Hans Zimmer Earth Secondary KS3 3 rd amp 4 th Level Classroom Lesson Plan Written by Rachel Leach Trailblazer Film composer Hans Zimmer uses all sorts of different techniques to create music He has helped shape the sound of todays film ID: 767492
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Hans Zimmer Earth Secondary / KS3 / 3rd & 4th Level Classroom Lesson Plan Written by Rachel Leach
Trailblazer Film composer Hans Zimmer uses all sorts of different techniques to create music. He has helped shape the sound of today’s film, tv and games music
Lesson outcomes After this lesson, pupils will be able to: listen and reflect on a piece of orchestral music create their own piece of music using instruments and voiceperform as an ensemblelearn musical language appropriate to the task
Curriculum checklist Learners will: play and perform in ensemble contexts, using voices and playing musical instruments improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of musiclisten with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
Glossary of music terms Term DefinitionCrescendo gradually getting louder (opposite: decrescendo or diminuendo)Durationthe length of a note. Different durations make rhythmsDynamics the term used for louds and softs/volume Motif A very short musical ‘idea’ – often just a sound or a rhythm Pianissimo Very softly Pitched percussion percussion instruments that can play different pitches – xylophones, glockenspiels, chime bars, etc. Unpitched percussion percussion instruments that can only make a limited number of sounds – drums, shakers, woodblocks, tambourines, etc.
Lesson 1 Watching and listening
Background – the composer Hans ZIMMER (b. 1957)Self-taught German film composerHas composed more than 150 films scores and been nominated for ten OscarsLoves using technology, synthesizers, samplers and computers as well as the orchestra
Background – the music Earth Written especially for BBC Ten Pieces Draws upon the soundworld he used for Blue Planet II and Planet Earth II – two of his most popular scoresThis isn’t a film score (it wasn’t written for a movie) but it does sound very ‘filmic’
W atch the orchestral performance
Listen carefully, and create a ‘list of events’ in the music
Create a storyboard! What images would you like to see with each of these events?
Lesson 2 Make the film to fit the music
Let’s start filming! If you have recording equipment, then great; if not, have a look at existing film clips on the internet and try editing these
Lesson 3 Recreating Zimmer - atmosphere
Create a shimmery warm-up Play pitches on your instruments, similar to Zimmer at the beginning of his piece. Make sure they are really quiet, or pianissimo
Lesson 4 Recreating Zimmer – three-note patterns
It gets much busier in the middle of Zimmer’s piece – what do you think is happening ? Choose three notes from these pitchesand play them at different speeds
Which instruments should play which note lengths? Try this out on the instruments that you have and see what sounds the best
Lesson 5 ‘Life on Earth’ - leitmotifs
Have a brainstorm! What can you think of that is associated with the earth – maybe landscape, life on the planet or scientific facts
Create a musical motif for the things on your list. Make a short piece using these motifs: What goes first? What goes last? Do the motifs fit together?Do the motifs overlap or repeat?
Lesson 6 ‘Spot’ a film, perform to picture
Play your chosen or filmed clip to the group WITHOUT sound Note down absolutely everything that is heard, including characters, events, actions, emotions and scenery
Structure all ideas, and use them to make a piece of music that fits with the film
Perform your live score to picture!
Taking it further – cross-curricular activities MUSIC: Explore the other planets with Holst’s Planet Suite. Mars features on BBC Ten Pieces. MUSIC: Zimmer has a lot in common with another BBC Ten Pieces composer – Delia Derbyshire. She created the theme to ‘Doctor Who’. Zimmer has made many tv themes and like Delia, he is a huge fan of electronic music. FILM: Watch some of Hans Zimmer’s greatest film music moments and have a go at creating your own film music by muting the sound and playing your new compositions on top. ‘Blue Planet’ and ‘Planet Earth’ are good places to start.UPLOAD: Show us what you’ve created! Submit your creative responses using our Uploader for a chance to be featured on the Ten Pieces website .