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Movie Composer James Horner Dies In Plane Crash
necro81 writes: James Horner, the Oscar-winning composer for the soundtracks of dozens of movies, died Monday while piloting his aircraft in California. Horner, who had a long collaboration with directors James Cameron and Ron Howard, was behind the music for major blockbusters like Avatar, Titanic, Braveheart, Apollo 13, and A Beautiful Mind. Other scores notable to the /. crowd include Star Trek II, Sneakers, Deep Impact, Aliens, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Willow, and *Batteries Not Included.
The content link is a google search?
Too soon? Am I going to hell for that remark? :(
I was very upset to hear this last night. My favorite composition from him was Casper's Lullaby -- beautiful, haunting, and simple. They are what inspired me to learn piano in my 20s.
RIP James. The Star Trek II theme is the first music that comes to mind when I think of Star Trek.
"There are people who do not love their fellow human being, and I _hate_ people like that!" - Tom Lehrer
You might think you don't, but you actually do. Even if you're not aware of it.
Sound is actually a critical part of a motion picture - more so than the picture itself! Many studies have been conducted (and you can do it yourself, too) - with the sound muted (turn on subtitles), you'll find the movie is actually lacking. Reverse it - with the picture off and the sound on, and it doesn't matter - you get the full range of emotions and environment that the director was trying to create, even though you're not actually seeing the images. That's how important sound is.
Even before the era of talkies where you had a gramophone or piano player, they were doing the same thing - to provide context and emphasis for the images.
And the movie's score plays a VERY important role in emotional development - it's not just putting some music to fill in some gaps, but the right choice of instruments, tempo and cues adds excitement to action sequences, suspense during sneak scenes, sorrow or sadness during bad events, etc.
If you have a movie that is particularly moving, try watching it without sound and you'll wonder what the big deal was.
Oh and yes, the music is intended to be background music - you're not supposed to notice it unless the director really has a lull in the dialog or effects or is doing a hero sequence. That's what makes it even more powerful.
If you have a particularly good ear, and given modern movies typically follow a standard three-act structure, pay attention to the hero theme - first when it plays out at the beginning ("everything's going great!"), then see how it evolves in the second act (hero is challenged) and third act (hero is wounded and must somehow overcome). And finally after the denouement, hear the theme again (hero succeeds).
It's somewhat ironic, that in a motion picture, sound is probably the most important aspect of it, not the picture.
I cannot even begin to measure how much impact this man's work has had on my life. Last night I went through Youtube and found a bunch of sound tracks he did and I just cannot believe how many distinctive themes he has burned into my mind. Listening to some of these I could almost see the movie playing in my mind. Truly iconic work.
Farewell Mr. Horner.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Interesting, I've often felt the opposite. That, a good soundtrack should not be noticeable. If you're watching a scene unfold but the music is distracting and takes your attention away from the action, then that's definitely a bad thing.
Castaway had no soundtrack, at least while he was on the island. I have more respect for Tom Hanks being able to bring about the proper emotion without the audience being led by the nose as in a typical movie.
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