Contemporary Film Composers (Research Paper Sample)

Contemporary Film Composers
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Contemporary Film Composers
Hans Zimmer is arguably the most sought-after composer and record producer in Hollywood. Born in 1957, the German has a film score of more than 150 films (Lehman, 2016). Some of his notable works include “The Lion King”, “The Pirates of the Caribbean” series, and “Inception”. Zimmer has won numerous awards throughout his illustrious career, including four Grammy Awards and two Academy Awards. Zimmer began his career as a composer in the 1978. At that period, Zimmer was working with a band known as Krakatoa. He specialized using synthesizers and keyboards setting the base for his future composition style (Zimmer, 2018). During his earlier days as a composer, Zimmer lived in the United Kingdom. In 1987, he successfully worked with Sandy McClelland to produce the soundtrack for the television series “Going for Gold.” The score for the television series introduced Zimmer as a household name to the British audience.
Zimmer’s passion for music began while he was young in Frankfurt, Germany. He started learning piano. However, during formal classes, his lack of discipline got him expelled from eight music schools (Zimmer, 2018). Consequently, he opted to become self-taught. Zimmer’s interest in musical scores was influenced by “Once Upon a Time in the West” and Ennio Morricone’s film scores. Zimmer’s mother was musical, and his father was an engineer by profession. Therefore, Zimmer developed an interest in modifying pianos by attaching things like chainsaws to them by drawing inspiration from his father’s career (Zimmer, 2018). Zimmer was first married to Vicki Carolin, a model, and they had a child together in his adult life. However, the two separated in 1992. Zimmer then remarried Suzanne Zimmer but then divorced her in 2020. The two had three children together.
The film composition that gave Zimmer his breakthrough was “Rain Man” in 1988. Zimmer was hired to score “Rain Man” after a successful score of the series “A World Apart”, an anti-apartheid drama. Zimmer composed scores for some of the biggest blockbuster films in the 2000s (Lehman, 2016). Additionally, he also worked on first video game project, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. During that period.” Since 2010, Zimmer has worked on various projects, with his latest one being the score for the film “Dune” that earned him an Oscar Award for the best original score (Spyry, 2022). His latest award underlined Zimmer’s reputation as arguably Hollywood’s best composer.
The early 2000s is arguably the stage where Zimmer’s career boomed. During that period, Zimmer made film scores for the following blockbuster films: “The Da Vinci Code, “Angels & Demons, “Sherlock Holmes”, “Gladiator”, “Hannibal”, “Black Hawk Down”, “Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy” and “Madagascar” are some of the films that made Zimmer a global household name (Zimmer, 2018). Notably, Zimmer was not just a film score composer but also a live performance entertainer. For instance, he performed during the Annual Flanders International Film Festival in 2000. Other than films, Zimmer has gone on to score television series and documentaries. Some of his documentary scores include “Planet Earth II” and “Blue Planet II”, which are a testament to Zimmer’s versatility.
Zimmer’s overall musical style fuses traditional orchestral arrangements with electronic sounds. Zimmer stands out as one of the best composers of his time based on his attention to detail and ability to try out new styles (Lehman, 2016). For instance, Zimmer’s soundtrack for the film “Interstellar” incorporated four pianos, thirty-four strings, a choir, twenty-four wood and an organ which was the main instrument illustrating his attention to detail. Zimmer combined electronic and orchestral music in the film “The Dark Knight”, merging two different styles. I find Zimmer an inspiration based on his ability to create unique film scores and still do live stage performances. His outstanding film scores in “Interstellar”, “The Dark Knight”, and “Gladiator” sets him apart from the rest.
Throughout his career, Zimmer travelled worldwide to research various styles, which improved his overall film scores approach. He also collaborates with artists in different genres to create new sounds. For instance, Zimmer travelled to France, Slovakia, and Italy to learn how to incorporate Romani music into a film score. Ultimately, he successfully incorporated Romani music in the film “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.” In preparation for scoring the film “The Last Samurai”, Zimmer extensively studied Japanese music, and his critics were amazed at how knowledgeable he had become on Japanese music (Lehman, 2016). In 1992, Zimmer travelled to Africa to use African drums and ch