It's engaging stories, great characters, good acting,
lighting and hundreds of things working together that makes a motion picture a
truly MOVING experience.
One of the most critical pieces is a film's musical score.
Even before recorded dialogue, music was there and it's always had the power to
excite us, amuse us, to elicit a tear or two. Those musical notes hit our
heartstrings and have the ability to spark memories years later as well as
certain feelings. Think about the deep foreboding ba dum, ba dum of
"Jaws," the five notes from "Close Encounters of the Third
Kind," the Married Life sequence in Pixar's "UP."
"UP" is one of the 13 featured scores celebrated
during "Pixar In Concert." Its world premiere was July 28-29 at the
Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco, hosted by Disney-Pixar Chief Creative
Officer John Lasseter on Saturday and Pixar director Pete Docter on Sunday.
Photo by Leon N Holzer
"Pixar In Concert" will be performed by the Los
Angeles Philharmonic tonight, Aug, 3, through Sunday, Aug. 5, at The Hollywood
Bowl. Tickets, priced from $20 to $59 are still available. On Nov. 2-3, it will
be the featured program at the iconic Sydney Opera House in Australia.
Hopefully, this family-friendly concert will be headed to a symphony near you
in the coming months. I can't think of a better way to introduce children to
live, orchestral music.
I attended Sunday's performance, which opened with the Pixar
Logo theme and "Toy Story," the music filling the hall as favorite
scenes played on a large screen above the symphony performers. Docter then came
out to introduce the program.
Docter grew up in a musical family in Minnesota. He started
playing the violin at age 5, his mom was a music educator and his dad was a
choir director at a local university. He's listed as "Creative
Director" for Pixar in Concert.
Pete Docter addresses the audience at last Sunday's performance. Photo by Roger Colton
"I'm really excited to celebrate the music of Pixar
films with you all," Docter said. "… Personally, I credit music for
getting me into animation. My parents took me to a lot of concerts as a kid.
And what would happen is that I'd gather everyone's programs and draw cartoons
on them.
"… Music is a crucial part of what we do at Pixar. It
can really speak to an audience in a way that nothing else can, not dialogue,
not acting. … We have selected some favorite parts of all 13 of our films,
starting with 'Toy Story' in 1995 up to and including 'Brave.'
The program features clips without dialogue, putting the
emphasis on the great music.
Copyright Pixar. All rights reserved
Docter then introduced the next three suites, "Finding
Nemo," by Thomas Newman, featuring guitar work by George Doering, who
played on the original soundtrack; "Ratatouille," by Michael
Giacchino (who was attending the concert and was repeatedly introduced every
time Docter addressed the crowd); and "A Bug's Life," by Randy
Newman. The Newmans and Giacchino, along with Patrick Doyle, who wrote the
score for "Brave," created the music in every Pixar feature film.
Following "A Bug's Life," Docter returned to talk
about the process by which music is composed for Pixar's films. For the
composer, the job usually starts when the film is almost complete. "The
composer and director will sit down and watch the film together — in minute
detail — at what we call a spotting session … talking about musical
possibilities of every sequence. Then, armed with a bunch of notes, the
composer goes away, disappears into their studio to somehow, miraculously
produce music.
Where it comes from, I have no idea. Michael's tried to tell
me that he has a team of musical hamsters that helps him. I'm not sure I believe
him," causing the audience to laugh and Giacchio to scrunch a bit lower
in his seat.
"Ratatouille" composer Michael Giacchino.
Photo by Roger Colton
"In some cases," Docter continued, "the
composer will produce a demo, a synthesizer version and we'll discuss that and
any changes. And in other cases, the first time we hear it is when we show up
at the sound stage … and I just walk away in awe. Partly because of the …
breakneck speed. In animation, it takes one animator about a week to produce 4
seconds of animation. With film music we typically record between 7 and 15
minutes a day … and we'll walk away with the whole score in about two weeks.
Then we'll come back and cut that into the final mix of the film."
The afternoon continued with Docter introducing us to
"WALL-E," "Toy Story 2" and "Cars" as well as conductor
Sarah Hicks and the "amazing musicians" in the San Francisco
Symphony.
Another highlight came when Docter reappeared after
"Cars" to illustrate how music helps tell the story and gets you
inside the characters' heads.
Copyright Pixar. All rights reserved
"How does that actually happen?. Let's take an example
from …'UP,' one of my personal favorites," Docter said. "When we
first introduce young Carl to what will turn out to be the love of his life …
Ellie, we introduce her with a musical theme and it's played initially on the
piano in this upbeat jaunty fashion." Later, there's a similar piece of
music that plays underneath a scene but this time, it's on the cello.
"Sound familiar?," Docter asked. "You'll hear
that same theme played throughout the film in a very emotional way, in an
action-adventure way. Every time you hear it, it's a reminder of why Carl is
doing what he's doing."
"UP" was given the full-treatment and there
weren't too many dry eyes among the adults in the crowd. Perfect time for intermission,
to regain composure and to make my way to Giacchino and see if I could get a
couple of quotes. He's a nice guy who I first met during the relaunch of
Disneyland's Space Mountain.
Peter Docter (left) and Michael Giacchino (center) in the recording studio as they work on
the score for "UP." Copyright Pixar. All rights reserved
"I love watching other composers work," Giacchino
said. "I love listening to the scores of Randy, Thomas and Patrick and I
love for once to focus on the great stuff they've done. For me, that's what's
been fun about this experience. I enjoyed putting together the pieces that they
were going to use of my stuff, but I caught myself more enlightened by just
what the other guys have done. … I'm so lucky to even be in the same
paragraph as those names."
Giacchino briefly explained the creation of Pixar in
Concert. "David Tanaka is the guy who really edited all the video together
and Pete took the first step. I would just sit there and give them comments
about it. They know these movies inside and out; as well as I do. It's always
nice to work together with a group of people who really know what they're
doing."
He was also heartened by the crowd, a good 25 percent or so
children. "That's the best. The more we can get kids in front of live
orchestras, the better off we'll be."
The orchestra at last Sunday's performance. Photo by Leo N Holzer
Following intermission, the orchestra launched into another
of Giacchino's creations, "The Incredibles." Then Docter returned to
introduce "Monsters, Inc." and "Cars 2." He complimented
the brass section, singled out Tom Scott, a saxophonist featured on several
original Pixar soundtracks, including the opening credits of "Monsters,
Inc." Docter then had more than two dozen Pixar employees stand for a
moment of recognition.
He also delivered special thanks to "a few people
without whom this program would not have happened … Jonas Rivera, who
championed it, … Brice Parker, Laurel Ladevich and David Tanaka, who made it
happen. And, of course, even with the best planning in the world, none of it
would have happened without Sarah Hicks and the wonderful San Francisco
Symphony."
The final two pieces included "Brave," featuring
elbow-powered uilleann pipes and "Toy Story 3," which took the
audience on another emotional ride with the laughs of Flamengo Buzz to the
tears inspired by the incinerator scene and Andy's long goodbye to Woody.
Copyright Pixar. All rights reserved
Blessedly, an encore, of "You've Got A Friend In
Me," left everyone feeling upbeat before heading home.