a remarkable talent
Music by John Williams
Client
Imagine Documentaries, Disney+
How did two repeating notes, escalating in succession, become one of the most recognizable film intros of all time? Would the most famous space-based trilogy of all time been as iconic without its genre-defining soundtrack? These questions and more are answered in 'Music by John Williams', the new Disney+ documentary that takes a look at the life and career of the legendary composer.
Film Design
BGSTR designed the film to facilitate the telling of Willams' biography from his countless contributions to film, the concert stage, and his impact on pop culture. From archival footage to motion graphics, we were able to infuse a premium feel into every detail we touched all in service of the prolific composer's story.
The most obvious challenge we were presented with when developing the look and feel of the design for the film was conceptualizing how to visualize a documentary while featuring the auditory contributions of the film’s subject. Luckily, Williams composed for some of the most famous blockbuster films of all times, giving us a lot of bandwidth for creativity in how we could package the design.
We had two avenues of focus for our archival treatments— the albums and posters of the movies Williams’ had contributed to and also the photographic archives of Williams’ life and family.
We developed a style that would cover the span of John Williams career, with nods to classic Hollywood, the concert hall, the recording studio and jazz.
For the title sequence we drew inspiration from John’s simplicity and elegance while evoking the creative process.
The end result is an elegant depiction of an artist whose contributions quite literally defined a generation of filmmaking. Congratulations to our partners on the film’s success, stream it now on Disney.
Props where props are due
Credits
Executive Vice President, Executive Producer Carson HoodVice President, Head of Production Virgil ConklinCreative Director, Designer Mark ThompsonProducer Jessica RowleyDesign Ross Henderson2D Animation Max Strizich, Casey Maker, Erica Kim, Momo Zhao