Coincidence or spoiler?

Not a lot of people know this, but in addition to being a super busy music teacher and music business owner, in my spare time (I have it!), I’m also an extreme Star Wars nerd. Go ahead, ask me who my favorite Star Wars character is. You’ll never guess. Or maybe you will.

It’s John Williams.

John Williams created not just the soundtrack to the Skywalker saga (and countless other movies) but the soundtrack to mine, and I’m sure, many other childhoods as well zdf heute app herunterladen. He’s created a rich and vast universe of music to pull from when scoring his Star Wars movies, from the original trilogy, the prequels, and now, finally, the sequel trilogy.

Say what you will about the final three movies, I personally feel that his music game was 100% on point. In these final films, he continued to create new, moving pieces as well as bring back some old familiar favorites to flesh out the story images from wordpress mediathek. In the process, he may have also given away an incredibly major plot point.

Or maybe it’s just a coincidence.

SO LOOK MY FRIENDS – FROM HERE ON OUT, IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE RISE OF SKYWALKER OR EVEN THE FORCE AWAKENS, YOU NEED TO STOP, BECAUSE THE ENTIRE POINT OF THIS SHORT ARTICLE IS TO SHARE SOME INFORMATION ABOUT A SPOILER.  YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.

When “The Force Awakens” first came out, I picked up on this detail immediately and was surprised to not find one bit of commentary regarding it on the internet south park follow free download. So I thought, ok, maybe it’s just me. As I do with so many things, maybe I’m just overthinking it. And I didn’t really share my thoughts then. First of all, because if it turned out to be true, I didn’t want to be the one to spoil it, and second, if I was wrong, well, I just didn’t want to be another crazy fan theorist.  Even though I kind of am herunterladen.

However, whether John Williams meant to or not, he DID spoil a major plot point in The Rise of Skywalker. so let’s talk about it.

I’d like to bring your attention back to one of the few brief exchanges we see between Han and General Leia. It’s right after they meet for the first time amazon prime filme herunterladen android.

First, they talk about losing Ben to Snoke, and we hear Princess Leia’s theme (why they couldn’t put Han Solo and the Princess in there, I don’t know, but it’s fine, this is fine. We heard that theme when they were reunited anyway).

Then, as they talk about the aftermath, and how they both reacted, we hear Kylo Ren’s ominous theme lego dimensions inhalte herunterladen.

It’s this next part that gets very interesting.

Leia talks about redeeming Kylo. She says “we can still save him, me… you…” and as she says this, the familiar Force Theme plays.

Let’s stop here a minute. The Force Theme is only ever played in reference to Jedi and force users (obviously). During the original trilogy, it was a theme associated with Luke and Obi-Wan google play store für amazon-fire-tablets (apk) herunterladen. And because Han immediately brings up Luke, one might think that is why the sound cue is present. Except when you focus on their conversation, Leia reiterates the point that Han is the one who could save him, that Ben Solo is still in there somewhere.

Then they get interrupted and the scene ends.

Now. THAT FORCE THEME.  We don’t hear it because of Han, he’s not a force user kegelspiele kostenlos downloaden. Leia has a theme, Kylo has a theme – we just heard them. They mention Luke too briefly – Leia dismisses him basically the second Han suggests him. So, whether it is a coincidence or not, what one might extrapolate from the presence of this haunting melody during this conversation is that…

Han dvag online system.

And Leia.

Are going to be the ones to turn Kylo Ren back to the light so he can redeem himself to become Ben Solo once more.

Which, well, you know.

So.  Am I crazy?  Was it a coincidence?  DID JOHN WILLIAMS TELL ME A SECRET THAT I LITERALLY KEPT FOR LIKE FOUR YEARS?

I think the correct answer is probably… herunterladen. a little bit of all three.

Leitmotif Listening

Stuck inside all day in the snow?  No worries!  Spend some time with your favorite epic movie franchise and give it a closer listen.  You may be surprised at what you find wie facebook videoen.

With “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” breathing new life into the epic Star Wars series, I was recently inspired to do a lesson plan for my middle school students on the concept of leitmotif and how composer John Williams uses this technique to bring to life a galaxy far, far away google books seiten herunterladen.  This was a really fun lesson that engaged my students to the max – I’ve never seen the more attentive (even the non-Star Wars geeks).  I won’t go through all the listening examples with youtube video links here (if you’re having trouble pinpointing a specific theme, give me a shout out on Facebook!), but if you’d like to do the activity I outline later in this post, my handout from class will help you out stream for free.

So now that you’ll be stuck inside all day, peering out the window wondering when Luke and his Tauntaun are going to show up, you might want to pop in your favorite Star Wars movie to while away the hours minecraft kostenlos vollversion downloaden deutsch.  I’m a teacher, though, and I can’t suggest such a brainless activity without giving you something to enrich the experience.

1. Print out a few copies (the pdf is only one page) of my Leitmotif Listening Worksheet watch for pc.

2. Check out my class handout or the wikipedia page on the music of Star Wars to familiarize yourself with the various themes from the movies.  There are dozens you will recognize throughout the series and some you will hear only in one of the movies, so a little musical briefing before you dig in will be helpful brackets download kostenlos.

3. As you watch AND LISTEN to the movie, jot down notes on the themes you hear.  In the Leitmotif column, write the title of the theme.  Also notate if the theme appears in a different form (more drawn out, truncated, different instrumentation) from when it is originally introduced wizards unite ressourcen herunterladen.  Use the words motif or theme to help you differentiate between shorter and longer pieces of music.    Under the Action column, write a few short words on what is taking place on scene musik kostenlos herunterladen android.  For Emotions, write down what the characters might be feeling or what you as an audience member are experiencing during the scene.

4. Afterward, think about how the music adds to the action and the emotions of the scene hörbuch download mp3 kostenlos.  Or, discuss with friends!

If Star Wars isn’t your thing (I won’t hold it against you, I promise), another great series to do this exercise with is the Lord of the Rings trilogy herunterladen.  The music for these movies was composed by Howard Shore, and it is every bit as complex and intricate as the tapestry of Star Wars themes Williams has created.  If you do this with any other movie, beware, you will only have the best results for a franchise or series where the music was composed by the same person throughout (unfortunately, this rules out Harry Potter, but you can still analyze each movie as a standalone).

So, my friends and students, have at it!  If you plan on doing this activity today, or sometime soon, please leave me a note in the comments!  Or, join me on Facebook with any comments, questions or observations you may have.