Steven Spielberg praises John Williams in ‘Fabelmans’ featurette

• Featurette from The Fabelmans celebrates the achievements of John Williams.
• Also reveals how he rewrites movies musically after reading the script.
•  Composer has provided the mood for films like Star Wars, and Indiana Jones.

Steven Spielberg takes centre stage in a new featurette from The Fabelmans to laud the achievements of renowned composer John Williams. Williams, a five-time Academy Award winner (and 52-time candidate! ), created the scores for several works of cinematic art and provided the mood for enduring franchises like Star Wars, Superman, and Indiana Jones.

The fact that The Fabelmans is Williams’ final project before retiring completes the cycle by having him collaborate with the director who debuted alongside him.

You undoubtedly already know that Steven Spielberg’s play The Fabelmans is based on a deeply personal experience. The story, which Gabriel LaBelle based on his own life, follows Sammy Fabelman, an ambitious filmmaker who is growing up in post-World War II Arizona. You might not be aware, though, that the film also celebrates one of Hollywood’s greatest successful collaborations.

Williams talks in the video about the Jaws theme, which is still easily recognizable, which was the very first song he ever composed for Spielberg.

Williams also claims that every piece of music he composed for Spielberg was played on the same piano, and there is video proof to back up this claim.

This includes the well-known five-note theme that is a significant component of the Spielberg film Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Spielberg continues by praising his friend’s career and shares some stirring revelations: Williams rewrites the movies musically after reading the script, according to the author, who compares his music to the final draught of a screenplay.

Williams’ Oscar-winning drama The Schindler’s List is one of Spielberg’s favourite scores, and he describes what Williams taught him about both music and film:

“We’ve worked together for 50 years, ‘Fabelmans’ is coming out in the 50th year of our collaborations. And this is Johnny’s 90th year on the face of this planet, which has been a benefit to everybody on the planet. […] I think that the contribution John has made to all my films is absolutely immeasurable. It is so organic to the picture, and so belongs in all those right places, that when a movie is working well, the music is not going to stand out in front of the film, nor is the film going to smother the music. It is an absolute brotherhood between music and imagery.”

‘The Fabelmans’ featurette is available below:

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