“Music is a moral law,” wrote Plato. “It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination… and life to everything.”
That includes computer-generated imagery.
While my distaste for the overkill of CGI in alleged “live action” movies is quite well known, I have to concede that, when shelling out the clams for a big-budget movie, one stands a better chance these days of getting a quality ride if one banks on the solely computer-animated feature. Put an action hero in a computer-animated landscape, and everything looks incredibly fake. But integrate the characters, by creating them in the computer as well, and the result is often much more absorbing, imaginative, and even wittier than your run-of-the-mill Hollywood blockbuster.
Furthermore, in a day when so many movies sport scores made up of droning electronics punctuated by colorless action cues, the computer-generated feature seems to attract composers who still understand how to write music.
This week on “Picture Perfect,” we’ll listen to enlivening scores from four computer-generated films.
We’ll hear selections from the first installment in the “Ice Age” franchise, by David Newman (son of Golden Age heavy-hitter Alfred Newman, brother of Thomas Newman, and cousin of Randy Newman).
We’ll also have some of John Williams’ music from “The Adventures of Tintin,” after the comic book adventurer created by Belgian artist and writer Hergé. Tintin’s popularity in Europe failed to translate into big domestic box office, comparatively speaking, but the score is Williams’ best of its kind – an exciting adventure piece full of leitmotifs and great action cues – since the first of the Harry Potter films.
We’ll round out the hour with two projects scored by Michael Giacchino for Pixar Animation Studios. Giacchino’s break-out success was the sly superhero satire, “The Incredibles,” for which he composed in the swinging ‘60s espionage style popularized by John Barry when writing for the James Bond films.
We’ll also hear selections from Giacchino’s Academy Award-winning score to “Up.” “Up” was nominated for Best Picture at the 82nd Academy Awards, only the second animated feature ever to be included in the category.
I think we can all use a little animation, can’t we? I hope you’ll join me for an hour of selections from computer-animated adventures, on “Picture Perfect,” music for the movies, now in syndication on KWAX Classical Oregon!
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Clip and save the start times for all three of my recorded shows:
PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday at 8:00 PM EDT/5:00 PM PDT
SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – Saturday at 11:00 AM EDT/8:00 AM PDT
THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday at 7:00 PM EDT/4:00 PM PDT
Stream them, wherever you are, at the link!
https://kwax.uoregon.edu See less
Tag: Pixar
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Film Scores Why Aren’t They Great Anymore
The Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira strikes back with music of John Williams:
http://www.classicfm.com/music-news/latest-news/john-williams-youtube-save-brazilian-symphony/
Granted, the story is a year old, but clearly people still respond to this music. So why are most film scores today so anonymous, slipshod or just plain lacking in craftsmanship? I understand that a tight post-production schedule can leave little time for the film composer to do his job, but surely there must be someone of a caliber of a Jerry Goldsmith out there, who could churn out a decent score before breakfast.
There are probably still a lot of people who don’t actively think about the fact that the music they hear in the movies is being played by very talented orchestral musicians. (That is, when it isn’t being sampled on a keyboard.) For them, perhaps, it’s just something that emanates from the screen. Exposure is key. Ironically, in an age when everything is a keystroke away, there seems to be less of that than ever before. It’s a useful endeavor to bring this music to the public and to play it with passion and commitment.
I wonder if the day will ever come when the very best music written for film will be held on a level with incidental music written for plays by earlier masters? It would be nice to hear something more than snappy main title music dished up on pops concerts or, what seems to be the latest trend, music performed live with the actual movies. These practices have their place, but why not program a suite from “E.T.” or “Ben-Hur” or “The Bride of Frankenstein” or “The Adventures of Robin Hood” once in a while? Let the music speak for itself.
And spare me the condescending program notes. Other folks besides Prokofiev and Walton have written great music for the screen.
The Philadelphia Orchestra will be performing musical selections from Pixar films at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts this Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. The press release promises selections from 14 films, so expect a lot of short pieces, with film clips. Still, with music by Michael Giacchino, Thomas and Randy Newman, and Patrick Doyle, why complain? They’re some of the best film composers working today, and Pixar makes some of the best movies. It seems like an ideal intro for the kids.
http://www.philorch.org/concert/philadelphia-orchestra-pixar-concert
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