Star Wars, Geek Culture, and Power Converters
Kathleen Kennedy’s panel at Celebration Europe this morning didn’t yield much in terms of Episode VII news but she did announce that John Williams will be back to score all three Sequel Trilogy films. A video interview (as seen below) was shown to the panel audience and he clearly seems to be as thrilled to be back in the galaxy far far away however he has yet to read the script.
You can read the entire official liveblog of Kennedy’s panel over on the main site.
Abrams wants Williams to score Episode VII. Giacchino thinks Williams should score Episode VII. John Williams wants to score Episode VII. Seems like a pretty safe bet at this point, no? Zap2It sat down with John Williams to discuss the prospects of returning to the franchise.
“We’ve certainly talked about that, and I’m happy and willing to do it,” he confirms. “J.J. Abrams, who will be the director, seems excited about the idea. I have to say that J.J. is a much younger man than I, but I will try to keep up with him as much as I can!”
It seems like at least preliminary discussions have been had with one or both of Abrams and Kathleen Kennedy. Here’s hoping Williams can score at least one more Star Wars film.
The folks over at CinemaBlend tracked down a Star Trek Into Darkness press conference video where director J.J. Abrams was (naturally) asked a question about the other Star franchise he’s working on. Specifically, whether or not John Williams would be back to score Episode VII. Skip to 8:14 to get right to the question.
The relevant quote: “For Star Wars it’s very early days … but I believe that … John Williams will be doing that film, because apparently he was there long before I was.”
Remember, though. This isn’t official confirmation and it won’t be until you hear it from Disney or Lucasfilm.
These days, there are seemingly two constants in the film universe. First, if there’s a Star Wars movie, John Williams is scoring it. Second, if there’s a J.J. Abrams movie, Michael Giacchino is scoring it.
Uh oh.
Given these two virtual certainties, a number of fans are wondering exactly who is going to score the next episodic installment of the Star Wars saga. Will it by franchise legacy composer Williams, or will J.J. Abrams bring in Giacchino? There’s no telling for sure yet, but Giacchino himself seems to think it should be Williams back at the conductor’s stand.
“He has been a great inspiration to me over the years,” he continued. “He has been a great teacher to me and good friend and I would love nothing more than to hear more of his music from that universe.”
“If it were up to me I would say ‘John, you must do it.’”
For whatever it’s worth, I do agree with Giacchino. If Williams is able and willing, he should be the one that scores Episode VII. If nothing else, maintaining a constant presence on the film score side of things will go a long ways in linking these three distinct eras of Star Wars together.
When it comes to familiar faces and talent returning to the Star Wars universe, I could take or leave Harrison Ford. There’s really only one person I think is a requirement to return, and that’s composer John Williams. I can’t imagine the universe without his distinctive scoring touches. Thankfully, there may be some hope based on comments Williams made at a recent concert:
We’re about to play Star Wars [audience interrupts with cheers] and each time we play it, I’m reminded of the first time we played it decades ago. Neither I, nor George, nor anyone else involved thought this would go far or in a few years there would be a sequel and I’d have to revisit the themes…and years later another trilogy. Now we’re hearing of a new set of movies coming in 2015, 2016…so I need to make sure I’m still ready to go in a few years for what I hope would be continued work with George…
If he’s willing and able, it would be absolutely foolish for Abrams and Kennedy to select someone else to score the films. Here’s hoping Williams returns for one more go at the Star Wars universe.
Tonight we’re playing around with a potentially new feature on the blog in which I dig into my background as an ex-music major.* Each week, the goal is to dissect one song from a soundtrack (usually Star Wars) and break down just why its effective. Or just what I like about it. First on the docket, the main title theme from Star Wars.
*Why ex? Sadly, computer science pays better.
Despite being one of his most well-known pieces, this is actually a departure from many of the musical devices Williams is most famous for. A good comparison would be listening to this and then listening to the theme from the NBC Nightly News theme…
So many of his pieces feature very contemporary bursts and accents over the top of the melody. In NBC’s theme, you can hear the mid/high brass and mid/high woodwinds at the beginning coming in with these quick hits of texture while the strings provide the melody (the ‘da da dah dat da dat dah’). This is something Williams is famous for, those little touches.
The main title theme from Star Wars is just as powerful, but for different reasons.
This is much more of a strong fanfare that Williams himself describes as being symbolic of the heroic components of the Star Wars saga. Wookieepedia has a wonderful little writeup of how the structuring of the melody itself ties into that concept.
If you’re familiar with basic theory and notation, you can see that this piece opens by jumping up a fifth, or reaching and grasping for something on high. Unable to quite attain that goal, it moves into a descending triplet as the music gathers its strength and momentum for another go at that goal. It succeeds by jumping a full octave above that initial note and then repeats as a sort of reassurance that the music truly achieved that goal. That’s just the symbolism in the first three measures.
This is a piece that is carried by the distinct line between the melody and the harmony. The sections not responsible for the harmony almost become the percussion section, driving the fanfare along while the melody soars over the top. While the strings get their moments, Williams allowed the brass to truly shine as the horns and trumpets set the tone for the soundtrack and the film as a whole. Nothing quite says grandeur like a trumpet reaching those highs.
For Williams, this is almost an odd composition when compared to his larger body of work just because of how straight-ahead it is. It’s a credit to him that he put his usual conventions to the side to write the piece that needed to be written, though. Star Wars needed to start with a bang, and the driving, powerful fanfare that blares as the logo appears accomplishes just that.