Dear John Williams

I haven't written open letters for a long time, but there is a good reason to do it today.

Dear John Williams,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you! I'm very grateful that you were born 80 years ago, because I don't want even imagine what the cinematography would do without you.

I started watching films since I don't remember which age, but even then the melody, which I heard along with the visual part, was important for me. When I was a kid, I watched "Home Alone" every holiday season. Later I saw the first two adaptations of Harry Potter. I memorised both main themes so well that I'm humming them every Christmas for many years.

When I grew up and discovered more serious films, as "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", "Schindler's List", "Empire of the Sun", "Catch Me If You Can", "Memoirs of a Geisha", "Star Wars" trilogies. They opened me the brand new world and I enjoyed them very much. Along with the music. Yes, I want to thank you for writing such exceptional pieces for all those films, and for many others. Thanks to you I started wondering not only who the actors and directors are, and what about the plot is. I always check the line, where the name of the composer is written, hoping that you took part in creating it.

You can make every film better with your music. I watched many from your filmography and without your soundtracks they wouldn't be such great. Steven Spielberg and Chris Columbus definitely wouldn't be as popular as they are, if you didn't write the music for their films.

I hope your compositions will become timeless, and many generations will listen to them and wonder how a real person can make such magical tunes. And, of course, I wish you well and write more, because you have an incredible gift.

Have a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Sincerely,
an eternal movie and music fan.

Picture via Harry Potter fan zone

Soundtrack 2011

There is some time until the Golden Globe and Oscar awards, so I decided to continue summing up the previous film year. This time it is all about music.

I picked ten songs and compositions, which became my favourite ones.

1. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (feat. Karen O) - "Immigrant Song"
Film: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by David Fincher.

This song became even more popular than its original, which Led Zeppelin sang. It channeled the dark atmosphere of the film and made the opening sequence incredibly creepy and beautiful.



2. Kavinsky - "Nightcall"
Film: "Drive" by Nicolas Winding Refn.

"Drive" soundtrack is one of the best I heard this year, and "Nightcall" is a very catchy track, which always reminds me of Ryan Gosling driving away.



3. Alexandre Desplat - "Statues"
Film: "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" by David Yates.

Alexandre Desplat knows how to create a magic and feisty composition. The scene before the Battle of Hogwarts is very impressive, especially the part when teachers, students and the Order of the Phoenix are trying to protect the school. It was breathtaking to watch and not the less to listen.



4. Rival Sons - "Torture"
Film: "Real Steel" by Shawn Levy.

"Real Steel" has a combined soundtrack of hip-hop and rock songs, but this one matches my taste perfectly.



5. Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes - "I've Had the Time of My Life"
Film: "Crazy, Stupid, Love" by Glenn Ficarra, John Requa, originally from "Dirty Dancing" by Emile Ardolino.

I fell in love with this song a long time ago, since I saw "Dirty Dancing" for the first time, so I was glad to hear it in this romantic comedy. You have to be a really good dancer to lift a girl like that.



6. Hans Zimmer - "I See Everything"
Film: "Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows" by Guy Ritchie.

Less than a minute, but it gives me goose bumps.



7. Hans Zimmer - "Blackbeard"
Film: "Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" by Rob Marshall.

The film was average, but the score is great. Hans Zimmer made the first appearance of Blackbeard very badass.



8. Kerris Dorsey - "The Show"
Film: "Moneyball" by Bennett Miller.

Such a sweet girl with a very good voice sings for his father. I didn't like this film, but two scenes, where this song is featured, are very good and sentimental.



9. Henry Jackman - "Magneto"
Film: "X-Men: First Class" by Matthew Vaughn.

I'd call it "The Rise of the Great Villain". Fassbender's character got the best composition, which is good at describing his inner world.



10. Alexandre Desplat - "Lily's Theme"
Film: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" by David Yates.

The most tragic melody I've heard in the last Harry Potter films. It prepares the audience for a serious final of this story.



Which are your top-10 songs you heard in films the previous year?

Warner Bros. Logo History

I've found a couple of videos about how the Warner Bros. logo has changed through many years of its work. The creators of the logo, which is a face of this studio, never forgot to keep up with time and to use newest special effects. The first two videos you can watch only on youtube, so click on its title.

Warner Bros. Television Logo History



I think one of the greatest logos Warner Bros. studio made for Harry Potter series. The logo became darker with every new movie since "The Prisoner of Azkaban" and always started along magical first theme from the soundtrack.



And some logos made specially for sci-fi and fantasy movies.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) - Soundtrack

When Harry Potter series has changed its director for the first time, John Williams still remained being a music creator. At the third and the last time he wrote a beautiful soundtrack for this magical tale, which became more adult along with the story itself. John again used a choir to make a wonderful "Double Trouble". And I love how he interpreted "Hedwig's Theme" in the first and the last one compositions.

Release date - May 25, 2004

More about Harry Potter soundtracks!

1."Lumos! (Hedwig's Theme)" - 1:38



2."Aunt Marge's Waltz" - 2:15
3."The Knight Bus" - 2:52
4."Apparition on the Train" - 2:15
5."Double Trouble" - 1:37



6."Buckbeak's Flight" - 2:08
7."A Window to the Past" - 3:54
8."The Whomping Willow and the Snowball Fight" - 2:22
9."Secrets of the Castle" - 2:32
10."The Portrait Gallery" - 2:05
11."Hagrid the Professor" - 1:59
12."Monster Books and Boggarts!" - 2:26
13."Quidditch, Third Year" - 3:47



14."Lupin's Transformation and Chasing Scabbers" - 3:01
15."The Patronus Light" - 1:12
16."The Werewolf Scene" - 4:25
17."Saving Buckbeak" - 6:39
18."Forward to Time Past" - 2:33



19."The Dementors Converge" - 3:12



20."Finale" - 3:24



21."Mischief Managed!" - 12:10

"Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (2002) - Soundtrack

As I was writing about the soundtrack of the first part, I said that director Chris Columbus enjoys working with a composer John Williams. After a huge success of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" it was very wise not to change the creators, so they made a good adaptation again. Music kept inside all magic and became more adult along with all characters. I don't think that this soundtrack is worse than first, but I like it less. Except for the moments, when the trio (or the duo) gets into a dangerous trouble again.

Release date - November 12, 2002.

The soundtrack was released in the other order from what we can hear in movie. Here is a full soundtrack list (with my favorite compositions):

1. "Prologue: Book II and The Escape from the Dursleys" - 3:31



2. "Fawkes the Phoenix" - 3:45
3. "The Chamber of Secrets" - 3:49
4. "Gilderoy Lockhart" - 2:05
5. "The Flying Car" - 4:08
6. "Knockturn Alley" - 1:47
7. "Introducing Colin" - 1:49
8. "The Dueling Club" - 4:08



9. "Dobby the House Elf" - 3:27
10. "The Spiders" - 4:32



11. "Moaning Myrtle" - 2:05
12. "Meeting Aragog" - 3:18



13. "Fawkes Is Reborn" - 3:19
14. "Meeting Tom Riddle" - 3:38



15. "Cornish Pixies" - 2:13
16. "Polyjuice Potion" - 3:52
17. "Cakes for Crabbe and Goyle" - 3:30
18. "Dueling the Basilisk" - 5:02
19. "Reunion of Friends" - 5:08 



20. "Harry's Wondrous World" - 5:02

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" (2001) - Soundtrack

While we are waiting for the last premiere of the movie about the boy who lived, I want to write about not less important part of every story - the soundtrack. Music helped to create a magical atmosphere and made "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" a wonderful fairy-tale. It was created by talented and one of my favorite composers, John Williams. He has written music for many great movies, for example, "Home Alone", "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" (yes, he likes working with Chris Columbus, who is the director of first and second "Harry Potter"), "Schindler's List", "Saving Private Ryan", "The Patriot", "Catch Me if You Can" and others. And he always writes very powerful music, which makes movies perfectly finished. Especially, I love his Christmas tunes in family movies. 

As for this soundtrack, "Prologue" will be always the best composition for me. Why? It's simple. Because it is the beginning of great story, which I adore. 

Release date - October 30, 2001

The full soundtrack (with my favorites compositions):

1. "Prologue" 2:12



2. "Harry's Wondrous World" 5:21
3. "The Arrival of Baby Harry" 4:25
4. "Visit to the Zoo and Letters from Hogwarts" 3:23
5. "Diagon Alley and The Gringotts Vault" 4:06
6. "Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters and The Journey to Hogwarts" 3:14
7. "Entry into the Great Hall and The Banquet" 3:42



8. "Mr. Longbottom Flies" 3:35
9. "Hogwarts Forever! and The Moving Stairs" 3:47
10. "The Norwegian Ridgeback and A Change of Season" 2:47
11. "The Quidditch Match" 8:29
12. "Christmas At Hogwarts" 2:56



13. "The Invisibility Cloak and The Library Scene" 3:16
14. "Fluffy's Harp" 2:39
15. "In the Devil's Snare and The Flying Keys" 2:21
16. "The Chess Game" 3:49
17. "The Face of Voldemort" 6:10



18. "Leaving Hogwarts" 2:14



19. "Hedwig's Theme" 5:11