A Guide To Hans Zimmer's "Inception"

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

... redacted ...

[tedfud 38]

wow....excellent work. Yes Cobb is a thing of beauty. Hans's German roots to the core....streamlined ....simple.....functional ....and beautiful

or maybe he would prefer

t

[aj_vader 534]

This is fantastic, thank you!

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

wow....excellent work. Yes Cobb is a thing of beauty. Hans's German roots to the core....streamlined ....simple.....functional ....and beautiful

wass.jpg

or maybe he would prefer

Wassily kraftwerk.jpg

t

Haha. Yes, it's a very Germanic construct. He does favor those older forms, chaconnes/passacaglias, through many of his scores. The Fischer theme here often acts as the ground bass for the latter form.

This is fantastic, thank you!

Glad people are finding some worth in it.

[Demondm810 399]

This is exhaustive! And I mean that in a positive way. Thanks for all the work on this and Dark Knight Rises

[Uni 306]

Outstanding analysis here—and not just of the elements of the score, but of the film as well. You managed to elucidate (in brief and efficient form) much of what I've felt about the movie but haven't been able to put into words quite so well as you have. You nailed it on the head with this:

It's a simple story about a man whose life has fallen apart, who is trying to put what's left of it back together. This takes place against a rather fantastical backdrop, but it is only a backdrop. Admittedly occasionally gratuitous exposition aside, there's nothing ponderous or pretentious about the film; Nolan isn't trying to sell any revolutionary ideas on the nature of the mind, or anything close to that, the kind of preachy territory that The Matrix franchise eventually slipped into. It's just a straightforward story - a deeply identifiable one, at that - told in a unique way.

Great work, and much appreciated.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

This is exhaustive! And I mean that in a positive way. Thanks for all the work on this and Dark Knight Rises

I'm glad you're finding it useful, though I wish it had been more exhaustive. I don't feel as satisfied with it as my first one, but I don't know why.

Outstanding analysis here—and not just of the elements of the score, but of the film as well. You managed to elucidate (in brief and efficient form) much of what I've felt about the movie but haven't been able to put into words quite so well as you have. You nailed it on the head with this:

It's a simple story about a man whose life has fallen apart, who is trying to put what's left of it back together. This takes place against a rather fantastical backdrop, but it is only a backdrop. Admittedly occasionally gratuitous exposition aside, there's nothing ponderous or pretentious about the film; Nolan isn't trying to sell any revolutionary ideas on the nature of the mind, or anything close to that, the kind of preachy territory that The Matrix franchise eventually slipped into. It's just a straightforward story - a deeply identifiable one, at that - told in a unique way.

Great work, and much appreciated.

Yeah, I thought it was a good opportunity to clearly and hopefully succinctly say what I've been trying to say here for a while now about the film.

[Ludwig 1,120]

I've just been through Inception thoroughly for its score. Excellent work, GP! I agree with your analysis here and find it very insightful. The only thing I might build on is the theme you identify as the "riff". That one I'd call the "team in control" theme, since it is used in situations where Cobb's team has the upper hand and, at least for the time being, has things under their control.

Interesting how Zimmer (or "Zimmer" as the case may be) applies themes to characters (or groups or characters) in particular emotional situations rather than more simply just to the characters themselves, no matter what situation they may be in (and use thematic transformation to express their changing emotional states).

I didn't pay much attention to Saito's theme, maybe because it is very subdued in the score. It just sounded like generic background music to me, but it seems that it is motivic as you point out.

Anyway, great work, and many thanks!

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Thanks Mark.

I agree about the way he applies themes to concepts or ideas or situations more than characters. I've been fascinated by that in his music for a while now.

I initially wasn't even going to categorize Saito's Theme, before realizing it was related to him. Then I was going to categorize it just as a recurring gesture throughout the score - an octave drop. Then it slowly became apparent that it was being used as a character theme, sometimes in extremely subtle ways.

[Ludwig 1,120]

The subtlety of Saito's theme makes me wonder, what is the purpose of a theme if it goes unnoticed by the vast majority of audiences? Or does it?

I've lately been wondering about the effectiveness of themes and leitmotifs. Even if a viewer does not consciously register that a particular theme goes with a particular character or character in a certain situation, can he or she register the theme's association subconsciously? In other words, can we "feel" the (usual) emotional similarity of a theme's various statements and therefore better understand a character's motivations even if we don't actively recognize the link between all the statements?

Thoughts?

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Great question. I think that a huge component of film music acts on a subconscious level. When I think about my experiences watching films as a kid, it's obvious that before I ever knew anything about the actual art of scoring and the craft behind the music, I was still aware of thematic associations and "understood" them, on a purely emotional/dramatic level, but I wouldn't have been able to truly recognize that I did. I think that for general audiences, this is how a film and its score are always experienced. So I don't think the degree of subtlety of a theme affects how perceptible it is - the cumulative effect of music with images and drama is always enough for the mind to pick up on. But interestingly, when we think about themes in a conscious way and try to pin them down, the more subtle ones seem to in fact become more elusive.

[Smeltington 1,436]

I agree that the effect of film music is subconscious, as often as not. However, if a less memorable theme is only heard in subtle renditions throughout a score, does our subconscious only pick up on the general feeling and emotion behind it, each time it is played? Or does our subconscious actually register that this is a sequence of notes that's being repeated from an earlier point in the score, especially if we see a film just once?

If the repetition doesn't register, then, as Ludwig asked, what's the point of a theme? The benefits of a theme that registers with the audience on a conscious level are obvious:

- A strong theme can actually become a "draw," to the extent that, say, the audience would miss the theme if it were not used in a future installment of a film franchise, or in a future TV episode (Star Wars theme, He's a Pirate, Peter Gunn, etc). Or the theme might be heard/remembered outside the film and remind the viewer to revisit the film (Titanic)

- Over the course of a score, once the audience starts to become familiar with a theme, the composer can use this to his/her advantage to prompt the audience to recall an earlier scene or feeling that they now associate with that theme (Jaws), to announce the presence of a character, to describe that character in a specific situation (gentle Imperial March at the end of RotJ), and so on.

For all the extra-subtle themes that appear in many scores, I can think of a few benefits as well:

- Repeated listening and study is rewarded, as the listener notices themes that were not apparent at first (LotR/Hobbit)

- Establishing a set of themes during the composing process provides a structure for the composer, giving him or her a go-to approach for many of the scenes in a given film. We cut to the interior of the star destroyer and hear the Imperial March, we cut to the Falcon and we hear Han Solo and the Princess, we cut to Dagobah and we hear Yoda's theme; once the composer has written a handful of themes, they can be used to "shape" the score as a whole (my example themes aren't so subtle, but a subtle theme could still function this way during the composing process). Zimmer seems to benefit from this, with his approach of writing suites of music up front, then drawing upon these ideas repeatedly throughout the score itself

- On a practical level, film scores require a very quick turnaround, and using themes can prevent the composer from having to write 2 hours of completely unique music

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

In the case of Saito's Theme, it is something that is felt more than heard. It's basically a subbass gliss, common in electronic dance music. Hits you right in the sternum.

Here's Zimmer on the sound (from the V.I. Control forums)

Inverted dadsr on the vco...the 'D' part holds the note at it's upper pitch, and then the rest just starts bending the vco down till it gets subsonic. Howie, didn't we put that in with the Dark Knight sounds?

....one of the reasons that Howie and my patches in Zebra sound musical is - they are not abstract "let's make a sound" type of things. They where all created for a specific place in a piece of music. So their envelopes are, for instance, taylored to the tempo, etc...

Ok, for those that really don't know...

A DASDR is a Delay, Attack, Sustain, Release envelope. You want to establish the pitch of the note before you bend down first, hence the delay parameter which holds the note steady - a bit like standing on a diving board holding your breath...And whoever else said it wasn't just about shifting the pitch of the Vco down is right. As it goes down, the envelope boosts the bass EQ, brings in a DDL, etc, etc... There is an orchestral version, where I just do a ritardando with the orchestra to half speed and end up with a key-change at the same time....

Noiseboy, I don't agree that it should only be part of the soundesigner's job on a movie. I feel the composer is very much responsible to incorporate as many of the textures into the sonic world of the movie into the score (not that Richard King didn't do great soundesign in its own autonomous way). But we work as a team, collaboratively. I very often ask Richard to supply me with some raw sounds (I remember getting a huge amount of tearing metal for something from him once - brilliantly unpleasant, and really dangerous to do. I didn't want to loose any fingers...), or I give him things to work with - like, for instance, the chant in "The Dark Knight Rises", which went on a long journey from me, to the set, where the actors learned it so they could shoot it, to a version over the internet, where we invited the fans to contribute to the chant, to Richard, who, over a weekend when the Warner's lot was closed - piped it through a huge pa, and re-recorded it with microphones all over the lot, then back to me.

We try to discuss certain elements way before the shoot. For instance, the first half of "The Dark Knight" is shot and staged (not edited to music, that's too obvious) at 96 Bpm, so that when I change tempo, everything changes. It really kicks the pacing of the story and the action into a different gear. So, where does the process of composition start, and where does it end? The final dub is always at it's best when it's like a performance, I think.

http://www.vi-control.net/forum/viewtopic_print.php?t=28172&start=35

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Great stuff. I've gotta start being more active over there.

[Glóin the Dark 1,220]

...can we "feel" the (usual) emotional similarity of a theme's various statements and therefore better understand a character's motivations even if we don't actively recognize the link between all the statements?

It's such a tough question to answer (on a personal basis) since it's only possible to recall instances in which we have recognised the link. I certainly agree that inter-musical connections are often picked up subconsciously, and that associations of musical themes or motives with narrative ones (including places or characters) can also be made, to useful effect, without conscious recognition. But if the musical idea and its non-musical counterpart are both subtle, does the connection become a mainly academic one, or can it have a genuine impact on a general viewer?

I didn't ever notice the "Saito" theme in Inception. Reading the notation above, I find myself thinking "Yeah, that reminds me of Saito!" But, of course, I'm thinking that after having read the theme's description. We need to do a proper double-blind experiment!

[Kühni 485]

.

[Quintus 5,399]

I wonder why GP deleted his OP.

[bollemanneke 3,342]

We need to give him the kick!

[MedigoScan 324]

On 2/23/2020 at 4:05 PM, Kühni said:

Query to the Gallery of Knowledgeables:

 

Are the two bonus tracks that, once upon a time, were available from the official site for the score (i.e., "Projections" and "Don't Think about Elephants") unique mixes/edits or are they contained in their entirety (but under a different track name) in the rec sessions? Ta mucho for riddling me this!

 

Projections seems to be straight from the sessions.  (as track 3: Extraction)

Dont think About Elephants is a heavily edited down version of another unreleased session track: Its a Trap (neither of which use the film edit)

[Corellian2019 386]

Does anyone know which cue is heard at 1:10 of this video?

[MedigoScan 324]

It doesnt sound like anything from the sessions to me.

[Kühni 485]

.

[Anthony 572]

Is the original post available to read anywhere?