John Williams and the universal language of film music

[@neonatalpenguin]

I actually welled up while watching this video, you bastard. Thanks for articulating why Close Encounters is such a great movie.

[@sandal_thong8631]

Brilliant essay. I knew the musical tones and gestures had to do with communication. But I didn't get that the other elements of the film, like people talking over one another and the French team-leader needing a translator highlighted the problems in communication among people on Earth making it the whole theme of the movie. The one point he didn't make was that the government keeping secrets and not telling the truth to the public, or even allowing those who received the summons from entering, may have jeopardized their first contact and communication. You could also take it one step further as his dysfunctional family may be due to their lack of good communication. "They didn't even want to talk to you," his wife said when he gets fired over the phone. His wife didn't want to talk to him about his experience, either. "It's just one of those things," she said.

[@piccolofederico]

YES! YES! CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND! Finally someone that recognise this masterpiece as THE masterpiece!

[@sandal_thong8631]

It was one of three movies (along with _Star Wars_ and _Superman)_ that brought back special effects in movies as well as sci-fi in 1977-8.

[@jessesaillard2423]

The Close Encounters score moves me to tears.

[@shosha1878]

Close Encounters score it's a full symphony. Wonderful music from Williams, specially the very Lyrical ending of this film's music.

[@kingrobrob]

What you say at the start about being able to re-experience a movie through its music is part of what makes the Lord of the Rings score so exceptional to me. The way different cultures have particular instruments (the whistle is used in the Shire, the rhaita reflects Mordor, the hardanger fiddle often plays the Rohan themes) makes the music feel a part of Middle-Earth, as do the many choral pieces in different languages, often taken from the books. There are literally dozens of themes for different characters and moods, and the themes are constantly being developed, combined, having instruments added/removed etc. to reflect how the story is developing. It really makes the films come alive.

[@1987vosje]

Yes! Someone who truly understands how magical this movie is.. The music in the movie tells the whole story, the core of the story. This is what John Williams is all about for me.. creating musical landscapes to touch us, make contact. The universal language. Thank you so much for your video

[@BolioSati]

Yesss! A new video! Thank you so much for continuing to post these. Even though there are months in between each one, you make the wait completely worth it. Keep up the good work!

[@ericjohnson5394]

The scene when Roy and Jillian stop the car has a grand flourish of music. When the two climb a small road cut, the camera rises with the music and Devil’s Tower is REVEALED! I used that as an introduction to geology in my science class every year. That giant remnant of a once explosive volcano leads the discussion. Thank you Mr. Williams.

[@TylerNotTiler]

John Williams is the GOD of film music.

[@johannes914]

And Goldsmith is the holy spirit...

[@Nkanyiso_K]

Tyler Scott all I can think of when I hear his name is Epic rap battles [Steven Spielberg versus Alfred Hitchcock] "Half your billions should go to John Williams, now brace yourself as a reveal my brilliance"

[@humbertorodriguez98]

Don't forget about joe hisaishi

[@johannes914]

We will talk about that when he will have scored 247 movies ....

[@humbertorodriguez98]

Quality > quantity

[@TrumpetPlayerRayban]

Finally, a new video! After watching your first two videos I could not wait until you posted another.

[@Checkmate1138]

Hmm... All right, you convinced me -- William's _Close Encounters_ is indeed a masterpiece, who could argue. But don't you deny that the soundtrack to A New Hope wasn't one either! ;) Great video!

[@fartzinwind]

I've got several channels about the film visual process, I'm glad I found this for the audio.

[@RedJLP]

So what I've learned is that if an intelligent life form communicates through music, we need look no further than John Williams to translate

[@fatalfeline]

What you were saying about how you can listen to an older film soundtrack and replay the whole movie in your head, but this doesn't happen so much in contemporary films anymore.. The best modern example I can think of that still does this is How To Train Your Dragon soundtrack by John Powell.

[@HpArtcraft]

fatalfeline And James Newton Howard did it very recently with Fantastic Beasts.

[@sandal_thong8631]

I had seen _Hook_ twice in the theater when it came out since I was afraid it wouldn't look good on the TV later and wanted to absorb more of the visual experience. However, it's been so long, that listening to the soundtrack didn't do much for me. The opening score was good, but it just seemed like orchestra music for most of the rest, not calling to mind the scenes. I remember a flute solo playing as the camera focuses on a Pan statue with a flute outside the house, but didn't hear it in the soundtrack.

[@gravityvertigo13579]

This is beautiful, just beautiful. I appreciate your videos so much since film score is something I still know very little about.

[@victorlerouxassathiany]

I waited so long for a video essayist about movie (or video game) scores ! Thank you so much for existing man !

[@Nkanyiso_K]

Just like watching Sideways (best music channel on KZbin) thanks for posting again

[@tristanhmusic]

Thank you for sharing, Dan! Close Encounters is a cinematic and musical masterpiece. The final moments of the film never cease to amaze me. ❤️

[@ShadeslayerGreats]

I do believe that Zimmer's music plays a similar role. The two note batman theme is only used to bring a sense of familiarity and excitement, but the underscore at the moment the theme plays is what truly keys into the mood. Zimmer in a way brings together modernist and the "romantic" styles, using them at the same time

[@RichardAugust]

"Close Encounters of the Third Kind" soundtrack was something that caused one to go out into the backyard at night and look up and wonder.

[@KylePreston]

Beautiful stuff Dan! Always love hearing your perspective on film music : )

[@KylePreston]

Also, I've heard other composers describe this lack of theme development as vertical vs horizontal writing. Have you considered doing a Patreon?

[@TheVinylScore]

Great Video! This is so thoughtfully done. I love the part about putting the record on and laying on the floor and seeing the movie.

[@ReservoirDolphin]

This video is so good I'm mad that I didn't make it. Fantastic work.

[@HpArtcraft]

I'm tired of people forgetting that Hans Zimmer AND James Newton Howard BOTH composed the score for Batman. They both worked on every single piece of music TOGETHER in Batman Begins, and in Dark Knight, Zimmer did the Joker, and Newton Howard did Harvey Dent's music.

[@dansub9795]

MrHPsauce01 the point is, hans zimmer has turned film scoring into a 'paint by numbers' mundane sounds and electronic mashup. The mood and tones of his compositional bridges, apart from the main themes, are almost identical. John Williams however studies the movie source and the director's intention before invoking the mood of individual scenes. Therein lies the intellectual difference of thematic composing

[@Abhishek-cx2jq]

MrHPsauce01 that's half true. Howard worked on more lighter music while Zimmer worked on more darker sounds. In Zimmer's own words, ''James was the sound of the day while I was the sound of the night.'' PS: that's not a quote. That's how he putted it in his Masterclass and how I remember it.

[@ollyv404]

Without a doubt one of my favorite videos of all time :)

[@TheNexusOfEvil]

*finds new awesome channel* *prepares to binge all videos* *finishes in half an hour* *sadness* (subscribed)

[@OdanUrr87]

This is so true! I can simply listen to the OT's soundtrack and relive the movie in my head. The same cannot be said of most soundtracks these days.

[@SaiChester]

When talking about music as language, it is important to keep in mind that this, too, needs to be learned. There is nothing inherent in those two notes that makes it about a shark. It is what we are shown in the film that makes the connection. How else would we get an idea as specific as that? And even though it is possible for someone with very broad knowledge of music history to make a lot of connections, someone without such knowledge might not, so speaking of a universal language might be a bit strongly worded. Also, if you grew up without tonal music in the tradition of european music and were not attuned to such things as specific notes or harmonies or changes of those, would you even know what to listen for? Would you know how to make the connection of those two notes with the shark on screen? Surely that would require being able to interpret them as something menacing. But I am aware that these ideas of music as a universal language are firstly the ideas presented in the film, so this is more a critique of that than your essay. I liked your video very much, I hadn't heard of the film before and think I'll check it out. I'm looking forward to any videos that you might put out in the future!

[@agilemind6241]

Just thinking through the implications of that idea, does that explain why music is taking a backseat as movies become more global in audience? Does a film need dialog to explain the emotion of a scene rather than rely on a powerful musical score if it is meant to appeal to both Western and Oriental audience?

[@jameskielland5018]

Music might be a little more universal than you are giving it credit for, however. Yes, through the process of association we are taught that the 2 notes means the shark is present. This is accomplished by pairing the visual and auditory stimulation to establish the connection. But the important point is that it fits. The two notes sound ominous and threatening. Imagine instead that you got a double blast from a clowns horn. Or a the ringing of a vintage bicycle bell. Or someone imitating the sound of flatulence. No matter how many times you tried pairing up these visual and audio stimuli, they wouldn't really match. Like all languages, there is learned elements. Obviously we associate snare drums with a military march. But there are certain combinations of sound that seem to produce similar responses across cultures. I can listen to eastern music with completely different textures and tonalities that feel uncomfortable to me, but I can still identify a sense or feeling that the music is intended to convey. Heroic, tranquil, sad, etc.

[@WreckingWood]

Speaking the issue on dissonance transcending into the romantic, I think a fantastic modern example of this explored even deeper would be the Matrix trilogy. Don Davis's magnum opus started out with 'not a single film orchestral for a guideline' he starts out at the bottom with the bare-bones with rumblings, percussion and synths, where one film music critic said it almost like a horror film, particularly the Alien films. But as more and more of the Matrix gets revealed and we follow Neo's journey it moves into soft harmony and faint melody of peace, clarity and understanding as if seeing above the storm clouds for the first time. And then climaxes when that harmony must be wielded as weapon to end the storm escalating into brass and choir of biblical proporations. I don't go back often to listen to them as they're not the most fun sounding or easy to digest, but when you hit the finale of each it's harmonic triumphant over the dissonance is so rewarding and I realize, "Wait a second, this is right behind Star Wars Prequels and the Lord of the Rings kick-ass trilogy music for the 21st century."

[@hubsoftecommerce]

HANS ZIMMER is the god of original scores.!!!

[@femiagunbiade582]

Your stuff is so amazing! Please keep them coming!

[@Slackattack512345]

Great video! I would love to see a video/discussion on the intersections of different stylings in film music, and perhaps on the purpose of film music in general. You focus in this video on how the music is used establish Close Encounter's theme of communication; and there are a load of other examples in which the music of a film exists primarily to reinforce the theme of the film; but directors and composers use music in many ways than just this one. Theme is just one of the many intangible aspects of film; including (but not limited to) character, tone, location, tempo, perspective, etc. Case in point: LOTR. The theme of the film is pretty evidently the interplay between good and evil; but was the music in service primarily of this theme? Or was it servicing a different aspect of the film instead (the characters, the world, the tone...?) It seems to me that while the struggle between good and evil does exist in Shore's music, the common praise that the music gets is that it 'puts us in Middle Earth' through the meticulous and wonderful use of Leitmotif. And while John Williams may be combining Modern Classical stylings with those of the earlier, Romantic idioms in Close Encounters, the question that I wish you had answered in this video is: why? How did he and Spielberg choose when to use one, when to use the other, and when to combine them? And why these two styles of music, as opposed to the countless other styles that exist in the world? Why not use Bebop, or Baroque, or Choral, or Samba, or Chamber Jazz, etc.? As much as we forget about it, big budget Hollywood films are not the only types of films being made in the world, and the music that accompanies them is not the only type of film music that exists. Just look at some of the European New Wave films and the scores that were written for them by some of the biggest names in Jazz (probably what inspired Otto Preminger to hire Duke Ellington for Anatomy of a Murder); or the music written by composers outside of the Hollywood system (Johan Johannson, Toru Takemitsu, Krzysztof Komeda, John Corigliano... the list goes on). There is all kinds of different music being written for all sorts of different films -- so many, in fact, that it's straight up impossible to have any knowledge or expertise on them all. Ask any film or soundtrack collector! There's always a new, wonderful film or director, or an incredible score or composer out there that you haven't ever heard of. Which raises the question: why do movies need soundtracks in the first place? Do they need them at all? And what constitutes a good score from a bad one? Some of the most memorable pieces of music are the ones that combine different stylings in ways that we haven't heard before; but music on its own is at a disadvantage in that it has only one way of communicating itself to it's audience -- through their ears. Any combination of any style can result in almost any possible music imaginable, but in the end the only reference for interpretation is through what the listener hears; and that's the end of it. Film music, on the other hand, can have music in a style that we may or may not have heard before, but is written specifically to be paired with a set of moving images. Speaking broadly, film music, I think, exists for the same reason that sound in film exists -- in that the combination of two different perceptive experiences (aural and visual) can create depth, meaning, or emotion in the mind of an audience member to an extent that, when separated, the visuals or the sound cannot do on their own. Think (to veer away from the classic examples) Taxi Driver, or Suspiria, or The Third Man, or The French Connection, or For A Fistful of Dollars, or Jurassic Park, or Rosemary's Baby, or The Omen. They have all got great soundtracks, but can you imagine the music at all without thinking of the movie and the ideas and stories and characters and moods and emotions that accompany them? There are some absolutely incredible film scores composed for movies that might not be too great (The Last Airbender, the Star Wars prequels, Cutthroat Island, A Million Ways To Die, most of Jerry Goldsmith, Christopher Young, and Elmer Bernstein's stuff... the list goes on and on); and there are some really great movies with soundtracks that might not work too well on their own separated from their movie (Terminator, Michael Clayton, The Conjuring, The Prestige... [though this category is much more difficult to find examples for. I wonder why?]). Even No Country For Old Men; a film that's pretty famous for it's lack of a discernible score; still had a composer (Carter Burwell -- who writes some incredible stuff) who created a droning score that worked beneath the mix of the sound design. I'll cut myself off here -- this is just my opinion, and I'm sure I've missed or misstated quite a few things in this response (I'm a movie guy, not a music guy). Why do you think films need music?

[@TwoWrights]

Bravo. I'll be sharing this with so many people. This may actually make my cinematically illiterate friends finally understand film a little better. Thank you for teaching an idea, instead of just trying to show off how you know more than everyone. This video essay is simple and elegant. I've watched hundreds of these (and even made a few myself) and this is already one of my favourites. Well done, mate.

[@jonathanrios3214]

Great video, Michael Giacchino and James Newton Howard are two of the only other composers who can even come close to this.

[@WreckingWood]

He's a more contemporary voice doing low-key works and hasn't collaborated with M. Night in a while, but when he does fantasy --Maleficent and Fantastic Beasts-- it's something out of a left-field at times.

[@fartzinwind]

at 7:40 listening to the music... is there just a hint of Disney Peter Pan Wish Upon A Star??? You kind of have to combine the notes of the vocals with other stuff, but I Think it's there.

[@curlykeys8261]

i love these videos oml

[@JoseCavendish]

Great work

[@MrFTW733]

great video - there’s thousands of short documentary videos like this and i wanna make some, but i hope i can pull one off originally

[@drayden99]

Just found your channel and as I looked you just uploaded 22 seconds ago lol

[@MrBuckoP]

"Greatest film scores of all time... no, not that one. This one." Classic...

[@Tuckerscreator]

I wonder if this lends additional credence to the theory that John Williams's score for the Force Awakens borrowing Plagueis's theme from Revenge of the Sith was deliberate.

[@hebo7332]

What do you think about the music of Johann Johannsson (Arrival, Sicario, Prisoners)? He gives his music an uncertain feeling of danger, which works perfectly for the movies he is writeing for.

[@musical_lolu4811]

I remember the 3:27 scene was so surreal and humbling I just broke down.

love it

[@rogerjuniorchabot]

Thank you.

[@truefilm1556]

Brilliant as always! Music might not be the universal language since the human ear has a unique limited range and loudness curve, other intelligent live forms might not have due to a different environment and different evolution, but I am just wildly speculating. You definitely got a point. And yes, for me it is a tie between John Williams and Bernard Herrmann. The former because he has unbelievable skills regarding complex orchestration and he simply moves you. The latter because he was able to create a unique sound with incredibly precise dynamics and articulations, somewhere between tonal and atonal, such as the string section only score for Psycho. Somehow it is crystal clear that Williams is a pianist and Herrmann was a violinist. Sorry for the rambling, I am preaching to the choir, I know.... Thanks for making these videos!

[@Richard_Nickerson]

I've always thought about what happens AFTER the end of Close Encounters. Were the aliens really friendly? Did they experiment on and eat the people?

[@sandal_thong8631]

I was more interested in what happened after _2001: A Space Odyssey_ and _2010: The Year We Make Contact,_ imagining the Star Child would lead the human race to a new kind of evolution. But then when I read 2061: Odyssey Three it was disappointing. Recently I read the synopsis of 3001: The Final Odyssey. Mankind hasn't transitioned to the next evolution but is in danger of being exterminated by the very powers that encouraged the rise of human intelligence in "the Dawn of Man" scene because it was too violent during the Cold War, which lasted past 2010 in this world.

[@sondretopland9569]

Beautiful video :)

[@TheManwithafan]

Ennio Morricone next!

[@sandal_thong8631]

It was nice to see his score for that Clint Eastwood movie mentioned with use of the mouth harp. I was wondering if John Williams ever did a western, and he did: _The Cowboys._ Unfortunately, the opening or overture is just the orchestra going at it, without the interesting elements of Ennio Morricone. Maybe if I listen to the whole thing I might find something interesting?

[@FabioFalzarano]

Brilliant.

[@alexanderdelacruz9249]

Yur vids are very good. Pls post more soon,tnx.

[@samwallaceart288]

Except the language of music is, compared to other languages, massively dependent upon contextual experience. Two notes only mean shark attack if you’ve seen Jaws (or the Simpsons), tight staccato strings only mean murder if you’ve seen Psycho (or the simpsons), slow horn section with euro-folk melodies only means the Mafia if you’ve seen Godfather (or the Simpsons). My point being, none of it means shit to you if you haven’t seen movies before; objectively speaking, it’s useless as a universal language unless everyone started watching every movie made in the world, which is probably too much to ask of the average westerner.

[@sandal_thong8631]

I would agree with that. When I listened to _War at Sea_ I knew that certain pieces from the sounds and instruments meant Japan or Asia. But if you didn't have that cultural heritage to know about gongs and such, you probably wouldn't get it.

[@sudevsen]

please do Moricone

[@lar9299]

John Williams is a genius! l Loved the video but I tihnk, if we're going to refer to Williams and space, E.T.'s score must be the best score he ever wrote. All the soundtrack is just amazing.

[@pinkajou656]

4:47HEY IT’S THE DIES IRAE //points//

[@TripleTSingt]

Hans Zimmers Theme for Batman does not evolve? Pls listen to the score again. It evolves through context.

[@DarthLordRaven]

TTTMusic i agree with you it evolves in time!. And i like to comment on Williams being best film composer. This might be so 30 years ago. I find this sound of close encounters outdated and even the movie is outdated now. Williams did make Some great scores back then. Hè now should retire, StarWars force awakens was Crap.

[@karlkarlos3545]

Yes, I agree. the theme for Batman does not evolve. And John Williams is timeless.

[@ryancunningham9291]

while on the whole i generally agree with the opinion that hans zimmer is largely at fault for the stagnation of film score melodies, he says in his masterclass on film scoring that he intentionally left batman/bruce's theme at the two notes because bruce wayne experiences arrested development - he's always going to be batman. he's always going to be stuck at the moment where his parents were murdered and he decides to become a vigilante. no progression, no resolution.

[@GottaloveMuse1]

People always forget Howard Shore when naming the greats.

[@jp3813]

As great as Shore is, he's mostly only known for one franchise: Middle-earth. Other modern greats include Danny Elfman, James Horner, Alan Silvestri, David Arnold, Jerry Goldsmith, Basil Poledouris, Alan Menken, etc...

[@sandal_thong8631]

I've been enjoying an analysis of the scores for season one and two of _Star Trek: TOS._ They hired composers to do about 8 episodes a season, whose cues or themes were re-used throughout the season where appropriate. They hired a couple more to do pick-ups or finish some late-season episodes, where they didn't have cues they could use. A couple composers were only hired for one episode and their compositions were lacking, which is why they probably didn't return. www.youtube.com/@davidpage9355/videos

[@omallykaboose]

light suggestion for your audio and enunciation - open your mouth more to reduce mouth sound (keep your molars apart by a milimeter when talking) and pop filter if you don't already have one. otherwise excellent video.

[@ErikWoodsCinSoundRadio]

Excellent advice. I really wanted to watch the entire video but the mouth sound was incredibly distracting.

[@karlkarlos3545]

I bet you sound like nails on a chalkboard yourself.

[@johnnada6857]

Hey tdk and superman have melodies !

[@TheRockinBK]

Stoppd watching the moment he said The Dark Knight motif doesn’t develop or the score doesn’t tell a story. Completely ignorant take on that score & modern film music in general.

[@707Guido]

Please can you upload vids with english subs?

[@bonbonpony]

If film music is a language, then I'd like to know where's the dictionary.

[@MarkAndrewEdwards]

Melody and harmony > Deconstructionalism

[@TheDruidKing]

The five note motif of Close Encounters is based on natural harmonics played on a guitar with standard tuning (12th and 7th frets). As John Williams was a classical guitarist this can't be a coincidence. I believe he was trying to convey something 'universal.'

[@brycebiffle6250]

"...Wagner and Strauss." > Shows video of Johan Strauss II's music Pretty sure you meant RICHARD Strauss.

[@Checkmate1138]

Well, plenty of Strauss II music was especially popular in the early days of film.

[@bmh4d0k3n]

Came here to say this -- the operas, the tone poems, the orchestral songs ... The music of Korngold is way more related to Richard Strauss than Johann.

[@kfings]

Do musicians actually care for these videos being that he doesn't speak on music theory that much, or is it still informative?

[@BrazilianGaucho]

Moral of the story: movie scores were much better.

[@appleomma3444]

May be they been ingnore one person been have more power on wrong then naturally power before was not necessary be part gov or some on that position

[@calebthien613]

This is the greatest use of leit motif ever

[@ReviveHF]

O dislikes! Wow!

[@karlkarlos3545]

Did you really expect zero dislikes? That's youtube, baby.