Tag Archives: john williams

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Star Wars Episode VII Cast Announced

An ensemble of Star Wars characters.
An ensemble of Star Wars characters.

Image via: newsmoves.com

We’ve been waiting for so long – it really does feel like forever. But now, after internet speculation a-plenty, Lucasfilm has blessed us with the gift to beat all gifts. Ladies and gentlemen, the cast list of J.J. Abrams‘ Star Wars: Episode VII.

Here’s the full statement:

The Star Wars team is thrilled to announce the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII.
Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford,Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film.

A photo of the cast for Star Wars: Episode VII

Image via: insidethemagic.net

Here’s a statement from J.J. Abrams himself – 

“We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”

Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.

So what do you think? Some expected names here (thank you, gods of Star Wars), but also some surprises. Andy Serkis? Oh yes please. This announcement has left this Star Wars nut very happy, but what do you guys think? Hit up the comments below!

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How is Gustav Holst still inspiring modern movie composers today?

Pictured is the composer Gustav Holst
Pictured is the composer Gustav Holst

Image via swerveevents.com.

The English composer Gustav Holst is still inspiring modern movie composers today, almost 100 years after his death.

Gustav Holst is most well-known for his orchestral suite, Planets that featured five dramatic movements focusing each on a planet in our solar system, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter. These movements have inspired many movie composers since, and in many ways the score has made its way into a majority of modern film.

For instance, the rhythmic ostinato featured in Gustav Holsts’ Mars is heavily featured in the final scene of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. The concluding act sees Luke Skywalker firing his proton torpedo into the exhaust port of The Death Star, with a dramatic sequence ensuing. During this time, the score crescendo’s, becoming louder and louder, building tension. This dramatic composition is almost identical to that of Gustav Holst’s Mars, a piece written in 1919.

John Williams, the composer for Star Wars was actually told by George Lucas himself to make the score for the scene equal to that of Mars. We could talk about John Williams ‘using’ pieces from other composers another time, that can certainly be a separate discussion altogether.

Digging deeper it’s found that there a huge selection of movies that feature Gustav Holst’s work fairly heavily, many composers at the very least drew inspiration from Holst’s Planets. The Alien franchise (most notably Aliens) features a variation of the score during the scene where Ripley fights off the Alien queen with a powerloader. Other notable mentions include Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, The Terminator, Predator and the fairly iconic Inception soundtrack.

There’s undoubtedly a pattern here, almost all the films that use this score fall within the science fiction genre.

Mars is certainly a fitting score for science fiction films in general. The piece was written with the titular planet in mind and was featured in the orchestral suite Planets, which included movements for other planets such as Venus and Mercury. Not to mention the fact that Mars was also titled, “The bringer of War”. Clearly, Gustav had science fiction in mind from the start.

Gustav Holst can be seen as unintentionally being one of the greatest movie composers of all time, inspiring many film scores of the last 50 years.

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John Williams, the man behind the music

Image shows composer John Williams conducting one of his many pieces.

Image via: eddieonfilm.blogspot.co.uk

You probably already know by now who John Williams is. The famous composer has written more scores than you shake a musical stick at (or a conductor’s baton if you prefer). Most notable scores include Saving Private Ryan, Superman and my personal favourite, Jurassic Park. How did John Williams achieve such great recognition in the movie industry?

Born on February 8th 1932 in New York, to an already musical family, John Williams was destined for a life of music. Attending the University of California in 1952, John studied with Italian composer, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. His musical career had begun.

After his time at university John Williams worked as a jazz pianist, playing in many clubs in and around New York. He then worked on television production for shows such as Peter Gunn and Days of Wine and Roses. His first credited film score didn’t come until the 1960 film, Because They’re Young, moving away from his television work.

For many years, John was nominated for musical awards in film, but never took home an award. In many ways, it was director Steven Spielberg who introduced John Williams into the limelight. A then new director on the movie scene, Steven asked for John Williams to compose the score for his first film, The Sugarland Express. The film gained critical acclaim, and showcased the power the duo have in the movie industry.

Since then, John Williams has scored all but two of Spielberg’s movies, The Twilight Zone and The Color Purple being the only exceptions. In 1977, John Williams was approached by another up and coming director, George Lucas.

The director pitched the idea of a science fiction space opera titled, Star Wars. John happily accepted and his since provided the score for all subsequent sequels and prequels. The most distinguished score, “Force Theme” can be heard via the YouTube video below.

Surely, it must be a given that John Williams will be composing the score for the newly announced Star Wars trilogy?

John Williams has since composed the soundtrack for another series of George Lucas directed films, starring an archaeologist called Dr Henry Jones. Other notable film scores include the X-Men series, The Adventures of Tintin and the Harry Potter films.

During his career, John Williams has won 40 awards for his musical achievement in film and it doesn’t look like it’s going to end there. John has already started work on his composition for the upcoming Jurassic World and it looks more than likely that he’ll be composing the score for the new Star Wars films. May the score be with you John.