Back to the Future: Past, Present, and Future

Jeff Harber Professor Barnaby Palmer GLA 618 OL1 Film Music History 6 December 2012 sustain to the future tense Past, Present, and proximo Whether you are a motion-picture show buff or just a dude from the 80s, there is a good chance you have seen the simple movie endure to the Future. go with by an iconic cast and crew, the movie garnered so much popularity, Universal Studios pumped discover three inst each(prenominal)ments of the Trilogy clog up to the Future 1, 2, and 3. With Steven Spielbergs and Robert Zemeckis form, Back to the Future not only launched Michael J. Foxs career, but undoubtedly changed movies forever.There is much to discuss and analyze about alto lineher three installments. These would include actor choices, spotting, direction, acting, and most importantly the soundtrack and musical choices for all 3. Considering all 3 movie plots jump from decade to decade, it can be analyzed literally from ultimo, present, and future. Inevitably, Back to the Futur es success besides led to several motion picture plunk for launches, a ride at Universal Studios in Hollywood and Orlando, an animated series, and even a comic book. Lets go back to the year 1985, you and your trashy friends want to hang ten with the dudes, so you poke funs catch a flick at the local cineplex.Your choices are Mask, Teen Wolf, or Back to the Future. You mean the guy from Family Ties? So you take your chances on Back to the Future. Good choice Of all things, Eric Stolz, the main actor in Mask, was originally cast for the role of Marty Mcfly when production of Back to the Future began on November 26,1984. Stoltz was filmed for four weeks, but after seeing a rough cut, Steven Spielberg and the writer/directors decided that Stoltz had monkeyed the role too disadvantageously for a comedy, and he was replaced by Michael J. Fox (Futurepedia). Back To The Future was written by Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, and mainly starred Michael J.Fox and Christopher Lloyd. The mo vie opened on July 3, 1985 and grossed $210 one thousand thousand at the US box office, making it the highest grossing film of 1985 (IMDb). The basic synopsis of Back to the Future 1, is about a young man named Marty Mcfly who accidentally travels into the past and jeopardizes his own future existence. With the help of an eccentric local scientist named Dr. Emmett L. Brown, he manages to travel back in time via a time machine made from a DeLorean. This was done by breaking the time barrier in what was called temporal displacement allowing it to travel along the space-time continuum.When the first script was made, a refrigerator was the planned prop for the time machine. Later Steven Spielberg decided he didnt want kids trapped inside their refrigerators trying to play time traveling games (Funtrivia). Done carefully, cram Howe (music supervisor) and Alan Silvestri (composer) gathered an array of perfectly fit poesys to cater both the 1950s as well as the 1980s. The movie jumps fro m decade to decade throughout the movie, and makes it apparent when it does. The movie starts out when Marty is late for school, he gets on his skateboard and we hear a caramel browntastic song by Huey Lewis and the give-and-take, the Power of Love. Later in the movie, we hear some other solid track by Huey Lewis entitled Back in Time. By the federal agency, Huey Lewis makes a cameo as a judge. When Marty tries out for the school competition, Huey says, hold it. hold it Im triskaidekaphobic you are just too darn loud. This is withal considered diagetic music in the film. Martys first time travel sent him to the year 1955. Marty, immediately, arrives at the Twin Pines Ranch, which was possess by Otis Peabody. Marty crashes into the barn on Mr. Peabodys property which causes the entire Peabody family to wake up and come outside.Marty encounters many differences between 1985 and 1955, including a cleaner, less run-down atmosphere in the Courthouse Square. While searching for a younger doc Brown, he meets his father and accidentally interferes with the first meeting of his parentsbeing hit by his grandfathers Chevrolet in his fathers place. While in the 1950s, some of the songs we hear are such great classics Night Train by Marvin Berry, Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine) by Marvin Berry, wallflower by Etta James, and Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry aka Marty Mcfly.Some people complained that Back to the Future was a racist movie because Chuck Berry was inspired by a white guy. Sometimes a joke is just a joke but Chuck Berry liked it. (Davis). Finally we have the sensorial score by Alan Silvestri. At times the score is adventurous, and at times its sad. The spotting is done just right to balance the dynamics of the movie. Also, there is a leitmotif that accompanies the movie, in fact, it accompanies all 3 movies of the trilogy, and never goes unnoticed. Upon the success of the first film, Robert Zemeckis (director) and Bob Gale (writer) agreed to do a 2nd m ovie.In fact, they also intended on a 3rd movie, and both the 2nd and 3rd Back to the Future were filmed simultaneously and released six months apart. Back to the Future 2, with a budget of $40 million, grossed nearly $331 million at the box office (IMDb). The characters of George Mcfly and Jennifer Parker were played by different actors from those in the first film, requiring scenes that overlap to be re-shot. Jennifer Parker which was originally played by Claudia Wells, and replaced by Elisabeth Shue in the second film. Claudia claims she turned the roll down when she found out her mother was diagnosed with cancer (Futurepedia).George Mcfly, who was originally played by the quirky Crispin Glover, was later(prenominal) replaced by Jeffrey Weissman. Crispin Glover refused to return to the trilogy due to salary disputes. Back to the Future 2 pans back and forth from 1955, to 1985, and all the way to 2015 the past, present and future. Needless to say, Bob Gale and Zemeckis move to p redict what 2015 would like and sound like. Some songs used in the 2015 scenes, were Beat it by Michael Jackson, I Cant Drive 55 by Sammy Hagar, Mr. Sandman by The Four Aces, and dadaism Loves Mambo by the Perry Como.The filmmakers did do some research into what scientists thought may occur in the year 2015. Bob Gale also commented We knew we werent going have flying cars by the year 2015, but God we had to have those in our movie. (Q & A) The film was also considered one of the most ground-breaking projects for Industrial Light & Magic. It was one of the effects houses first forays into digital compositing, as well as the VistaGlide motion control camera system, which enabled them to shoot one of the films most complex sequences, in which Michael J.Fox played three separate characters, all of whom interacted with each other. Although such scenes were not new, the VistaGlide allowed, for the first time, a completely dynamic scene in which camera movement could finally be incorporat ed. The technique was also used in scenes where Thomas F. Wilsons character ( lick Tannen) had to interact with a younger version of himself. (Zemeckis) Six months after Back to the Future 2 was released in the theaters, the Back to the Future team released Back to the Future 3 on May 25, 1990.Again on a budget of $40 million, this one cashed in at $244 Million. The film takes place immediately after the events of Back to the Future divide II. While stranded in 1955, Marty McFly discovers that his friend Dr. Emmett Doc Brown was killed by Biff Tannens great-grandfather Buford. Marty decides to travel to 1885 to rescue Doc and return to his own timeline. This time, Alan Silvestri had to create his soundtrack base in the year 1885. However, he still maintained the leitmotif throughout the picture.The eld 1985 and 1955 are still relevant in the 3rd movie, and it jumps around. The popular group ZZ Top make an appearance, as they perform Doubleback during a festival in 1885. This was also considered diagetic -performed for the actors and the audience to hear. Huey Lewis Power of Love is also heard again. In 1989, a video game, based on the original Back to the Future movie was produced for the 8-bit Nintendo merriment System (NES) by video game publisher LJN a subsidiary of Acclaim games. This has some similarity to the 1983 Atari video game E. T. where producers felt it would sell but on brand association to the hit movie and the game designers were only given five weeks in order to produce a product to get it on the shelves for the 1982 Christmas shopping rush. Reviewers also cited that game as virtually unlike the film and was a major contributor to an economic downturn known as the Great Video feeble Crash of 1983. There are only two songs found in the entire game. One is Johnny B. Goode which will play during the school dance that Marty is playing on stage and sounds close to the version heard in the film.The other song is a repetitive looping song that will play throughout the game in non-mini game moments. There are suggestions that the song is supposed to be The Power Of Love by Huey Lewis The News sped up and cycled differently. But it winds up sounding nothing like the actual song made famous in the movie. Nes also later released Back to the Future 2 and 3 as a single game in 1990. Back to the Future II III received largely negative reviews from critics. Stan Stepanic of Gamefreaks365. om gave the game positive remarks in regards to similarities with The Goonies II, but gave it a largely negative review due to the lack of a password or save feature conjugated with its notorious length, although there was a code to skip to the second half of the game. Back to the Future II IIIs length has often been cited as the games major weakness, Stan stating that it took him around six hours just to map it, and he spent so much time trying to finish it he actually turned it off out of boredom. (Gamefreaks). Sega Genesis also released their own version of Back to the Future 3 in 1991.It was a lot different than the Nintendo version. However, it was just as unpopular, the opening train was nearly impossible to complete. Finally in 2010, Telltale Games released Back to the Future on PC and Mac and later was also released on the Ipad and Playstation 3. This was given way better reviews than the predecessors, and remains the best game of yet. Ben PerLee from GameZone summarized his praise of the game by saying it is a feel good cinematic experience that any fan of Back to the Future will want to check out, and everyone else would do well to check it out. GameZone) Back to the Future The Animated Series was an animated series based on the Back to the Future trilogy as well. The series lasted two seasons, each lasting 13 episodes, and ran on CBS from September 7, 1991 to November 28, 1992, the date of the last original episode. Harvey Comics also published a series of Back to the Future comic books starting in Novembe r 1991. With the cover header reading The Adventure Has Only Begun , the first thing featured Doc & Marty in 1927 Chicago. On May 2,1991 the Universal Studios Theme park in Florida released Back To The Future The Ride.It was a simulator ride based on the popular movie trilogy of the same name. It was a mini-sequel to Back to the Future Part III. Later at Universal Studios Hollywood, they opened the same ride on June 12, 1993 and whence at Universal Studios Japan on March 31, 2001. The Orlando and Hollywood versions closed in 2007 (Futurepedia). Although Back to the Future creators Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale had no involvement with the ride, they were consulted as to whether they got Doc right. The two responded with a yes. They have also commented that its a great ride. In addition, references are made to a Zemeckis-Gale diagram and Gale-Zemeckis Coordinates (Giveneyestosee) With the huge success of the Back to the Future Trilogy, you can see where a simple idea can turn into a big one. When you take risks on a new actor, and stamp something with a touch of great directing, production, and a great score - you never know what could happen. Back to the Future will always remain a classic no matter what generation it leads to whether it be 1955,1985, or even 2015. Works Cited Back to the Future II & III Review. Review. Gamefreaks365, n. d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. Back to the Future Part II. IMDb. IMDb. com, n. d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. Back to the Future The Ride. FuturePedia. Wikia, n. d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. Back to the Future The Ride. Giveneyestosee. N. p. , n. d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. BTTF Trilogy. The Back To The Future Trilogy. Funtrivia, n. d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. Claudia Wells. Futurepedia. Wikia, n. d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. Davis, Cindy. Pajiba. Mindhole Blowers 20 Facts About Back to the Future That Might Make Your Flux Capacitor Hit 1. 21 Gigawatts.N. p. , n. d. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. Futurepedia. Futurepedia. Wikia, n. d. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. IMDb. IMDb. com, n. d. W eb. 10 Dec. 2012. PerLee, Ben. Back to the Future The Game Review. Back to the Future The Game Review. GameZone, 28 Dec. 2010. Web. 10 Dec. 2012. Q&A Commentary with Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, Back to the Future Part II Blu-Ray, 2010. Interview. DVD Blu Ray. N. d. Television. Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale (2005). Back to the Future Feature do the Trilogy Part 2. Los Angeles Universal Pictures. N. d. Television.