny Devito’s ‘Matilda’. This piece of music creates such a powerful and emotional feeling, contrasting from quite a lonely sounding, emotive sound, to expressing beauty, independence and control- this piece of music could the story of Matilda growing up without being able to visually see the film itself, the story telling side of music, is extremely imaginative and is something I would like to pursue into my piece of music, adding greatly to the audiences thoughts and how they perceive the film (opening sequence). Here is the link to 'To the Library and Beyond' from the film 'Matilda'.