Day Three of Studying Star Wars
George Lucas was not the only master mind behind Star Wars.
John Williams was the man who composed the music behind most of the Star Wars films. His compositions, such as the Imperial March or the main title theme song are iconic and everyone knows exactly where the songs come from upon hearing them. John Williams has also done many other original compositions for other trilogy movies, such as Indiana Jones and Jaws. The music in a movie is often over looked. There is little thought that goes into how music effects the mood of the movie from the common viewer. John Williams brought the Star Wars films to life from day one and now is planning to finish up his master pieces with writing the sound track for the next Star Wars movie Episode IX.
Out of all the works John Williams composed, Star Wars is by far his best. He was the second half of creating this space fantasy. While George Lucas was focused on getting the details in the picture just right, Williams was focusing on the emotional landscape of the movie. The theme songs that he came up with for each character such as Yoda, Darth Vader, Lea, and even the droids helped viewers believe that what they were seen was real. It made you feel scared when Darth Vader was on the screen and boosted your adrenaline during battle scenes.
John Williams also had a important role in developing the force. Through his music, the audience could sense with out seeing anything a force. The sounds made something travel from the tips of a Jedi or Sith’s hands to what ever object was on the receiving end of the force. With out the musical ear of John Williams, this feeling of the force might have never struck the audience, and could have led to the film being unsuccessful.
We can see the progression of Lucas using music through out his first three films. His first one was THX 1138, where Lucas uses sound as the primary story teller over dialogue. This type of film was less popular in the day as other movies had more thought out dialogue and were less experimental. Lucas then made American Graffiti, a film that was a tribute to his love of cars. The music in this film was played almost non-stop and was made up of pop hits from the 50’s and 60’s. Lucas here used music more as a filler piece and to keep the narrative of the story flowing. When it finally came to Star Wars, Lucas knew he had to get the music right and basically took what he learned from his first two, and had a sound track that was a combination of them.
The music in Star Wars does play an important part in filling in the background and moving the film along and it also contributes directly to the story line. Lucas knew he needed to get the sound in the movie right or no one would truly buy into the universe of Star Wars. John Williams played an essential role right along side George Lucas in the creation of Star Wars. It is also good to note that while Williams has won an Oscar for his work with Star Wars, Lucas has not. His expertise in music transformed Star Wars and many other famous films. William’s time with Star Wars is finally coming to an end with composing the music for Star Wars:Episode IX. Although we will not get anymore songs like the Cantina song from William’s, we hope to hear many more original soundtrack from him in the future.
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