1 00:00:03,163 --> 00:00:05,243 This programme contains some strong language 2 00:00:05,243 --> 00:00:08,083 Ladies and gentlemen, Hans Zimmer! APPLAUSE 3 00:00:08,083 --> 00:00:11,683 There's a word I don't use very often, which is genius. 4 00:00:11,683 --> 00:00:13,683 Hans Zimmer is one of them. 5 00:00:14,923 --> 00:00:18,563 He has the incredible capacity to reinvent himself 6 00:00:18,563 --> 00:00:21,203 without losing his identity. 7 00:00:21,203 --> 00:00:22,643 He's a storyteller. 8 00:00:24,043 --> 00:00:26,723 He tells stories with music. 9 00:00:28,123 --> 00:00:32,963 It's not a job. It's like a calling. It's like a crazy thing. 10 00:00:32,963 --> 00:00:36,243 I can't imagine not writing music. 11 00:00:36,243 --> 00:00:38,883 Hans Zimmer is the world's most sought after 12 00:00:38,883 --> 00:00:41,323 and prolific movie composer. 13 00:00:41,323 --> 00:00:46,203 He's written music for blockbusters, romcoms, animations 14 00:00:46,203 --> 00:00:49,883 and even iconic nature documentaries. 15 00:00:49,883 --> 00:00:53,683 DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: This is a dangerous place. 16 00:00:53,683 --> 00:00:57,443 He's fascinated just by sound itself. 17 00:00:57,443 --> 00:01:02,643 He has all kinds of technical ideas and tricks going on at any one time. 18 00:01:02,643 --> 00:01:05,483 Throughout his career, he's broken all the rules 19 00:01:05,483 --> 00:01:08,123 about how you compose music for films. 20 00:01:09,643 --> 00:01:13,843 I don't think anybody's ever won an Oscar for a score that blatantly 21 00:01:13,843 --> 00:01:17,723 is bagpipes, heavy metal guitars and a woman screaming at you. 22 00:01:17,723 --> 00:01:19,523 This is great! 23 00:01:19,523 --> 00:01:21,203 He doesn't want to read a script. 24 00:01:21,203 --> 00:01:22,883 He wants me to tell him, 25 00:01:22,883 --> 00:01:25,803 "What is the movie you think you're making?" 26 00:01:25,803 --> 00:01:28,083 It's like being psychoanalysed. 27 00:01:28,083 --> 00:01:30,723 Even if you're not hearing what you want to hear always, 28 00:01:30,723 --> 00:01:35,443 the project gets better every time it gets under Hans's microscope. 29 00:01:38,003 --> 00:01:39,643 He remains a child, in a way. 30 00:01:39,643 --> 00:01:42,683 And I think you have to have that quality in order to sort of 31 00:01:42,683 --> 00:01:45,443 be as successful a musician for all that time. 32 00:01:47,323 --> 00:01:50,203 I've been doing this for, what, 40 years? 33 00:01:50,203 --> 00:01:54,483 Somebody the other day said, "When are you going to slow down?" 34 00:01:54,483 --> 00:01:57,083 "What do you mean "slow down"? I'm just getting going! 35 00:01:57,083 --> 00:01:59,643 "I'm just getting started." 36 00:01:59,643 --> 00:02:02,203 CHEERING 37 00:02:23,763 --> 00:02:27,803 Hans is experimenting with some ideas for the soundtrack of a new 38 00:02:27,803 --> 00:02:30,203 BBC natural history documentary. 39 00:02:37,803 --> 00:02:40,603 MUSIC PLAYS ON COMPUTER 40 00:02:45,043 --> 00:02:49,283 Just trying to get you something that sounds remotely frozen. 41 00:02:56,163 --> 00:02:58,643 I'm using a bit of noise, 42 00:02:58,643 --> 00:03:02,763 make it a bit more tundra-like. 43 00:03:02,763 --> 00:03:04,443 You know, I mean, it's just... 44 00:03:04,443 --> 00:03:11,403 I like the idea that there's like a wind rattling across everything. 45 00:03:14,323 --> 00:03:18,323 LAUGHS: I'm literally making it as we're talking about things! 46 00:03:18,323 --> 00:03:23,403 Er... Let's say... Let's go and use this, too. 47 00:03:25,483 --> 00:03:30,003 It's relatively chilly, but we can make it chillier. 48 00:03:35,603 --> 00:03:37,043 Bit of frozenness. 49 00:03:40,523 --> 00:03:44,563 The problem is that wind across a tundra and bacon frying 50 00:03:44,563 --> 00:03:46,363 are very similar. HE CHUCKLES 51 00:03:48,323 --> 00:03:51,803 ATTENBOROUGH: This is a stronghold for one of Antarctica's 52 00:03:51,803 --> 00:03:53,923 most remarkable inhabitants. 53 00:03:55,323 --> 00:03:57,363 ANIMAL YAWNS 54 00:04:00,043 --> 00:04:04,963 The seriousness and the depth that we bring to this project 55 00:04:04,963 --> 00:04:07,563 comes a lot from me being a kid. 56 00:04:11,683 --> 00:04:15,283 One of my main memories is just shortly before my father's death, 57 00:04:15,283 --> 00:04:18,083 where he took me to the Rhine, 58 00:04:18,083 --> 00:04:20,723 which was completely covered in foam. 59 00:04:22,803 --> 00:04:24,283 And he was explaining to me, 60 00:04:24,283 --> 00:04:26,403 "You know, look, we're destroying the world. 61 00:04:26,403 --> 00:04:29,643 "We now need to go and do something about that." 62 00:04:30,883 --> 00:04:34,483 And I think it hugely influenced me in our work 63 00:04:34,483 --> 00:04:36,523 with Sir David Attenborough. 64 00:04:40,843 --> 00:04:46,243 Hans was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1957 into a Jewish family. 65 00:04:48,043 --> 00:04:52,963 I knew what the Nazis had done to the Jews. 66 00:04:52,963 --> 00:04:56,283 It would be brought up quite a lot. 67 00:04:56,283 --> 00:04:59,923 The fear was that, "You know what? If you tell the neighbours, 68 00:04:59,923 --> 00:05:04,563 "your best friend can turn on you within one moment." 69 00:05:06,843 --> 00:05:10,083 While still a child, Hans's family was torn apart 70 00:05:10,083 --> 00:05:12,203 by a bolt from the blue. 71 00:05:13,083 --> 00:05:16,723 The week before my sixth birthday - 72 00:05:16,723 --> 00:05:18,643 my birthday was on a Sunday - 73 00:05:18,643 --> 00:05:22,163 my dad died on either the Friday or the Saturday. 74 00:05:23,243 --> 00:05:26,163 And on Monday, my mother, who was totally overwhelmed, 75 00:05:26,163 --> 00:05:29,163 basically dropped me off for my first day at school. 76 00:05:29,163 --> 00:05:34,883 It was like, you know, all these kids, terrible teachers 77 00:05:34,883 --> 00:05:36,643 of an older generation. 78 00:05:39,523 --> 00:05:41,923 Then came the moment where she said, 79 00:05:41,923 --> 00:05:43,963 "You know, I think you should have piano lessons. 80 00:05:43,963 --> 00:05:46,043 "Do you want piano lessons?" 81 00:05:46,043 --> 00:05:50,443 And as a six-year-old, seven-year-old, 82 00:05:50,443 --> 00:05:53,843 you think that stuff you hear in your head, 83 00:05:53,843 --> 00:05:56,403 a magical man is going to come 84 00:05:56,403 --> 00:06:00,123 and tell you how to put it under your fingers. 85 00:06:00,123 --> 00:06:02,083 And, of course, that's not at all what happens. 86 00:06:02,083 --> 00:06:06,763 Some horrible German comes who raps you across the knuckles 87 00:06:06,763 --> 00:06:08,603 if you don't play your scales right! 88 00:06:08,603 --> 00:06:10,923 You know, "Read, read, read, read, read!" 89 00:06:10,923 --> 00:06:14,443 And to this day, if you put music in front of me, 90 00:06:14,443 --> 00:06:19,323 it just starts getting wobbly and swimmy and... 91 00:06:19,323 --> 00:06:21,123 ..and defocused. 92 00:06:30,803 --> 00:06:34,123 Despite having only two weeks of formal lessons, 93 00:06:34,123 --> 00:06:36,363 Hans found his home in music. 94 00:06:39,443 --> 00:06:43,483 I play the piano because it put a smile on my mum's face. 95 00:06:45,723 --> 00:06:47,283 It's the only reason. 96 00:06:49,963 --> 00:06:52,523 It's not the only reason - it put a smile on my face, too. 97 00:06:55,883 --> 00:06:59,563 Hans kicked against the rules, not just in learning music 98 00:06:59,563 --> 00:07:01,403 but in everything. 99 00:07:01,403 --> 00:07:04,243 He was thrown out of eight schools in Germany 100 00:07:04,243 --> 00:07:07,643 for not conforming to the strict discipline demanded. 101 00:07:09,123 --> 00:07:11,963 The music teacher threw a chair at me. 102 00:07:11,963 --> 00:07:14,603 I remember that. 103 00:07:14,603 --> 00:07:17,603 He always told stories of his childhood, 104 00:07:17,603 --> 00:07:20,283 all the shenanigans he got into - 105 00:07:20,283 --> 00:07:24,923 crazy thing in boarding school that got you kicked out. 106 00:07:24,923 --> 00:07:28,163 He got kicked out of boarding school quite a few times. 107 00:07:28,163 --> 00:07:31,043 I know my mum was really worried about me. 108 00:07:31,043 --> 00:07:33,243 I think everybody was really worried about me. 109 00:07:35,283 --> 00:07:38,363 In desperation, his mother moved to England, 110 00:07:38,363 --> 00:07:42,163 looking for a more progressive education for him. 111 00:07:42,163 --> 00:07:45,763 She approached a new school - Hurtwood House. 112 00:07:48,003 --> 00:07:53,243 He'd had a very chequered experience with all his previous schools. 113 00:07:53,243 --> 00:07:58,203 CHUCKLES: His mother writes, saying, "You may have noticed that Hans 114 00:07:58,203 --> 00:08:02,843 "has a strong urge for freedom and that he is very impetuous. 115 00:08:02,843 --> 00:08:06,803 "That is a reason why he has come to blows with his educators 116 00:08:06,803 --> 00:08:09,643 "in the past who expected him to conform." 117 00:08:12,403 --> 00:08:15,323 There was that moment after the first term, 118 00:08:15,323 --> 00:08:18,323 where I'm sitting outside the headmaster's office 119 00:08:18,323 --> 00:08:23,443 and she's having the mother/headmaster conversation. 120 00:08:23,443 --> 00:08:26,083 And she comes out and she's crying, 121 00:08:26,083 --> 00:08:31,363 and I'm thinking, "Oh, OK. Here we go again. Next school." 122 00:08:31,363 --> 00:08:33,403 And she walks towards me and she's crying 123 00:08:33,403 --> 00:08:37,363 and she goes, "I don't believe it. He likes you!" 124 00:08:38,683 --> 00:08:41,723 I like to think of Hans as the genius 125 00:08:41,723 --> 00:08:46,603 that the traditional educational system failed to crush. 126 00:08:46,603 --> 00:08:48,283 And if we played a small part in that, 127 00:08:48,283 --> 00:08:50,523 then I'm very proud to have done so. 128 00:08:55,283 --> 00:08:56,643 After leaving school, 129 00:08:56,643 --> 00:08:59,763 Hans immediately joined a band called Krakatoa, 130 00:08:59,763 --> 00:09:02,243 mainly playing working men's clubs. 131 00:09:02,243 --> 00:09:06,683 # Don't apologise It's not your style... # 132 00:09:07,723 --> 00:09:10,843 We were the entertainment nobody listened to. 133 00:09:10,843 --> 00:09:15,123 We were so bad, up north, 134 00:09:15,123 --> 00:09:19,523 we would be the support act to the strippers. 135 00:09:19,523 --> 00:09:23,003 # Treat your mama good... # 136 00:09:23,003 --> 00:09:26,003 And it was interesting because it was the '80s 137 00:09:26,003 --> 00:09:31,083 and it was Margaret Thatcher and it was...coal miners' strike. 138 00:09:33,483 --> 00:09:35,363 Whoa, it was rough up north. 139 00:09:37,523 --> 00:09:41,283 People were so frustrated. 140 00:09:41,283 --> 00:09:44,683 You know, you left London and you entered another world, 141 00:09:44,683 --> 00:09:46,003 you entered another country. 142 00:09:46,003 --> 00:09:49,443 And this country was a country that was desperate and it was poor 143 00:09:49,443 --> 00:09:53,203 and it was everything that you could only imagine of the left behind 144 00:09:53,203 --> 00:09:55,323 and left for forgotten. 145 00:09:55,323 --> 00:09:56,523 And to this day... 146 00:09:58,523 --> 00:10:01,563 ..I have this person I write my music for. 147 00:10:01,563 --> 00:10:03,003 And she's fictitious. 148 00:10:04,203 --> 00:10:07,923 She's called Doris and she lives in Bradford. 149 00:10:07,923 --> 00:10:10,443 She has a grey coat and, you know... 150 00:10:11,563 --> 00:10:14,203 ..is of uncertain age. 151 00:10:14,203 --> 00:10:17,403 She's got two terrible boys. I mean, they're so ill-behaved. 152 00:10:17,403 --> 00:10:20,883 And her hair dye job isn't very good, you know? 153 00:10:20,883 --> 00:10:24,163 And she works really hard throughout the week. 154 00:10:25,123 --> 00:10:27,203 And come the weekend, she has a choice. 155 00:10:27,203 --> 00:10:31,003 She has a choice of going to the pub, having a drink, 156 00:10:31,003 --> 00:10:34,883 or she has a choice of coming and seeing one of our movies. 157 00:10:34,883 --> 00:10:39,363 And she's a hero to me because she works hard. 158 00:10:39,363 --> 00:10:42,803 And so when she comes and sees one of my - our - movies, 159 00:10:42,803 --> 00:10:49,003 I want to make sure that she gets her money's worth and... 160 00:10:49,003 --> 00:10:51,723 I promise you. I mean, every movie, I sit there and I go, 161 00:10:51,723 --> 00:10:53,363 "What would Doris think?" 162 00:10:57,643 --> 00:11:03,363 It's so easy to think about the past in a nostalgic way. 163 00:11:03,363 --> 00:11:04,923 Yeah, I loved it. I loved it. 164 00:11:04,923 --> 00:11:07,403 My friend Warren Cann, drummer from Ultravox, 165 00:11:07,403 --> 00:11:10,243 we decided to do an album together, 166 00:11:10,243 --> 00:11:13,443 which, absolutely, we couldn't give away. 167 00:11:13,443 --> 00:11:15,883 To this day, we couldn't give it away. 168 00:11:15,883 --> 00:11:18,043 Oh, and then we had this crazy idea. 169 00:11:18,043 --> 00:11:21,643 We did a concert at the London Planetarium - 170 00:11:21,643 --> 00:11:24,603 you know, basically, people looking up at the stars 171 00:11:24,603 --> 00:11:27,443 and us playing weird, cosmic music to them 172 00:11:27,443 --> 00:11:29,723 and scaring the children in the process of it. 173 00:11:33,043 --> 00:11:38,043 The 1980s saw a revolution in music, video and film production. 174 00:11:38,043 --> 00:11:40,443 Computers and synthesisers were changing 175 00:11:40,443 --> 00:11:43,723 how music was made and recorded. 176 00:11:43,723 --> 00:11:46,723 Hans saw the potential in all this new technology 177 00:11:46,723 --> 00:11:48,963 and made himself the master of it. 178 00:11:50,843 --> 00:11:53,483 I was seriously into synthesisers 179 00:11:53,483 --> 00:11:57,443 and I was a lot skinnier then as well. 180 00:11:57,443 --> 00:12:03,403 But I still have this, of course, and I still make music with it. 181 00:12:03,403 --> 00:12:07,243 And, you know, that sound that basically pins you into your seat 182 00:12:07,243 --> 00:12:09,323 when you watch Dark Knight? 183 00:12:09,323 --> 00:12:11,323 MUSIC FROM: The Dark Knight by Hans Zimmer 184 00:12:13,963 --> 00:12:15,403 That's that beast. 185 00:12:18,083 --> 00:12:22,883 It was a time where you suddenly could have access to computers, 186 00:12:22,883 --> 00:12:28,043 so the whole idea about doing things on stage was far less exciting 187 00:12:28,043 --> 00:12:32,043 than the idea of "How far could I push this technology?" 188 00:12:35,323 --> 00:12:38,123 Using his know-how of studio technology, 189 00:12:38,123 --> 00:12:41,843 Hans started writing jingles and TV theme tunes, 190 00:12:41,843 --> 00:12:44,763 the first steps on his road to film composing. 191 00:12:44,763 --> 00:12:47,683 # Going for gold! # 192 00:12:47,683 --> 00:12:51,803 # Video killed the radio star... # 193 00:12:51,803 --> 00:12:55,123 He even found time to make a fleeting guest appearance 194 00:12:55,123 --> 00:12:59,083 in the promo for hit song Video Killed The Radio Star 195 00:12:59,083 --> 00:13:00,403 by Buggles. 196 00:13:02,363 --> 00:13:04,683 # Oh Oh, oh... # 197 00:13:04,683 --> 00:13:06,803 EXPLOSION 198 00:13:09,843 --> 00:13:12,923 It was in this unassuming yard in West London 199 00:13:12,923 --> 00:13:17,403 that Hans really began to hone his writing skills. 200 00:13:17,403 --> 00:13:21,043 Together with his friend and mentor, composer Stanley Myers, 201 00:13:21,043 --> 00:13:23,643 he set up his first recording studio. 202 00:13:25,923 --> 00:13:30,563 I mean, you can tell from the glamorous nature of this door 203 00:13:30,563 --> 00:13:33,403 that this is the door that leads directly 204 00:13:33,403 --> 00:13:36,323 to Hollywood, fame and Oscars. 205 00:13:38,123 --> 00:13:39,323 This used to be my studio. 206 00:13:39,323 --> 00:13:42,763 Actually, it wasn't my studio. It was Stanley Myers' and my studio. 207 00:13:42,763 --> 00:13:45,043 Absolutely extraordinary composer. 208 00:13:45,043 --> 00:13:49,283 I mean, everybody owes a lot of things to everybody in life. 209 00:13:50,403 --> 00:13:54,643 My film language, for instance, I very much learned from Stanley. 210 00:13:54,643 --> 00:13:55,843 It's really simple - 211 00:13:55,843 --> 00:14:00,563 if you don't have a tune, you've got nothing to hang on to. 212 00:14:00,563 --> 00:14:04,323 So, this sort of somewhat decrepit building 213 00:14:04,323 --> 00:14:07,323 actually turned out to be a haven for us. 214 00:14:08,683 --> 00:14:11,363 I don't think many people had the sort of idea 215 00:14:11,363 --> 00:14:14,283 that you could go and do film scores 216 00:14:14,283 --> 00:14:19,123 with a little keyboard and not an orchestra, but you could. 217 00:14:22,123 --> 00:14:25,203 I want to be manager of this place. I think I can do it. 218 00:14:25,203 --> 00:14:26,523 Please let me. 219 00:14:26,523 --> 00:14:29,123 Of course, My Beautiful Laundrette, I think, was pretty much 220 00:14:29,123 --> 00:14:30,883 the first thing we did here. 221 00:14:32,963 --> 00:14:37,203 Stanley Myers was doing the music for My Beautiful Laundrette, 222 00:14:37,203 --> 00:14:39,883 and Hans was always in the other room. 223 00:14:39,883 --> 00:14:43,323 So for some reason, that was where you ended up. 224 00:14:43,323 --> 00:14:46,883 Stanley was always in the front room reading the racy news, 225 00:14:46,883 --> 00:14:50,443 and there was clearly a rather clever chap in the back 226 00:14:50,443 --> 00:14:52,843 doing all the work. 227 00:14:52,843 --> 00:14:58,523 A skinny, lanky guy who was German with a little computer thing, 228 00:14:58,523 --> 00:15:01,203 and everyone thought, "What the hell's that?", basically. 229 00:15:01,203 --> 00:15:03,403 And... INDISTINCT 230 00:15:03,403 --> 00:15:07,923 Because... I guess it was electronic, so Hans was doing it 231 00:15:07,923 --> 00:15:11,323 because he knew how to work all those machines 232 00:15:11,323 --> 00:15:13,963 and he knew how to make the eccentric sounds. 233 00:15:15,803 --> 00:15:19,963 Between them, they thought up what the film should sound like. 234 00:15:19,963 --> 00:15:23,523 And it was pretty obvious when it was a Stanley piece - 235 00:15:23,523 --> 00:15:25,763 because it was elegant and beautiful - 236 00:15:25,763 --> 00:15:29,043 and when it was a Hans piece, which was a bit like lead boots. 237 00:15:33,123 --> 00:15:35,563 And it was all rewrites for me. 238 00:15:35,563 --> 00:15:41,523 And Stanley would very gently steer me in the right direction. 239 00:15:43,763 --> 00:15:46,243 He's an incredibly charming man. 240 00:15:46,243 --> 00:15:47,883 And he was just absolutely brilliant 241 00:15:47,883 --> 00:15:51,763 cos he had this new form of, in a funny way, '80s music, 242 00:15:51,763 --> 00:15:54,723 but he also had the wit and the ability to charm 243 00:15:54,723 --> 00:15:57,243 and to be the whole package, as it were. 244 00:15:57,243 --> 00:15:59,963 Without that character, you know, he'd still be a great composer, 245 00:15:59,963 --> 00:16:02,283 but he wouldn't have been the successful composer that he is. 246 00:16:02,283 --> 00:16:03,763 No way. 247 00:16:03,763 --> 00:16:06,043 It was just a weird thing, because, here in England, 248 00:16:06,043 --> 00:16:07,283 you were always an equal. 249 00:16:07,283 --> 00:16:09,643 I mean, you were totally involved in the storytelling, 250 00:16:09,643 --> 00:16:12,483 and that was the thing that I thought was really exciting, 251 00:16:12,483 --> 00:16:15,323 these conversations you are having with film directors, 252 00:16:15,323 --> 00:16:20,763 which were far more up my streets than just playing in a band. 253 00:16:20,763 --> 00:16:24,723 I know that he's the most successful composer in the world, but to me, 254 00:16:24,723 --> 00:16:27,283 he's the boy in the back room. HE LAUGHS 255 00:16:27,283 --> 00:16:28,523 It makes me laugh. 256 00:16:31,803 --> 00:16:36,923 By the late 1980s, Hans was gaining a reputation as a film composer 257 00:16:36,923 --> 00:16:40,003 of British films and TV. 258 00:16:42,123 --> 00:16:44,363 He is developing fast. 259 00:16:44,363 --> 00:16:46,403 Yes. 260 00:16:46,403 --> 00:16:49,083 A knock on the door at Lillie Yard late one night 261 00:16:49,083 --> 00:16:52,883 was going to change his life forever. 262 00:16:52,883 --> 00:16:54,323 You know, 11:00 at night - 263 00:16:54,323 --> 00:16:56,963 musicians' hours, of course we were working. 264 00:16:56,963 --> 00:16:59,083 So I open the door and there's a guy standing there 265 00:16:59,083 --> 00:17:03,883 and he's going, "Hi. My name's Barry Levinson." Pause. 266 00:17:03,883 --> 00:17:05,683 "I'm a Hollywood director." 267 00:17:06,923 --> 00:17:08,323 From the first time I met him, 268 00:17:08,323 --> 00:17:11,883 I thought that he was extremely talented, 269 00:17:13,803 --> 00:17:17,603 and that's before he had worked on any of the music. I just got... 270 00:17:17,603 --> 00:17:21,043 Sometimes you get a feeling with people that you connect. 271 00:17:21,043 --> 00:17:22,163 And he came in, and... 272 00:17:22,163 --> 00:17:24,603 I mean, basically, the bottom line of the story is, 273 00:17:24,603 --> 00:17:29,243 he went, "Do you want to do this film Rain Man that I'm working on?" 274 00:17:29,243 --> 00:17:31,643 And I said, "Yes." 275 00:17:31,643 --> 00:17:33,883 MUSIC FROM: Rain Man by Hans Zimmer 276 00:17:36,563 --> 00:17:39,083 Hans's ideas for Rain Man were unusual 277 00:17:39,083 --> 00:17:42,363 for a traditional American road movie. 278 00:17:42,363 --> 00:17:45,203 There's a tendency to use sort of guitar music, 279 00:17:45,203 --> 00:17:49,163 that type of travelling across country, 280 00:17:49,163 --> 00:17:52,963 and I didn't think it was appropriate for the piece. 281 00:17:52,963 --> 00:17:55,643 And he came up with that sound 282 00:17:55,643 --> 00:17:59,443 which was very unique and very distinctive... 283 00:18:02,203 --> 00:18:05,643 ..and very different than a normal travelling movie. 284 00:18:10,283 --> 00:18:13,563 You know, I'm sure the studio wasn't thrilled because it's like, 285 00:18:13,563 --> 00:18:16,843 "All right, I got somebody, Hans Zimmer," and they're going, "Who?!" 286 00:18:16,843 --> 00:18:20,403 "For this film, you know, we got Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. 287 00:18:20,403 --> 00:18:22,243 "And who is this composer?" 288 00:18:25,523 --> 00:18:30,203 Hans had to relocate to Los Angeles to work on the film. 289 00:18:30,203 --> 00:18:33,043 In terms of the way composers worked in Hollywood, 290 00:18:33,043 --> 00:18:36,003 Hans found it all a bit old-fashioned. 291 00:18:36,003 --> 00:18:41,163 I expected Hollywood to be technologically so advanced. 292 00:18:41,163 --> 00:18:45,843 And I got there and it was like we were in the stone ages. 293 00:18:45,843 --> 00:18:49,683 You know, I brought all this kit and caboodle and electronics 294 00:18:49,683 --> 00:18:52,243 and stuff with me, and I said, "Where do I plug in?" 295 00:18:52,243 --> 00:18:54,163 And they said, "What do you mean, plug in?" 296 00:18:54,163 --> 00:18:56,403 You know, "We still write on paper." 297 00:18:56,403 --> 00:18:58,683 "Oh, OK. That's interesting." 298 00:18:58,683 --> 00:19:01,843 And, I mean, I did Rain Man in Barry Levinson's office... 299 00:19:03,283 --> 00:19:06,363 LAUGHS: ..because I didn't know anybody. 300 00:19:06,363 --> 00:19:09,643 He was literally in the next room working on stuff, and I'd wander in, 301 00:19:09,643 --> 00:19:14,803 and I hear some music and sometimes it begins to feed one another. 302 00:19:14,803 --> 00:19:18,003 So, sometimes, he came up with a piece of music for some section, 303 00:19:18,003 --> 00:19:21,163 and I said, "Gee, I wonder if I could play it over here." 304 00:19:21,163 --> 00:19:24,403 It was sort of non-traditional, in a way, to do it, 305 00:19:24,403 --> 00:19:26,523 but it seemed exciting that way. 306 00:19:35,203 --> 00:19:39,843 For his first Hollywood movie, Hans received an Oscar nomination. 307 00:19:40,963 --> 00:19:45,323 I went for that lunch that they have, the Oscar lunch, 308 00:19:45,323 --> 00:19:49,243 and I picked up, I don't know, five, six, seven. 309 00:19:49,243 --> 00:19:52,323 I mean, I didn't stand up and say, "Anybody got a movie?" 310 00:19:52,323 --> 00:19:56,123 I just sat there and people would come up to me and say, 311 00:19:56,123 --> 00:19:59,163 "Hey, do you wanna do my movie?" 312 00:19:59,163 --> 00:20:01,403 MUSIC FROM: Driving Miss Daisy by Hans Zimmer 313 00:20:05,243 --> 00:20:08,683 The following year, he composed the music for yet another 314 00:20:08,683 --> 00:20:10,083 Oscar-winning film... 315 00:20:11,643 --> 00:20:13,163 ..Driving Miss Daisy. 316 00:20:16,003 --> 00:20:18,723 And then in 1994... 317 00:20:18,723 --> 00:20:21,283 MUSIC: Circle of Life 318 00:20:24,163 --> 00:20:30,403 The first notes that you hear, you're in and it's magic. 319 00:20:34,123 --> 00:20:36,523 And the vocal that you hear with it... 320 00:20:38,763 --> 00:20:42,043 ..poetry. Musical poetry. 321 00:20:46,283 --> 00:20:50,083 The studio had given Hans a strict brief about the opening. 322 00:20:52,403 --> 00:20:55,883 It was supposed to be 20 seconds of Elton's song 323 00:20:55,883 --> 00:20:57,923 and then there was going to be a dialogue scene 324 00:20:57,923 --> 00:20:59,603 and...da-da-da-da, right? 325 00:20:59,603 --> 00:21:01,523 And I forgot about the 20 seconds. 326 00:21:01,523 --> 00:21:05,363 I just got excited about doing the chant with Lebo. 327 00:21:07,043 --> 00:21:10,563 Then I did an arrangement of Elton's tune. 328 00:21:10,563 --> 00:21:11,883 And so I played it to them, 329 00:21:11,883 --> 00:21:15,843 and as I'm playing it to them, I'm going, "Oh, God, I forgot! 330 00:21:15,843 --> 00:21:17,803 "It's supposed to be 20 seconds long, 331 00:21:17,803 --> 00:21:21,043 "and then it's supposed to become a dialogue piece." 332 00:21:21,043 --> 00:21:24,043 And they sort of shuffled off into a corner, 333 00:21:24,043 --> 00:21:25,283 and they're talking. 334 00:21:25,283 --> 00:21:26,923 And I know what they're talking about. 335 00:21:26,923 --> 00:21:29,763 They're talking about, "Who are they going to get to replace me?" 336 00:21:29,763 --> 00:21:31,363 So I'm going over there, and I'm saying, 337 00:21:31,363 --> 00:21:34,043 "Look, guys, I'm really sorry. I can do this thing in 20 seconds." 338 00:21:34,043 --> 00:21:36,683 They're going. "No, no, no! That's not what we're talking about at all. 339 00:21:36,683 --> 00:21:39,603 "We're thinking we're going to go and reanimate the whole opening. 340 00:21:39,603 --> 00:21:42,683 "We're going to take all that dialogue out and da-da-da-da." 341 00:21:44,363 --> 00:21:48,643 It was an experiment, and what's in the movie is my original demo. 342 00:21:52,083 --> 00:21:56,643 The African sounds, 343 00:21:56,643 --> 00:21:59,083 the unique instruments... 344 00:22:01,003 --> 00:22:04,043 ..it's beyond profound. 345 00:22:04,043 --> 00:22:07,523 # The circle of life... # 346 00:22:07,523 --> 00:22:10,123 And the Oscar goes to Hans Zimmer for The Lion King! 347 00:22:10,123 --> 00:22:12,643 CHEERING AND APPLAUSE 348 00:22:13,843 --> 00:22:18,283 So full of life and wonder and beauty. 349 00:22:22,283 --> 00:22:24,203 I wrote a speech, but I realised, "It's so boring," 350 00:22:24,203 --> 00:22:25,363 so I'm not going to do it. 351 00:22:25,363 --> 00:22:27,683 I'd like to thank my wife because she's my best friend. 352 00:22:27,683 --> 00:22:30,163 I'd like to thank my daughter because she now thinks I'm cool 353 00:22:30,163 --> 00:22:33,003 cos I did The Lion King! LAUGHTER 354 00:22:34,163 --> 00:22:35,363 I'm incredibly nervous. 355 00:22:35,363 --> 00:22:37,603 I tell you what - writing a score is much easier than this. 356 00:22:37,603 --> 00:22:39,603 Thank you. Just let me go, OK? 357 00:22:39,603 --> 00:22:41,323 APPLAUSE 358 00:22:42,683 --> 00:22:49,603 I've listened to how many songs of how many scores, and on... 359 00:22:49,603 --> 00:22:50,963 EMPHATIC DRUMBEAT 360 00:22:50,963 --> 00:22:53,203 Exclamation point that is... 361 00:22:55,483 --> 00:22:57,723 ..amazing and a signature of his. 362 00:22:57,723 --> 00:23:02,203 The directors and the producers were coming in and I hadn't finished it, 363 00:23:02,203 --> 00:23:07,883 so that's why that big drum - the "Boing!" - is there, 364 00:23:07,883 --> 00:23:11,003 to distract them from the fact that I hadn't finished the track. 365 00:23:16,203 --> 00:23:20,683 Hans used his mastery of digital technology, especially sampling, 366 00:23:20,683 --> 00:23:26,443 to change the way movie directors collaborated with their composers. 367 00:23:26,443 --> 00:23:30,003 The standard way of working with a director before Hans 368 00:23:30,003 --> 00:23:32,803 is that there was no way to present the music 369 00:23:32,803 --> 00:23:34,403 other than to play it on the piano - 370 00:23:34,403 --> 00:23:37,323 "Here's your theme, and here's where the brass comes in down here, 371 00:23:37,323 --> 00:23:40,563 "and the strings are playing this." 372 00:23:40,563 --> 00:23:44,563 You know, I wasn't as good of a piano player, 373 00:23:44,563 --> 00:23:47,683 but one of the things I figured out really, really quickly, 374 00:23:47,683 --> 00:23:54,203 that the best way to communicate with a film-maker was to play them 375 00:23:54,203 --> 00:23:57,843 like a fake version of the score, a synthesised version of the score. 376 00:24:00,203 --> 00:24:03,723 So basically what you have is you have all the different instruments - 377 00:24:03,723 --> 00:24:06,083 horns, trumpets. 378 00:24:06,083 --> 00:24:08,363 HE PLAYS TRUMPET PART ON SYNTH 379 00:24:10,723 --> 00:24:15,603 Just seeing how Hans was able to manipulate sounds to picture... 380 00:24:15,603 --> 00:24:16,843 Violins... 381 00:24:16,843 --> 00:24:19,883 ..whether it would be a bagpipe or a flute or a guitar, 382 00:24:19,883 --> 00:24:21,883 he kept playing this from the keyboard. 383 00:24:22,843 --> 00:24:25,283 It just fired my imagination. 384 00:24:25,283 --> 00:24:28,563 And I think a lot of us have just followed that lead. 385 00:24:28,563 --> 00:24:31,403 But I do recall him saying to me, you know, 386 00:24:31,403 --> 00:24:34,163 "The way you're going to...get a career here, Harry, 387 00:24:34,163 --> 00:24:38,483 "is your demos are going to sound better than anybody else's." 388 00:24:38,483 --> 00:24:41,883 What else have we got? Lots of percussion. 389 00:24:41,883 --> 00:24:45,323 PERCUSSIVE SOUNDS PLAY 390 00:24:45,323 --> 00:24:47,963 In those days, nobody did it like this other than Hans, you know? 391 00:24:47,963 --> 00:24:49,243 Nobody demoed things. 392 00:24:49,243 --> 00:24:53,803 Nobody, you know, mocked everything up so you could hear it beforehand. 393 00:24:53,803 --> 00:24:56,843 Hans was quite unique that way, and I liked that method. 394 00:24:56,843 --> 00:24:59,763 I loved technology. I loved his way of doing it. 395 00:24:59,763 --> 00:25:02,643 And that's why things changed in film music, 396 00:25:02,643 --> 00:25:04,483 you know, when he came on the scene. 397 00:25:04,483 --> 00:25:08,883 Part of it was the technique he was using, to do it with these demos. 398 00:25:10,363 --> 00:25:15,443 Hans didn't just change the way composers use technology, 399 00:25:15,443 --> 00:25:18,603 he developed a sound that influenced a whole generation 400 00:25:18,603 --> 00:25:21,243 of movie composers and directors. 401 00:25:27,403 --> 00:25:30,043 I'm fascinated by the idea of time. 402 00:25:31,483 --> 00:25:35,163 The ticking happens a lot in my stuff. 403 00:25:35,163 --> 00:25:38,563 Rather than going for a groovy rhythm, 404 00:25:38,563 --> 00:25:41,003 it's ticking without accents. 405 00:25:42,963 --> 00:25:48,123 It doesn't give the game away, where the next part or the next cut is. 406 00:25:48,123 --> 00:25:53,843 It just is like a river flowing. And it sort of takes you on a journey. 407 00:25:56,163 --> 00:25:59,123 In his score for the film The Thin Red Line, 408 00:25:59,123 --> 00:26:02,523 he developed a technique of building an incredible tension 409 00:26:02,523 --> 00:26:04,043 over very long scenes. 410 00:26:05,603 --> 00:26:11,643 What it got was this incredible sort of feeling of fate and dread. 411 00:26:11,643 --> 00:26:13,323 It really was unique at the time. 412 00:26:13,323 --> 00:26:15,803 There's not really anything that quite does that. 413 00:26:17,803 --> 00:26:19,283 He's very influential. 414 00:26:19,283 --> 00:26:22,443 It's part of the language of film-making now. 415 00:26:23,563 --> 00:26:25,323 I completely ripped him off on that. 416 00:26:25,323 --> 00:26:28,563 I've ripped him off on other times, and then other times... 417 00:26:28,563 --> 00:26:30,443 I mean, there's probably a few little moments 418 00:26:30,443 --> 00:26:32,643 where he's ripped me off back. 419 00:26:34,003 --> 00:26:36,803 It was everything that music school tells you you can't do. 420 00:26:36,803 --> 00:26:38,443 So there was the... 421 00:26:39,923 --> 00:26:42,403 You're not supposed to do parallel things. 422 00:26:42,403 --> 00:26:46,403 And they're all minors. And it's asymmetrical. 423 00:26:51,443 --> 00:26:53,723 You know, music school will teach you 424 00:26:53,723 --> 00:26:57,523 you're not supposed to do things in these sort of parallels. 425 00:26:57,523 --> 00:27:00,683 They're not chords. A chord needs three notes. 426 00:27:00,683 --> 00:27:02,483 This is two notes, always. 427 00:27:03,923 --> 00:27:07,763 And it just sort of meanders in this... 428 00:27:07,763 --> 00:27:11,803 ..while this note always stays... 429 00:27:11,803 --> 00:27:14,043 HE PLAYS KEYBOARD 430 00:27:15,483 --> 00:27:19,123 So, you get these really interesting clashes. 431 00:27:21,403 --> 00:27:26,443 And it became a sort of... A new language in film. 432 00:27:26,443 --> 00:27:28,683 MUSIC FROM: The Thin Red Line by Hans Zimmer 433 00:27:53,803 --> 00:27:56,603 By the 2000s, Hans had established himself 434 00:27:56,603 --> 00:27:59,283 as one of the top composers in Hollywood. 435 00:28:01,203 --> 00:28:04,843 He was always looking for a new way of doing things. 436 00:28:06,283 --> 00:28:08,923 Along with his business partner Steve Kofsky, 437 00:28:08,923 --> 00:28:11,803 he built a studio complex in Santa Monica, 438 00:28:11,803 --> 00:28:14,003 expanding it over several decades, 439 00:28:14,003 --> 00:28:18,363 where teams of composers and sound technicians work on movies, 440 00:28:18,363 --> 00:28:20,643 TV shows and documentaries. 441 00:28:21,883 --> 00:28:23,963 In these control rooms, this is where we've mixed 442 00:28:23,963 --> 00:28:25,763 some of the biggest movies you've heard. 443 00:28:25,763 --> 00:28:28,083 I mean, all the major motion pictures that Hans has worked on 444 00:28:28,083 --> 00:28:29,603 have been mixed here. 445 00:28:29,603 --> 00:28:31,043 Hello, boys. Hi. 446 00:28:31,043 --> 00:28:32,843 What are you guys working on at the moment? 447 00:28:32,843 --> 00:28:35,923 Erm... His Dark Materials, Wheel Of Time. 448 00:28:37,323 --> 00:28:39,363 We did all the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. 449 00:28:39,363 --> 00:28:41,003 Yeah, we've done Spider-Man. 450 00:28:41,003 --> 00:28:43,763 We've done all the major tent pole movies, as well as, obviously, 451 00:28:43,763 --> 00:28:45,883 some independent pictures like 12 Years A Slave 452 00:28:45,883 --> 00:28:46,883 and things like that. 453 00:28:46,883 --> 00:28:48,123 Hello, Steven. 454 00:28:48,123 --> 00:28:50,523 People here get the opportunity to rub shoulders 455 00:28:50,523 --> 00:28:52,083 with the right kind of directors. 456 00:28:52,083 --> 00:28:53,963 I mean, you know, guys actually sit in meetings. 457 00:28:53,963 --> 00:28:55,123 You know, Hans brings... 458 00:28:55,123 --> 00:28:57,563 Whoever's working on the project with Hans, for example, 459 00:28:57,563 --> 00:28:58,763 will be in a meeting. 460 00:28:58,763 --> 00:29:02,163 This was your big idea, so I just want to make sure 461 00:29:02,163 --> 00:29:03,763 I don't destroy it. 462 00:29:03,763 --> 00:29:06,003 The beauty of the old show was it was full... 463 00:29:06,003 --> 00:29:09,403 He wasn't afraid to bring in his team into a meeting. 464 00:29:09,403 --> 00:29:10,523 Don't break it. 465 00:29:10,523 --> 00:29:13,043 There's always been ghost-writers in films, 466 00:29:13,043 --> 00:29:15,883 but Hans opened up the door to all of his assistants... 467 00:29:15,883 --> 00:29:17,763 INDISTINCT CONVERSATION 468 00:29:17,763 --> 00:29:20,043 ..who were able to experience the meeting 469 00:29:20,043 --> 00:29:23,483 and take that for their own careers moving forward. 470 00:29:23,483 --> 00:29:26,523 I should know these terms by now, but I'll never learn! 471 00:29:26,523 --> 00:29:30,563 Hans wanted his place to be a magnet for young composing talent... 472 00:29:30,563 --> 00:29:32,563 Let's start with a slow one first. OK. 473 00:29:32,563 --> 00:29:34,643 ..a talent he was keen to promote. 474 00:29:34,643 --> 00:29:36,283 We're going to explore a few options, 475 00:29:36,283 --> 00:29:38,763 but I just want you to do your thing. OK. 476 00:29:38,763 --> 00:29:39,803 I'm ready! 477 00:29:41,523 --> 00:29:43,883 There's lots of things about being a composer, 478 00:29:43,883 --> 00:29:45,483 but being in groups is not one of them. 479 00:29:45,483 --> 00:29:47,843 I mean, they are a very solitary lot. 480 00:29:47,843 --> 00:29:51,923 We sit alone and just ponder our navels an awful lot and work, 481 00:29:51,923 --> 00:29:55,723 so being in a group of composers was very interesting. 482 00:29:57,163 --> 00:30:00,443 This is where those people said they don't have enough to do 483 00:30:00,443 --> 00:30:04,803 and they can... They can spend hours eating and... Go and work! 484 00:30:04,803 --> 00:30:09,203 The number of people that were spawned by his career is amazing. 485 00:30:09,203 --> 00:30:13,443 I wouldn't be sitting here if it weren't for Hans. It's obvious. 486 00:30:13,443 --> 00:30:17,003 Are you wearing white socks yet? No. Just checking! 487 00:30:17,003 --> 00:30:18,403 I think from his own experience, 488 00:30:18,403 --> 00:30:22,123 of him having worked up from being assistants 489 00:30:22,123 --> 00:30:24,523 and making coffee and things like that, 490 00:30:24,523 --> 00:30:27,203 I think he knows how important it is to sort of make sure 491 00:30:27,203 --> 00:30:29,283 that everyone feels included. 492 00:30:29,283 --> 00:30:33,123 That's Alan. He's from Brooklyn. I don't hold that against him. 493 00:30:33,123 --> 00:30:34,323 Go, Giants! 494 00:30:34,323 --> 00:30:38,003 You know, Hollywood is a hard place and nobody gives you a chance. 495 00:30:38,003 --> 00:30:42,123 And I was given a chance by Barry Levinson all these years ago. 496 00:30:42,123 --> 00:30:44,723 You know, he could have had any composer he wanted for Rain Man 497 00:30:44,723 --> 00:30:46,563 and, you know, he gave the job to me. 498 00:30:46,563 --> 00:30:49,923 And somehow I'm trying to keep that idea going 499 00:30:49,923 --> 00:30:51,923 and have other people come in here 500 00:30:51,923 --> 00:30:53,883 and see if we can't give them a chance. 501 00:30:56,883 --> 00:31:01,243 At the centre of the complex lies Hans's studio, 502 00:31:01,243 --> 00:31:05,203 an extension of his own personality. 503 00:31:05,203 --> 00:31:08,563 I... As a European working in America, 504 00:31:08,563 --> 00:31:12,123 I miss a Europe that doesn't actually exist any more. 505 00:31:14,363 --> 00:31:17,523 And I myself had these doubts about staying here, you know? 506 00:31:17,523 --> 00:31:20,243 And I wanted to go... I wanted to go back to Europe. 507 00:31:20,243 --> 00:31:22,683 And I thought, "Hang on. This is Hollywood. 508 00:31:22,683 --> 00:31:26,763 "You know, you can be and build whatever you want to do." 509 00:31:26,763 --> 00:31:31,323 So...I was very precise about my thinking about this room... 510 00:31:32,763 --> 00:31:36,203 ..even though it just sort of looks like some crazed German 511 00:31:36,203 --> 00:31:37,523 tossed it together... 512 00:31:38,683 --> 00:31:43,003 ..because I knew I was going to spend 90%, probably, of my life 513 00:31:43,003 --> 00:31:43,963 in this room. 514 00:31:45,923 --> 00:31:49,723 I thought I might as well have some fun with it and do something 515 00:31:49,723 --> 00:31:55,163 which lets people speak their mind, you know? A room that is safe. 516 00:31:56,723 --> 00:32:00,683 Hans works in a space that removes you from the world. 517 00:32:00,683 --> 00:32:03,323 You've never been in a space like it. 518 00:32:03,323 --> 00:32:07,403 It's always been fun to hang out there, sometimes watch him suffer, 519 00:32:07,403 --> 00:32:10,523 have a glass of wine while he suffers. 520 00:32:10,523 --> 00:32:17,083 The environment inside his studio is so alive 521 00:32:17,083 --> 00:32:21,163 with exploration and discovery that it's a blast. 522 00:32:22,363 --> 00:32:26,083 You know, the sort of samurai thing, and it's really kind of, you know... 523 00:32:26,083 --> 00:32:29,403 This room is like a Buddhist sort of... Old Buddhist temple. 524 00:32:29,403 --> 00:32:32,203 And...what else? The keyboard and whatnot, you know? 525 00:32:32,203 --> 00:32:35,403 And you just sit on a nice couch and you just feel it, 526 00:32:35,403 --> 00:32:38,083 you talk about it, you feel it, you talk about it, you feel it, 527 00:32:38,083 --> 00:32:40,683 you talk about it. And he's on the keys. He's on the keys, he's feeling it. 528 00:32:40,683 --> 00:32:43,723 You know, he's almost, like, having the conversation with the keys as you talk about it. 529 00:32:43,723 --> 00:32:47,443 And then you find, "Hey, hey, hey, what's that? What's that? What's that note? Do that again. 530 00:32:47,443 --> 00:32:50,163 "Is this written down? OK, it's being recorded. 531 00:32:50,163 --> 00:32:52,523 "OK, it's being recorded. OK." 532 00:32:52,523 --> 00:32:56,803 He doesn't want to read a script. So he... It's... 533 00:32:56,803 --> 00:32:59,403 You know, it's like being psychoanalysed. 534 00:32:59,403 --> 00:33:03,643 He wants to... You know, he wants me to tell him the story. 535 00:33:03,643 --> 00:33:05,883 Because we had talked about that... 536 00:33:05,883 --> 00:33:10,323 Not only tell him the story but, like, "Why must I tell the story?" 537 00:33:12,043 --> 00:33:14,203 It's about getting the big picture. 538 00:33:14,203 --> 00:33:17,243 It's about figuring out what moves somebody, 539 00:33:17,243 --> 00:33:19,683 what doesn't move somebody. It's about playfulness. 540 00:33:19,683 --> 00:33:20,843 Right... 541 00:33:20,843 --> 00:33:23,963 That's why I don't take notes. 542 00:33:23,963 --> 00:33:26,963 Why take notes? You know, we'll just record it. 543 00:33:26,963 --> 00:33:28,643 We'll just listen to it afterwards. 544 00:33:28,643 --> 00:33:31,483 OK, this part of our meeting... 545 00:33:31,483 --> 00:33:34,323 There's nothing that stops playfulness more than 546 00:33:34,323 --> 00:33:36,723 seeing somebody taking notes. 547 00:33:36,723 --> 00:33:40,003 You know, suddenly it's the job. 548 00:33:40,003 --> 00:33:41,643 And he asks all kinds of questions, you know? 549 00:33:41,643 --> 00:33:43,243 And I think he's searching for an angle. 550 00:33:43,243 --> 00:33:45,283 And then at some point he'll be like, "That's it." 551 00:33:45,283 --> 00:33:47,883 "Womp, womp, womp..." Instead of... HE HUMS RHYTHM 552 00:33:49,763 --> 00:33:53,403 In the case of Pirates, it was... He was technically unavailable, 553 00:33:53,403 --> 00:33:56,883 but I really think he just thought it was a failed endeavour 554 00:33:56,883 --> 00:34:00,283 from the outset. Just the genre, just a pirate movie, was like, 555 00:34:00,283 --> 00:34:03,883 "What are you doing?" Like, "Pass!" You know, but in a nice way. 556 00:34:03,883 --> 00:34:05,603 Like, "I'm doing Mission: Impossible. 557 00:34:05,603 --> 00:34:08,443 "I can't do your pirate movie." And so... 558 00:34:08,443 --> 00:34:10,563 So when we were done editing, I brought it to him 559 00:34:10,563 --> 00:34:11,683 and played it to him. 560 00:34:11,683 --> 00:34:15,523 And I think he sort of shifted and he started playing at 561 00:34:15,523 --> 00:34:17,963 that little... HE HUMS TUNE 562 00:34:22,883 --> 00:34:24,883 They had fired the original composer... 563 00:34:24,883 --> 00:34:26,723 That's very interesting. 564 00:34:26,723 --> 00:34:29,603 ..and we had three weeks to finish the score. 565 00:34:29,603 --> 00:34:34,603 So, Hans went home and started writing. 566 00:34:36,483 --> 00:34:39,283 And he wrote all the themes overnight. 567 00:34:45,003 --> 00:34:48,443 And then we talked, you know, at length about, 568 00:34:48,443 --> 00:34:49,803 like, the drunken waltz. 569 00:34:49,803 --> 00:34:52,883 Like, "Why is Jack like that with his sea legs?" 570 00:34:52,883 --> 00:34:54,083 What is that? Sort of... 571 00:34:54,083 --> 00:34:56,563 It's not just a waltz, it's a kind of slurred waltz. 572 00:35:00,003 --> 00:35:01,603 Keep a sharp eye. 573 00:35:01,603 --> 00:35:03,643 HANS PLAYS KEYBOARD 574 00:35:05,123 --> 00:35:10,163 So, the character of Jack Sparrow is... 575 00:35:10,163 --> 00:35:12,003 HE PLAYS MOTIF 576 00:35:13,243 --> 00:35:16,363 The notes go up positive. 577 00:35:18,483 --> 00:35:20,763 Sort of, you know, the innocence. 578 00:35:20,763 --> 00:35:23,203 There's like an innocence, hope, and... 579 00:35:23,203 --> 00:35:27,483 You know, it's like, "Oh, I can go and do anything, right?" 580 00:35:27,483 --> 00:35:29,843 Now... HE PLAYS NEXT PASSAGE 581 00:35:29,843 --> 00:35:31,883 ..this bit... 582 00:35:34,523 --> 00:35:36,563 ..is a bit naughty, right? 583 00:35:39,323 --> 00:35:40,963 That's the wrong chord. 584 00:35:40,963 --> 00:35:44,723 So, you go from naughty to, you know, he's doing something. 585 00:35:44,723 --> 00:35:49,203 It's still... It's still benign, but it's definitely the wrong chord. 586 00:35:49,203 --> 00:35:51,643 HE PLAYS NEXT PASSAGE 587 00:35:51,643 --> 00:35:56,363 Here we are. We're back on the safety of the optimism, 588 00:35:56,363 --> 00:36:00,203 but...the devil's fifth... 589 00:36:01,363 --> 00:36:03,003 ..to a minor chord. 590 00:36:03,003 --> 00:36:06,843 So, that's part of his character. He is definitely naughty. 591 00:36:08,083 --> 00:36:11,483 And then he does something unexpected. 592 00:36:13,163 --> 00:36:15,763 He changes key right in the middle of the phrase, 593 00:36:15,763 --> 00:36:17,203 but only for one second. 594 00:36:17,203 --> 00:36:19,523 HE PLAYS CHORD 595 00:36:20,683 --> 00:36:23,283 And it resolves in a sort of classical way, 596 00:36:23,283 --> 00:36:24,843 which is really a lie... 597 00:36:27,243 --> 00:36:31,323 ..because he goes to something even naughtier, etc, etc. 598 00:36:31,323 --> 00:36:36,323 So each phrase is part of his... I'm describing his character. 599 00:36:36,323 --> 00:36:39,843 MUSIC FROM: Pirates Of The Caribbean by Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer 600 00:36:39,843 --> 00:36:42,283 HE HUMS MELODY 601 00:36:44,603 --> 00:36:49,283 It kind of rolls like you're on the deck of a boat. 602 00:36:49,283 --> 00:36:52,563 Boat and rum make for unsteady rhythms. 603 00:37:00,283 --> 00:37:02,643 Arriving on a sinking dinghy, 604 00:37:02,643 --> 00:37:05,723 that's the fanfare that he travels with - 605 00:37:05,723 --> 00:37:08,203 "I bring with me my own soundtrack." 606 00:37:09,843 --> 00:37:12,283 He's still the greatest pirate of the seven seas. 607 00:37:16,323 --> 00:37:19,083 That allows the music to be quite big... 608 00:37:20,723 --> 00:37:22,803 ..because it's consistent with that character. 609 00:37:22,803 --> 00:37:24,443 It's what he's hearing. 610 00:37:32,163 --> 00:37:33,723 APPLAUSE 611 00:37:35,003 --> 00:37:37,243 And it was just fun to do. 612 00:37:37,243 --> 00:37:39,283 It's not clever. It's just fun. 613 00:37:39,283 --> 00:37:41,083 Yes! 614 00:37:41,083 --> 00:37:46,283 I think Hans has an approach which I wouldn't call unifying, 615 00:37:46,283 --> 00:37:49,203 but I do recognise it over and over again. 616 00:37:51,083 --> 00:37:56,323 It's this great ability to build a theme. 617 00:37:57,763 --> 00:37:59,163 In The Da Vinci Code, 618 00:37:59,163 --> 00:38:03,643 Hans refined the technique he pioneered in The Thin Red Line 619 00:38:03,643 --> 00:38:08,723 of using a small number of notes to create complex, driving themes. 620 00:38:10,643 --> 00:38:12,523 I mean, this is so simple. 621 00:38:12,523 --> 00:38:14,923 The simpler these things are, the more I fear 622 00:38:14,923 --> 00:38:16,683 I'm going to get found out. 623 00:38:16,683 --> 00:38:21,563 I mean, look, I can't think of any artist who doesn't think, 624 00:38:21,563 --> 00:38:24,763 "They're going to catch me at it. They're going to find out." 625 00:38:27,803 --> 00:38:31,483 You get some very simple notes that inspire other simple notes 626 00:38:31,483 --> 00:38:36,243 that go with it, and you can go and play with these rounds. 627 00:38:39,803 --> 00:38:44,483 It's not easy, but it's incredibly powerful and stirring. 628 00:38:46,123 --> 00:38:48,843 That's one of his patterns that you will see - 629 00:38:48,843 --> 00:38:52,523 and with different kinds of themes, different sorts of tunes. 630 00:38:52,523 --> 00:38:54,243 Some of them are just one or two notes. 631 00:38:54,243 --> 00:38:56,843 Some are very melodic, like this one. 632 00:38:57,963 --> 00:39:01,123 But getting that music through repetition... 633 00:39:02,763 --> 00:39:05,003 ..to sort of evolve into something... 634 00:39:06,043 --> 00:39:08,043 ..go from one place to another, 635 00:39:08,043 --> 00:39:11,723 well, that's what every movie wants to be is a journey. 636 00:39:11,723 --> 00:39:14,723 And, you know, his cues often convey that. 637 00:39:19,803 --> 00:39:21,523 It's a journey. It takes you on a journey, 638 00:39:21,523 --> 00:39:24,083 and you add experiences every time round. 639 00:39:24,083 --> 00:39:25,923 I mean, you've heard it, 640 00:39:25,923 --> 00:39:30,723 so now you need to add another layer of experience, 641 00:39:30,723 --> 00:39:33,243 a layer of time, layer of something to it. 642 00:39:33,243 --> 00:39:35,443 MUSIC FROM: The Da Vinci Code by Hans Zimmer 643 00:39:49,523 --> 00:39:53,283 This technique of creating longer themes that build and build 644 00:39:53,283 --> 00:39:55,963 found their ultimate expression in the films 645 00:39:55,963 --> 00:39:58,323 of one of Hans's key collaborators. 646 00:40:01,043 --> 00:40:04,323 I've never liked music that feels layered onto the movie, 647 00:40:04,323 --> 00:40:06,563 like sauce going onto a piece of meat. 648 00:40:06,563 --> 00:40:11,163 You know, to me, good film music really should be baked into the DNA 649 00:40:11,163 --> 00:40:15,883 of what the actual film is and woven into the fabric of the film itself. 650 00:40:15,883 --> 00:40:19,123 And Hans was very on board with that process. 651 00:40:20,163 --> 00:40:21,963 There's certain things which... 652 00:40:21,963 --> 00:40:25,483 I know they're good ideas, but I'm not good enough to do them yet, 653 00:40:25,483 --> 00:40:28,563 so I use the next movie to actually go 654 00:40:28,563 --> 00:40:31,323 and get a little bit better at them. 655 00:40:34,203 --> 00:40:36,163 Hans's work with Nolan would result in 656 00:40:36,163 --> 00:40:39,043 some of his most memorable scores, 657 00:40:39,043 --> 00:40:43,123 involving war movies, dream-stealers... 658 00:40:44,123 --> 00:40:46,363 ..and superheroes. 659 00:40:46,363 --> 00:40:48,603 It's not who I am underneath... 660 00:40:49,563 --> 00:40:50,603 ..but what I do... 661 00:40:51,843 --> 00:40:53,083 ..that defines me. 662 00:40:54,483 --> 00:40:57,723 What he was doing on Batman Begins is he was distilling the essence of 663 00:40:57,723 --> 00:41:02,203 this great icon, not into a complex melody, 664 00:41:02,203 --> 00:41:08,483 into an idea of almost the sound effects approach of these bat flaps, 665 00:41:08,483 --> 00:41:11,043 these kind of big whooshes of noise. 666 00:41:17,043 --> 00:41:18,883 Literally two notes, 667 00:41:18,883 --> 00:41:23,563 but the recording process that went into that - the layering process, 668 00:41:23,563 --> 00:41:27,243 the hundreds and hundreds of tracks of sound 669 00:41:27,243 --> 00:41:31,883 that is supporting that, musically and harmonically and all the rest, 670 00:41:31,883 --> 00:41:35,723 and the different combinations that allowed from us - is extraordinary. 671 00:41:43,323 --> 00:41:47,203 At times, the music is very, very minimal, 672 00:41:47,203 --> 00:41:51,803 but the production methodology is always extremely expansive 673 00:41:51,803 --> 00:41:55,603 and full of design ideas and imagination. 674 00:41:56,643 --> 00:41:58,363 HE PLAYS EXCERPT 675 00:42:00,563 --> 00:42:04,163 I mean, that's nothing, right? And then the theme is... 676 00:42:04,163 --> 00:42:06,443 HE PLAYS THEME 677 00:42:08,803 --> 00:42:10,603 It's two notes, right? 678 00:42:11,643 --> 00:42:13,083 That's it. 679 00:42:13,083 --> 00:42:15,523 And only at the end does it break. 680 00:42:15,523 --> 00:42:18,403 And it goes... Still the same two notes. 681 00:42:20,843 --> 00:42:23,723 And it becomes triumphant for one moment... 682 00:42:25,323 --> 00:42:28,763 but before it recedes back into darkness. 683 00:42:28,763 --> 00:42:31,403 You know, just for one moment, you can see... 684 00:42:31,403 --> 00:42:32,963 You know, quite... INDISTINCT 685 00:42:35,283 --> 00:42:39,323 He's fascinated just by sound itself, 686 00:42:39,323 --> 00:42:42,363 beyond the emotional qualities of music. 687 00:42:42,363 --> 00:42:47,443 He has the best samples, for example, of anyone in the world, 688 00:42:47,443 --> 00:42:50,043 but he continually strives to improve them. 689 00:42:55,763 --> 00:42:58,283 When it came to The Joker Suite, I remember talking to him. 690 00:42:58,283 --> 00:43:01,643 He was like, "I'm convinced that the Joker should be a piece of music", 691 00:43:01,643 --> 00:43:04,723 and started from one note. I was like, "Oh, God, here we go!" 692 00:43:04,723 --> 00:43:06,923 You know, but if anyone could do it, it would be... 693 00:43:06,923 --> 00:43:09,563 That's more the thought of an inventor. Do you see what I mean? 694 00:43:09,563 --> 00:43:11,403 Come on, come on! I want you to do it. 695 00:43:11,403 --> 00:43:13,643 I want you to do it. Come on, hit me. Come on, hit me! 696 00:43:13,643 --> 00:43:16,403 There's something anarchic about the Joker. 697 00:43:16,403 --> 00:43:18,483 Hit me! 698 00:43:18,483 --> 00:43:20,363 By the time I'd bumped into me again, he was like, 699 00:43:20,363 --> 00:43:23,563 "I think I have to concede - it has to be two notes." 700 00:43:23,563 --> 00:43:25,203 So, he spent ages on this, 701 00:43:25,203 --> 00:43:27,763 and it became the iconic, sort of distorted violin thing 702 00:43:27,763 --> 00:43:29,803 that's just the two notes going... HE HUMS 703 00:43:31,003 --> 00:43:35,563 I thought that Joker was the most interesting character in that movie. 704 00:43:35,563 --> 00:43:37,843 He was always in control of the situation 705 00:43:37,843 --> 00:43:41,803 and was the only one who always spoke the truth. 706 00:43:41,803 --> 00:43:45,723 And then this idea of these endless rises that start in one pitch 707 00:43:45,723 --> 00:43:50,163 and just climb and climb and climb and climb and climb. 708 00:43:50,163 --> 00:43:53,203 ELECTRICAL JOLT, JOKER LAUGHS 709 00:43:53,203 --> 00:43:56,163 JOKER LAUGHS, FLUTTERS LIPS 710 00:43:56,163 --> 00:43:57,523 Come on! 711 00:43:57,523 --> 00:44:02,803 This idea of just a one-note metamorphosising 712 00:44:02,803 --> 00:44:07,283 in this absolute incredible... And very quietly as well. 713 00:44:07,283 --> 00:44:11,483 I wanted you to lean in a little bit to pick it out. 714 00:44:11,483 --> 00:44:14,203 I wanted you to lean into the darkness. 715 00:44:14,203 --> 00:44:15,603 Could you please just give me a minute?! 716 00:44:15,603 --> 00:44:18,803 That, to me, is something no-one had really ever done. 717 00:44:18,803 --> 00:44:22,643 You had people who wrote extremely note-y symphonic music 718 00:44:22,643 --> 00:44:26,563 and you had, like, rock guys who just about crossed over enough 719 00:44:26,563 --> 00:44:29,203 to be able to scramble together a film score, 720 00:44:29,203 --> 00:44:32,843 but to have someone sort of right in the middle 721 00:44:32,843 --> 00:44:37,323 who could sort of steal the underlying structural techniques 722 00:44:37,323 --> 00:44:41,163 of modern popular music and then understand enough of 723 00:44:41,163 --> 00:44:43,523 all the vocabulary of all sorts of different kinds of, 724 00:44:43,523 --> 00:44:47,323 and often symphonic, music and sort of put that together. 725 00:44:49,123 --> 00:44:50,523 People don't even need to think about this 726 00:44:50,523 --> 00:44:51,883 when they're watching a movie, 727 00:44:51,883 --> 00:44:55,163 but it's one of the reasons that he's able to deliver 728 00:44:55,163 --> 00:44:57,323 so much of the feeling you need and the storytelling 729 00:44:57,323 --> 00:45:00,483 without being invasive and fussy and pompous. 730 00:45:03,923 --> 00:45:05,363 The more I worked with Hans, 731 00:45:05,363 --> 00:45:09,163 the more I realised the value of his creative contributions 732 00:45:09,163 --> 00:45:12,683 to the conceptual underpinnings of what the films could be. 733 00:45:14,283 --> 00:45:16,083 With prompting from Nolan, 734 00:45:16,083 --> 00:45:19,403 Hans developed radical new ways of scoring a movie. 735 00:45:21,043 --> 00:45:25,803 With Interstellar, I actually got him to do his first demo 736 00:45:25,803 --> 00:45:28,523 on the basis of a short letter that I wrote him, 737 00:45:28,523 --> 00:45:31,763 explaining the feelings, the sort of fable 738 00:45:31,763 --> 00:45:33,563 at the heart of what the film was going to be 739 00:45:33,563 --> 00:45:35,323 without even telling him the genre. 740 00:45:35,323 --> 00:45:38,163 And I did that while I was writing the script. 741 00:45:40,923 --> 00:45:43,763 I gave him one day to give me his first impression 742 00:45:43,763 --> 00:45:45,763 of the emotions I was talking about. 743 00:45:45,763 --> 00:45:48,003 And what he did for me in that one day 744 00:45:48,003 --> 00:45:50,283 became the basis of the entire score. 745 00:45:53,283 --> 00:45:57,763 Chris made me write this whole score away from picture. 746 00:45:57,763 --> 00:45:59,603 It was a good experiment. 747 00:46:01,203 --> 00:46:03,643 I was writing freely. 748 00:46:03,643 --> 00:46:08,523 You know, I wasn't a slave to the edit, as it were. 749 00:46:08,523 --> 00:46:12,563 He stopped writing pieces of music that are integral to the structure 750 00:46:12,563 --> 00:46:15,043 of the film, and he started just writing music 751 00:46:15,043 --> 00:46:16,803 and not watching the picture. 752 00:46:16,803 --> 00:46:19,883 So, he would create a 35-minute piece 753 00:46:19,883 --> 00:46:21,563 that he would try against picture 754 00:46:21,563 --> 00:46:24,163 and it would inform, then, the process. 755 00:46:25,843 --> 00:46:28,443 By writing these big, long pieces of music, 756 00:46:28,443 --> 00:46:31,083 it gives you more of a sense of what the picture is 757 00:46:31,083 --> 00:46:33,083 and how the music can help it. 758 00:46:38,203 --> 00:46:41,003 A couple months ago, I was rewatching the movie with my friends 759 00:46:41,003 --> 00:46:43,483 and we're all sobbing. 760 00:46:45,403 --> 00:46:49,763 And I realised that the way that my friends were experiencing the movie 761 00:46:49,763 --> 00:46:52,123 was completely different from how I was, 762 00:46:52,123 --> 00:46:56,683 because I was able to hear how my father loves, 763 00:46:56,683 --> 00:47:00,123 you know, because that movie is about a father and a daughter. 764 00:47:00,123 --> 00:47:04,603 And to be able to hear how my father loves and how he sees his children, 765 00:47:04,603 --> 00:47:07,323 I think, is probably the greatest privilege of my life. 766 00:47:08,643 --> 00:47:11,283 He worked really, really hard. 767 00:47:11,283 --> 00:47:14,163 You'd catch him in the mornings, catch him at night. 768 00:47:14,163 --> 00:47:18,163 But throughout the day, every single day, he was working. 769 00:47:21,123 --> 00:47:23,883 Yeah, I'm glad that he takes more breaks now, 770 00:47:23,883 --> 00:47:27,803 not just for us to be able to spend time with him 771 00:47:27,803 --> 00:47:29,563 but also for himself. 772 00:47:30,803 --> 00:47:34,043 Because he hasn't been around in my life - 773 00:47:34,043 --> 00:47:37,403 and the life of his children - all too much, 774 00:47:37,403 --> 00:47:39,083 he's tried to really make up for it. 775 00:47:40,843 --> 00:47:44,203 I think every parent comes with flaws, 776 00:47:44,203 --> 00:47:49,683 but he's really tried to show us how he can love. 777 00:47:49,683 --> 00:47:54,363 He doesn't always say it, but he shows us with his gestures. 778 00:47:54,363 --> 00:47:56,763 He tells you with his eyes, "I understand. 779 00:47:57,923 --> 00:47:59,483 "I'm here. 780 00:47:59,483 --> 00:48:02,643 "I'm sorry I wasn't earlier, but I'm here now." 781 00:48:11,203 --> 00:48:13,443 Having conquered the world of superheroes 782 00:48:13,443 --> 00:48:18,043 and science fiction epics, Hans was on the lookout for new collaborators 783 00:48:18,043 --> 00:48:20,603 and new projects. 784 00:48:20,603 --> 00:48:22,603 He sought one out. 785 00:48:22,603 --> 00:48:26,563 It was a world away from Hollywood blockbusters. 786 00:48:26,563 --> 00:48:28,483 I made a film called Shame. 787 00:48:28,483 --> 00:48:30,683 And there was a piece of music, there was a little temp music 788 00:48:30,683 --> 00:48:33,963 we were using, called Hans Zimmer. It was close to him, 789 00:48:33,963 --> 00:48:35,923 but not exactly. So we were just playing with it. 790 00:48:35,923 --> 00:48:37,643 I thought it was great. I thought it was OK. 791 00:48:37,643 --> 00:48:40,083 It's not that piece of music, obviously not. 792 00:48:40,083 --> 00:48:43,323 But, yeah, it is obviously hugely inspired by it. 793 00:48:43,323 --> 00:48:46,763 So I was in New Orleans, in a hotel room, 794 00:48:46,763 --> 00:48:50,043 and I get this call early in the morning - and it's Hans Zimmer. 795 00:48:50,043 --> 00:48:52,683 And I said, "Oh, shit, this guy's going to sue me or something. 796 00:48:52,683 --> 00:48:56,923 "What's going on?" I thought... He goes, "No, no, no, no, no, no! 797 00:48:56,923 --> 00:48:59,923 "But why didn't you ask me to work with you?" 798 00:48:59,923 --> 00:49:02,243 I thought, "Well, I never thought I could, you know," 799 00:49:02,243 --> 00:49:03,883 He was like, you know, "You should ask me. 800 00:49:03,883 --> 00:49:06,803 "I'm interested in working with film-makers, great film-makers like yourself." 801 00:49:06,803 --> 00:49:09,163 I said, "OK, well, I'm working this film called 12 Years A Slave." 802 00:49:09,163 --> 00:49:12,843 "Are you interested in working on it?" He goes, "Yeah, of course!" "OK, but you're pretty expensive." 803 00:49:12,843 --> 00:49:15,123 "Don't worry about that. Listen, I would love to work with you." 804 00:49:15,123 --> 00:49:17,763 And that was it. That was the start of our relationship. 805 00:49:19,483 --> 00:49:22,523 Hans is lavish with what he brings you. 806 00:49:22,523 --> 00:49:24,963 You know, 12 Years A Slave is the really good example, 807 00:49:24,963 --> 00:49:27,203 that we were there with empty pockets 808 00:49:27,203 --> 00:49:31,163 and he was getting people on planes - and first class musicians - 809 00:49:31,163 --> 00:49:33,883 to come over from Germany and start working with us 810 00:49:33,883 --> 00:49:35,123 and developing... 811 00:49:35,123 --> 00:49:38,163 You know, we wanted a kind of slightly home-made feel 812 00:49:38,163 --> 00:49:40,563 about some of the score in 12 Years A Slave, 813 00:49:40,563 --> 00:49:44,243 particularly in that area where he's trying to write using juice. 814 00:49:47,283 --> 00:49:51,563 I loved working on it so much. I thought it was important. 815 00:49:52,763 --> 00:49:54,803 Nobody believed in it. 816 00:49:56,003 --> 00:49:58,043 We had no budget. 817 00:49:59,043 --> 00:50:01,043 It's very few of us, 818 00:50:01,043 --> 00:50:04,763 but I remember Steve being in the room, and it's like... 819 00:50:04,763 --> 00:50:07,403 The intimacy was vital. 820 00:50:11,483 --> 00:50:17,163 It was a very low-budget film, and it was really Hans's generosity 821 00:50:17,163 --> 00:50:19,603 at bringing the right ingredient over 822 00:50:19,603 --> 00:50:21,603 and getting him to work with us. 823 00:50:23,043 --> 00:50:25,003 I'm a short order cook. 824 00:50:25,003 --> 00:50:28,483 You know, I go out, I find... I go shopping. 825 00:50:28,483 --> 00:50:32,723 Oh, good ingredients - you know, fresh tomatoes, special... 826 00:50:32,723 --> 00:50:35,443 "Oh, look at those carrots! They look really good," you know? 827 00:50:35,443 --> 00:50:38,683 And then I spend forever peeling and chopping, etc. 828 00:50:38,683 --> 00:50:41,043 And because the ingredients are fresh 829 00:50:41,043 --> 00:50:46,683 and the ingredients are delicious, I'm hoping it's going to be OK. 830 00:50:51,283 --> 00:50:53,523 He's like a kid that doesn't want to do his homework, 831 00:50:53,523 --> 00:50:55,123 and it's like, "Come on, what the fuck?" 832 00:50:55,123 --> 00:50:57,203 But at the same time, he's working. 833 00:50:57,203 --> 00:50:59,803 He's... It's working, he's working. 834 00:50:59,803 --> 00:51:03,083 Shit takes time. You know, anything takes time. You know? 835 00:51:06,963 --> 00:51:09,283 This desire never to be pigeonholed 836 00:51:09,283 --> 00:51:12,563 even led him to score natural history films. 837 00:51:17,083 --> 00:51:21,203 Hans brought all his feature film experience to these projects. 838 00:51:31,603 --> 00:51:35,843 But he discovered there were crucial differences. 839 00:51:35,843 --> 00:51:39,843 If you take something like a Chris Nolan's Batman, 840 00:51:39,843 --> 00:51:44,083 there's an enormous amount of sound design music. 841 00:51:45,163 --> 00:51:48,803 It's like literally creating worlds from scratch... 842 00:51:50,003 --> 00:51:54,043 ..which, of course, you don't want to do in a natural history. 843 00:51:54,043 --> 00:51:57,243 What you want to do is you want to leave room for the natural sound. 844 00:52:02,163 --> 00:52:05,843 So, yes, there is a difference. You try to work around it. 845 00:52:07,043 --> 00:52:09,843 There's a danger of making animals cute... 846 00:52:11,243 --> 00:52:12,603 ..Disney-fying them. 847 00:52:14,443 --> 00:52:16,683 And since I know the other side of the coin, 848 00:52:16,683 --> 00:52:18,683 you know, I know what not to do. 849 00:52:21,003 --> 00:52:25,283 On the other hand, the iguana and the snake scene. 850 00:52:25,283 --> 00:52:27,163 I keep referring to that scene 851 00:52:27,163 --> 00:52:31,843 because I know every director is just immensely envious of it. 852 00:52:33,483 --> 00:52:36,523 The best car chase nobody ever filmed. 853 00:52:39,603 --> 00:52:42,283 And that, of course, was scored like an action scene. 854 00:52:53,843 --> 00:52:56,043 He's always changed. He changes and changes. 855 00:52:56,043 --> 00:53:01,683 Yeah, he uses a sound for a while as he kind of perfects it, 856 00:53:01,683 --> 00:53:04,763 and then there's this era of that sound on films, 857 00:53:04,763 --> 00:53:08,163 and then he'll change again. He gets bored with his own sound. 858 00:53:11,243 --> 00:53:15,683 Hans's most recent work not only earned him his second Oscar, 859 00:53:15,683 --> 00:53:20,203 but it might be the most radical reinvention of his sound ever. 860 00:53:20,203 --> 00:53:23,803 His brief was to create what the director, Denis Villeneuve, 861 00:53:23,803 --> 00:53:26,483 described as an alien score. 862 00:53:26,483 --> 00:53:28,523 MUSIC FROM: Dune by Hans Zimmer 863 00:53:31,123 --> 00:53:32,563 The idea for doing that, 864 00:53:32,563 --> 00:53:37,203 it should be a score that will use unknown instruments... 865 00:53:39,483 --> 00:53:44,803 ..that the sound would be something that would come from another time, 866 00:53:44,803 --> 00:53:46,363 from another place. 867 00:53:53,723 --> 00:53:56,923 It was also very important that the score would have some kind of 868 00:53:56,923 --> 00:53:58,443 spiritual quality. 869 00:54:04,523 --> 00:54:09,763 It's one of the main theme of Dune - like, that exploration of religion 870 00:54:09,763 --> 00:54:13,363 and the danger of mixing religion and politics together. 871 00:54:18,443 --> 00:54:21,803 The male characters are not really the male characters 872 00:54:21,803 --> 00:54:24,003 that drives the story forward. 873 00:54:24,003 --> 00:54:26,923 It's the female characters that drive the story forward... 874 00:54:29,843 --> 00:54:35,323 ..so it was really important for me to find a great female voice... 875 00:54:36,643 --> 00:54:38,563 ..and then frame her... 876 00:54:40,003 --> 00:54:44,283 ..with all these instruments which we built, which we synthesised, 877 00:54:44,283 --> 00:54:49,123 which we drove people crazy that write software - you know, 878 00:54:49,123 --> 00:54:53,683 "Can you build me a resonator that will turn Tina Guo's cello 879 00:54:53,683 --> 00:54:55,643 "into a Tibetan war horn?" 880 00:54:55,643 --> 00:54:57,923 "What does a Tibetan war horn sound like?" 881 00:54:57,923 --> 00:54:59,483 "I have no idea." 882 00:55:03,723 --> 00:55:07,283 Quite late in the day, he recorded some sort of scratchy noise 883 00:55:07,283 --> 00:55:11,043 that was redolent of sand and dry wind. 884 00:55:12,643 --> 00:55:15,163 I don't know what it was. I think it was a sound effect. 885 00:55:15,163 --> 00:55:17,963 And he remixed everything to include it! 886 00:55:24,523 --> 00:55:27,723 I think it drove everybody nuts on that show. 887 00:55:33,643 --> 00:55:37,283 As much as he has designed all those alien instruments, 888 00:55:37,283 --> 00:55:41,483 he decided that the instrument that will have survived 10,000 years 889 00:55:41,483 --> 00:55:43,963 in the future will be the bagpipes. 890 00:55:46,243 --> 00:55:47,883 He started to compose with the bagpipes, 891 00:55:47,883 --> 00:55:53,563 which was, like, very fresh, surprising and interesting. 892 00:55:54,963 --> 00:55:57,963 And the Oscar goes to Hans Zimmer, Dune. 893 00:55:57,963 --> 00:55:59,723 CHEERING 894 00:55:59,723 --> 00:56:03,883 I don't think anybody's ever won an Oscar for a score that blatantly 895 00:56:03,883 --> 00:56:07,043 is bagpipes, heavy metal guitars and a woman screaming at you. 896 00:56:07,043 --> 00:56:09,163 SCREAMING 897 00:56:13,643 --> 00:56:15,483 "What's going on here? 898 00:56:15,483 --> 00:56:19,283 "Where are the strings? Where are the nice things?" 899 00:56:20,963 --> 00:56:23,163 It was just a provocative thing. 900 00:56:31,683 --> 00:56:33,923 APPLAUSE 901 00:56:35,163 --> 00:56:38,203 Hans began his musical career in a band 902 00:56:38,203 --> 00:56:40,363 touring working men's clubs. 903 00:56:41,683 --> 00:56:46,443 His life has turned full circle as he takes his scores on the road. 904 00:56:47,563 --> 00:56:50,323 But these days, the venues have changed. 905 00:56:51,643 --> 00:56:54,483 His enthusiasm has increased. 906 00:56:54,483 --> 00:56:58,203 I think it's going out on tour that's responsible for that. 907 00:57:03,163 --> 00:57:06,443 He loves the people he works with. He loves touring. 908 00:57:06,443 --> 00:57:09,523 It feeds him. It nurtures him. 909 00:57:09,523 --> 00:57:12,763 When he's on a stage, there's nobody who quite has that relationship 910 00:57:12,763 --> 00:57:14,803 with the audience. 911 00:57:14,803 --> 00:57:17,843 They come in to see a maestro and they end up seeing somebody 912 00:57:17,843 --> 00:57:20,003 who feels like a friend by the end of the show. 913 00:57:23,523 --> 00:57:27,723 I used to be so afraid of being on stage, but nowadays, 914 00:57:27,723 --> 00:57:33,883 it was just like dinner party with 12,000 people, just having a chat. 915 00:57:33,883 --> 00:57:36,763 He's basically had a midlife crisis and become a rock star. 916 00:57:40,363 --> 00:57:43,003 CHEERING AND APPLAUSE 917 00:57:45,243 --> 00:57:47,283 I'm still learning something. 918 00:57:47,283 --> 00:57:49,323 I just want to use all those things I've learned. 919 00:57:49,323 --> 00:57:51,363 And I want to go and play with all these synthesisers, 920 00:57:51,363 --> 00:57:52,963 and I want to go and tell all these stories, 921 00:57:52,963 --> 00:57:56,883 and I want to go and work with all these directors. 922 00:57:56,883 --> 00:57:59,683 He is not the norm, and that's, like, why he has the career that he does. 923 00:57:59,683 --> 00:58:02,363 Like, he doesn't want to do things the way other people have done it, 924 00:58:02,363 --> 00:58:05,563 and he thrives on it. You know, he loves it. 925 00:58:09,483 --> 00:58:11,363 Things moved really fast. 926 00:58:12,483 --> 00:58:16,123 Life isn't as long as you think it is. 927 00:58:16,123 --> 00:58:19,163 You have a choice. You can go and try to live a playful life, 928 00:58:19,163 --> 00:58:23,843 or you can go and live a life which excludes playfulness. 929 00:58:23,843 --> 00:58:25,523 And it doesn't get you anywhere. 930 00:58:25,523 --> 00:58:27,803 Playfulness gets you somewhere. 931 00:58:29,563 --> 00:58:32,363 It's fun, it's inspiring, 932 00:58:32,363 --> 00:58:36,323 just making a racket and hopefully have a bit of a laugh. 933 00:58:37,523 --> 00:58:38,643 It's wonderful.