Hollywood film music has its roots in Europe. Three composers who fled war and National Socialism to the USA created the sound that still shapes film music today: Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Max Steiner and Franz Waxman. In the early 20th century, these classically trained composers transformed the methods acquired in Vienna and Berlin into a new American art form: film music. They balanced the relationship between image and sound and developed techniques and dramaturgical tricks to achieve the greatest possible effect on the viewer. Their influence is visible in the work of contemporary US composers such as John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith. Today, Oscar winner Hans Zimmer, Ramin Djawadi and Harold Faltermeyer continue this tradition. Their melodies are part of humanity's collective memory and reflect the combined traditions of European and American musical history. The documentary accompanies composers in their work and explores the European roots of Hollywood.
Score
The whole documentary IS the thing it's about. Meta and magnificent.
Production
Zimmer casually dismantling his own piano. Respect.
Director
Florian Caspar Richter
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
These composers' Vienna-Berlin training in late Romanticism created Hollywood's 'invisible' emotional manipulation — audiences weep without knowing why.
Korngold demanded his film contracts include a clause letting him stop production if Hitler invaded — which happened, trapping him in Hollywood and accidentally creating the modern film score.
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