Talk To Me

When doing casting for an animated film, it is important to pick who you want to voice your characters.  Lately it seems as though there has been a huge push to cast stars to voice animated characters.  Though a possible way to sell a film, sometimes casting stars in animated features detracts from the overall value of the film.  When I watch an animated film, I enjoy not being able to recognize the voice of an actor, for then I can suspend disbelief entirely and really put myself into the world of the film.  Immersing yourself the world of a film is much harder to do in an animated film.  Characters do not completely resemble real people and the world does not look like our world as we know it.  Stories told in animated films often involve fantastical elements such as magic and talking animals.  It can be hard enough to enter the world of an animated film without a recognizable voice that drags you back to the real world.

One of the best examples of a wonderful choice for a voice actor is Jodi Benson.  Benson voiced Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid.  Her beautiful speaking and singing voice add a lot to her character.  Her voice sounds soft and young which fits the character perfectly.  The Little Mermaid  was Benson’s first time acting in an animated feature.  Her voice was fresh, new, and unrecognizable.  No face could be put to the voice, so it made the role of Ariel seem more realistic.

Lately, Disney has strayed away from using the voices of relatively unknown actors, which has decreased the quality of their films.  The most recent example of this is the use of Idina Menzel to voice Elsa in the film, Frozen.  Idina Menzel has an incredible voice.  She is a wonderful performer and actress on Broadway, but I don’t think that her voice fits the style of a Disney princess movie.  Her voice was too powerful for the role and definitely too recognizable.  Her voice didn’t match the timbre and styles of the other characters in the film which was fairly distracting.  Her voice was also very recognizable.  All I could think as I watched the film was that Elsa should be painted green and wearing a witch hat.  Her strong voice distracted me from the character Elsa, and ensured that all I could think about when Idina Menzel was singing was Wicked.

I’m not saying that studios shouldn’t cast stars as these characters because sometimes stars may have a voice that truly fits the role.  For example, Matthew Broderick voices adult Simba in The Lion King.  I cannot tell that it is Matthew Broderick, however, which allows me to suspend my disbelief and really get into the movie.  It is as if Simba has his own voice with its own tone quality and timbre.

I suggest that studios be very careful when they cast voices in animated movies, for though casting a star may help to sell a film, it can take the audience out of a movie and make it less effective.

Family Troubles

A common technique used to create conflict, especially in children’s film, is killing off the protagonist’s parents.  This happens in many superhero films and Disney movies, including The Lion King, Frozen, Batman, and Superman.  

    This technique is used for many reasons.  For one, it isolates the protagonist.  They must now navigate in an unfamiliar world and no longer have a support system.  The protagonist must not only overcome the grief of losing a parent, but also solve their own problems as opposed to getting the answers from someone who knows more than they do.
  
 Though killing off a protagonist’s parent does create conflict within a film, I would like to pose a question.  As opposed to killing off a parent, is it more effective to include a flawed parent whose actions are toxic to their child?
  

 Including an estranged parent is a more effective way to create both internal and external conflict in any plot.  Often times an estranged family member will have chosen something over or instead of the protagonist.  Though the family member is still present, the protagonist is in a constant state of doubt as to whether or not the family member actually cares about them.  This creates a much deeper internal conflict for the protagonist.  When a parent dies, often times a protagonist knows that they were loved before the parent’s death.  It is obvious that the parents did not choose death over their child.  However, when parents choose as drugs, money, or their own selfish wants over their child, the conflict becomes more intense.  Keeping an estranged parent also helps to create character vs. character conflict.  The protagonist must not only struggle through internal conflict, but also stand up to their parent or family member and confront them.
  
 In Million Dollar Baby, Maggie’s parents don’t care about her health or her dreams, but only the money she will make from boxing.  This takes a toll on her and causes her distress throughout the film.  Not only does she not have the support system that she needs to be successful, but she is also taken advantage of by her family, making it clear that they only associate with her for the money. 
 

  In What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Gilbert’s mom, Bonnie,  spends her time wasting away in front of the television and letting herself be overcome by her misery.  Gilbert is forced to be the man of the household and take care of his siblings.  This puts him under a great deal of stress and pressure and it frustrates him to see his mother not doing anything to help her family or herself.

    Although many children’s films use the technique of killing off the parent in order create conflict for the protagonist, it is much more effective to write a movie with an estranged parent, creating greater internal and interpersonal drama within the film.

Hans Zimmer, The Great and Powerful

Many times in life we look for something to inspire us, something to give us some kind of guidance. And for many of us, music does this. It is meant to create something within us to make us want to look for more, or to not give up, or even to help us mourn. Music covers everything and it is our best friend who is always there for us. It picks us up when we have fallen. It teaches us to stay motivated and go for our dreams. It tells us stories of heart break and death, things we relate to. Music does it all, and it does it for every single person in this world. 

When I was little, most of the movies I was attracted to were mainly disney movies. Most of these disney movies were musicals. But some had some kind of sound track that helped build the plot. As I got older I obviously watched more than just disney movies, and I found myself looking at more than just the film. The music that played during the story helped me believe more in what I was watching. And I found myself looking up several different soundtracks, composers, and downloading all of the songs I had witnessed during the films. These songs stuck with me so much that I wanted to listen to them everyday. And I can tell you right now, had there of been no music in these films, I probably would not have liked the film as much or felt as connected to them as I did, and still do.

Obviously there are many different composers and each of them have their own style.

However one of my absolute favorites would have to be Hans Zimmer. Hans Zimmer has composed music for over 150 films! And that’s only films. He’s also done television in his lifetime. If you have seen Dark Knight, Pirates of the Caribbean, 12 Years a Slave, or the classic disney movie The Lion King, then you have been graced with the music of Hans Zimmer. Hans had his big break when he composed for Rain Man in 1988. The movie deals with two brothers 

whose father has just died. The father leaves one of 

them a huge amount of money, and leaves the 

other one close to nothing, so they decide to travel across the country together. Being that this movie takes place mainly on the road, Hans wanted the movie to be different than any other road movie. Normally road movies are found to have a lot of music containing guitars, or stringed instruments and so he wanted to create something new. He did this by using mainly an electronic keyboard, and he also incorporated flutes into it. The soundtrack was very airy and misty that created a bit of sadness that the film needed, and it matched the emotion of the story completely. The film’s soundtrack was nominated by The Academy for Best Music, Original Score. The film definitely got him much attention because it led him to many other projects.

Another soundtrack that got him much attention was Disney’s, The Lion King. Hans worked with Elton John, as well as Tim Rice, and he produced a score. This soundtrack is very well known throughout the whole world. It was made in three different countries, and it is known as the best selling soundtrack album in an animated film in America. It has sold over 7 million copies. More than half of those copies were sold the same year it came out, in 1994. Hans won an oscar for this film for best music, and original score in 1995. However, one of my favorite scores that Hans has done would have to be his work on the Pirates of the Caribbean. Hans was originally asked by Director Gore Verbinski to work on the first Pirates of the Caribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl. However he was working on another score, so he did not officially work on it, he only helped the other composer Klaus Badelt with it. However once the second movie came rolling around, he couldn’t help himself and he completely immersed himself in the score. He worked on the1st,  2nd,  3rd, and 4th of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. I loved his work in these movies because he was able to catch the life of a true Pirate and somehow not make it corny. And while doing all of that, he also helped build each character. Depending on what race they were, he could have influences from many different cultures.

"You try to treat each film as an autonomous movie, but at the same time, there's great fun in revisiting old friends, as it were. We now have Penélope Cruz playing Angelica, who's Spanish, so I felt that there could be some Latin influences in the score for On Stranger Tides. I've been a big fan of Mexican guitarists Rodrigo y Gabriela for years now, and I asked them if they wanted to come and play with us. We've been having a really great time with them being part of the musical world this film gets to inhabit.” -Hans Zimmer, Pirates Wikia

He was nominated for these movies several times and won many awards. For Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, he won the ASCAP Film and Television Music Award in 2012. He was also nominated by the World Soundtrack awards in 2011 for Soundtrack Composer of the Year for his work on Pirates, Inception, How Do You Know, Megamind, The Dilemma, Rango, and Kung Fu Panda 2. For Pirates of the Caribean: Dead Man’s Chest, he won the ASCAP Film and Television Music Award in 2007. He also won it the same year for The Da Vinci Code. He was also nominated for his work on the 2nd Pirates film by the Grammys in 2007 for Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture. And for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, he won the ASCAP Film and Television Music Award in 2008. Needless to say Hans Zimmer’s work on Pirates was awesome. I'm curious to see if he works on the new Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which is suppose to come out in theaters July 2017. Fingers crossed he does work on the film score!

 Hans Zimmer is one of the best film composers out there. His music never fails to be different each time. He is able to create such a specific sound for each story and represent each character differently, yet keeping them similar at the same time. If you haven’t payed close attention to the detail of his music, then I suggest you start. What makes Hans so great is that he does this because he loves it and I think that shows in his music. He isn’t doing it for the money, or just because he has to, he is doing it because he chooses to. He loves it and will continue to share his love for it with the ears of the world. 

"If something happened where I couldn't write music anymore, it would kill me. It's not just a job. It's not just a hobby. It's why I get up in the morning."- Hans Zimmer

Check out the best of Hans Zimmer in the video below, you won't regret it!

The Lion King 3D

So while I'm home on fall break a friend and I decided we wanted to go out and see a movie. Out of sheer impulse, we decided to see The Lion King 3D. While I do know that Disney rips off folk stories from everyone and their mother, one still can't deny that it's an amazing movie. Amazing enough to spark an award winning musical by the same name. Now I was iffy several months ago because I knew it was just an easy way the industry could make money off an old movie. But surprisingly enough, the 3D was a completely different experience. The subtle use of the 3D on the characters was incredible, but the use of 3D on foreground images was actually very distracting. It was as if there was something two-dimensional coming off the screen that you had to struggle to look past. So yes, it's technically 3D and movie theaters can charge twice as much for it, but the people who work on the use of the 3D technology need to take notice as to where it works and where it's a distraction.

But all in all, still an amazing movie. Not sure if the 3D was worth the 13 dollars, but it's still the same movie, just experienced in a different way.