I think everyone who has seen Pixar’s “Up” was utterly taken by the scene “Married Life,” where emotions ran high and three characters were built between images and music. As Kris mentioned in this morning’s Oscar Guide, composer Michael Giacchino had the full aural attention of the audience for 10 minutes.
Speaking to Giacchino, it’s clear he knew it was perhaps the most pivotal moment to get right into a film where music was destined to play a significant role, no matter what. “I remember watching that scene for the first time,” he recalls, “and even watching it without music, it makes you cry. You’re not just looking at what happens on screen, you’re looking at what happens in your life.”
He found the scene, and indeed, the film itself, to be quite personal. “You end up analyzing yourself,” he says. “It’s an emotional experience and when I’m writing music for any good film, I know I can only do a good job when I’m reflecting what I’m feeling. It’s like a mirror.”
Giacchino loves being part of what he describes as the “Pixar family” and came aboard the film eight months before it was released. “I’m always at Pixar for something,” he says, adding that he loves doing the music for their short films as well. “Being at Pixar is like being 10 years old and everyone accepts each other for whoever you are. It’s a wonderful open, honest feeling of being able to say if you don’t like something.”
For years the composers of the music branch tended to be a bit insular. Impressive newcomer talent was often ignored while the usual suspects showed up year after year. Not long ago, there seemed to be a shift, yielding slates much like the one we have for 2009.