Hans Zimmer: The Number One Choice to Score My Movie

Ever thought about making a movie? Most of us have at one time or another. Just about everyone who has ever seen one has had a passing thought at some time or another about something that would make a great movie, if it had the proper cast and crew. Of course, everyone thinks of who they would want to direct it and who they would want to star in it and all that jazz. Some people even think of who they would like to produce it and who they would want to write the screenplay. One decision that often gets highly undervalued, though, is who would compose the movie score.

Just about every iconic movie has a memorable theme tune. Mention the name Star Wars to anyone and they'll soon find themselves hearing an epic brass fanfare in their head. Mention Harry Potter and they'll soon be whistling the haunting "Hedwig's Theme." Mention Jaws (or any shark attack, for that matter, movie or not) and they'll be humming the astoundingly ear-catching two-note theme.

Music is what sets the tone of a movie, and what helps get the movie stuck in people's memories, as well as in their hearts. It can get people excited for a massive battle on the high seas, it can make them cry over a character's last words, it can make them feel all warm and fuzzy as a mother and child are reunited, or it can make the hairs on the back of their neck stand up as the camera pans to a door that's unexpectedly ajar. It can make people either feel sorry for a man falling flat on his face or laugh hysterically at him. It can make a zombie attack either terrifying or hilarious. It can make a love scene either sweetly romantic or annoyingly cheesy. The music may not be the only important part of setting the mood of a scene in a movie, but it is certainly a major player.

Now, try to think of some iconic movie music. Most likely, you thought of the movies already mentioned, and maybe a few others. How about Disney's The Lion King ? Dreamworks' Prince of Egypt ? Or the more recent Sherlock Holmes ? These movies all have astonishingly memorable soundtracks to them, and they also have something else in common. They were all scored by Hans Zimmer.

Hans Zimmer has been gracing the big screen with his music since the 1980's. After some years of work in London as a partner to Stanley Myers, he started his Hollywood career in 1988 when he scored the critically acclaimed movie Rain Man . He became very well-known for his innovation and for combining modern electronic music with more traditional orchestral work. Since the beginning of his career, he's composed wholly original music for over one hundred movies.

Now, if I was ever going to make a movie, it would probably be an adaptation of my favorite fantasy book series of all time: Garth Nix's Abhorsen Trilogy . This trilogy follows the passing on of the title of "Abhorsen," a person who reverses the work of necromancers - essentially a fancy name for a zombie hunter. There is only ever one Abhorsen at a time, and the title passes through a family line. The trilogy follows its passage through three generations and is generally an epic sort of magical adventure dealing with death, the dangers of unconstrained power, preventing the apocalypse, and the coming-of-age of a whole cast of characters.

Because I love this series so much, I would have to treat the movie-making process with the utmost care and select only the people I know would do an absolutely spectacular job. As such, there really is no other choice for a composer than Hans Zimmer. Who else could capture the scale and beauty of the Old Kingdom, the country in which the story primarily takes place? Who else could instill in the audience the wonder of flying in a craft made entirely of paper and old magic? Who else could portray the eerie chill of the realm of Death, a frequent destination for the books' characters? With such works under his belt as The Dark Night , The Prince of Egypt , and The Lion King , Hans Zimmer has more than proven himself worthy of a story of this caliber, and he would be my obvious number one choice for my movie project, if ever I got the chance to attempt it.

Anonymous, "Biography for Hans Zimmer," IMDB: The Internet Movie Database

"Hans Zimmer," Wikipedia