這是我以前高二的時候的英文講稿。講的就是電影配樂大師Hans Zimmer，那時風靡大街小巷的『絕地任務』就是他寫的。過了十年回頭來看，頗有點感慨（而且沒想到過了十年我英文還是一樣爛…）。第一段大多是介紹，第二段起比較多論述，愛看電影的諸位可以看看其中提到的電影你知道幾部？看過幾部？（以下中文的部份是我現在的感想）
Today I`ll introduce the most famous master of movie scores composers. His name is Hans Zimmer. He was born in Frankfurt. At first, he composed scores for advertisements in seventies. Before he turn to movie scoring, he was at front of England`s technological and industrial movement, toying with the newest equipment for some musical groups. Then, he was brought to compose movie scores in Hollywood by Stanley Myers.（這位寫過越戰獵鹿人，不過我猜九成的人不知道這部片…其實很有名的。） Originally, he was good at using computerized synthesizer sounds, such as “The Fruit Machine” “Burning Secret” “Paperhouse” etc. But when he composed the movie score “A World Apart (88)”, he began to use African tribal rhythms. This score called him to the attention of director Barry Levinson.（這位天王級大導演大家應該認識吧…要不然也一定聽過下面這部他導過的片。） He invited Zimmer to compose the movie score “Rain Man (88)”. This score was nominated the best score of Oscar Prize. Since then, he has scored such various films as “Black Rain (89)” “Driving Miss Daisy (89)” “Green Card (90)” “Days of Thunder (90)” “Bird on a Wire (90)” “Neverending Story 2 (90)” “Backdraft (91)” and “Point of No Return (93)”. In “Black Rain”, he combined Japanese rhythms with percussive computers and lush melodies.（融入日本傳統樂器並以具有衝擊性的方式表現出來，我覺得Zimmer是第一人，有看過這部片的應該有這樣的感覺。） Its sound was caught somewhere between the symphonic and electronic worlds, and he has since applied this distinctive style to such action movies as “Thelma and Louise (91)” “Pacific Heights (90)” “Drop Zone” “True Romance” etc. In 1992, he composed a score of pure African tribal rhythms “The Power of One”. In 1995, he composed a movie score “The Lion King”, and won a Oscar Prize. After “The Lion King”, he composed a quite different movie score “Nine Months”. He used warm symphonic music to express the mood of a man who will be a father.（很難想像這兩部落差這麼大的音樂是出自同一人之手，而且還是差不多時間吧^ ^）
Compare with other composers, Zimmer is younger. He is less than 40 this year.（這是十年前…現在他徒子徒孫已經佈滿好萊塢了:p） He was so successful and famous in Hollywood for just 10 years. It is not only because of his talent and his affection of human, but also because he was brave in trying different styles continuously. Recently, he tried to make film music depart from movies, and we can see his efforts in such original motion picture soundtracks as “Crimson Tide” “Broken Arrow” and “The Rock”. Each of them only has five or eight tunes, but the total time is till one hour long in each of them. Therefore, he just made film music become symphonies.（這也是我當初會對他這麼著迷的原因…老實說這方面他也算是第一人。） We can know that film music is more worthful than the movie itself, for an original motion picture soundtrack is more expensive than a ticket of a movie.
The most special film music he composed is action movie. In action films, he prefers using synthesizer`s music to using symphonic music. He had said, ”The more electronic I go, the more human an action score becomes to me. One of the reasons I like doing it by myself as opposed to using an orchestra is that synthesizers can reflect one person`s viewpoint. In a symphony, you`ll get dozens of different opinions on how to play a musical phrase. That works great on a picture like “Nine Months” which is dealing with the universal experience of having a baby. On the other hand, an action film is so ludicrous that you can stick with one composer`s emotional viewpoint.” The director of “Broken Arrow”, John Woo, had said, ”Watching Broken Arrow with the score is like seeing somebody else`s movie.” Zimmer has to do an action film every year. But he didn`t support violence. Such as he said, ”I`m really against violence. But at the same time, I get so much of my anger out while I`m writing a score like Broken Arrow that I become a nicer person for the rest of the year!” So he can compose a lot of good action movies scores. Take “The Rock” for example, it is combined the cream of “Backdraft” “Crimson Tide” and “Broken Arrow”. So it sells very well.（這幾片真的都很讚…）
At last, I hope that he can compose more nicer works for us in the future.（Zimmer是個多產的composer，當然也曾經砸過自己招牌，但是經典也很多，而且不僅和電影劇情相輔相成，單獨聽也有一種特別的感受，跟古典樂比起來更有貼近一般大眾的感覺。以後大家在看電影的時候，仔細看看composer是誰，也別忘了順便『聽』電影喔~~）
