Post #5- The Steven Spielberg/John Williams Dynamic, or Frequent Director/Composer Collaborations

Many people are aware of the very frequent, and very famous, collaboration of director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams. In fact, since 1974 Williams has composed all but two of Spielberg's films. This director/composer dynamic goes far beyond just Spielberg and Williams however. This is found all throughout cinema.

Hans Zimmer has composed many a number of films. He is well known in the film industry for his scores to many epic films including The Lion King, Gladiator, and Interstellar. He is also however, one of the most frequently used composer for a number of directors today. He has worked with Christopher Nolan on many films, including partial or total composing credit for all three films of The Dark Knight trilogy. Zimmer has also worked with Ron Howard on a number of films including those of the Robert Langdon series, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. The Scott brothers, Ridley and the late Tony, have also employed Zimmer for a number of their separate films.

Another very famous collaboration of director and composer is that of director Tim Burton and Danny Elfman. Elfman has composed all but two of Burton's films. His unique and somewhat quirky sound lends itself well to Burton's unique and quirky visions. Their work together includes such classics as Batman, Beetlejuice, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

These collaborations are nothing new either. Alfred Hitchcock employed composer Bernard Herrmann for a number of his films. Many of Hitchcock's classic horror and thriller moments have very distinct music that was done by Herrmann. In fact, possibly the most famous sound in cinema history, the violin screeches during the shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho was composed by Herrmann:


The list of director/composer collaboration goes on and on. I could make a completely separate post (which I might do later) with even more. Collaborations such as Michael Bay/Steve Jablonsky, the Swedish collaboration of Ingmar Berman/Erik Nordgren, or even the many collaborations with newest Oscar winner Ennio Morricone. This topic is an old one and something I'm sure will continue as long as friendships are made and movies with music are produced.