Music for “The Ball”

          In “The Ball” producer Mike Johns tells the story of a soccer ball that became an international ambassador.  Lost in the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, it was carried by ocean currents to a remote Alaskan island, where a middle-aged couple found it, and returned it to its teenaged owner in Japan.  Actor George Takei narrates the piece.

          The music in “The Ball”, said executive producer Andy Tennant, “is used incredibly well.”

          “Watching it without the music doesn’t have the same experience. When you see the visual of the vast ocean and you hear George Takei’s voice with the majestic score - those three things coming together create a certain mood and experience for the viewer.”

          Following is the music in “The Ball”:

          THE GREAT LAKES / Bbcpm006  (firstcom)

          Bbc Production Music ascap /Unwin Wayne Tyrone

          All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master

          SUSPENDED EMOTION/ ATMOS289   (Killer)

          Atmosphere Music Ltd  prs / Chris White & ANTHONY PHILLIPS

          All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master

          ALL HOPE LOST /bbcpm014  (firstcom)

          Bbc Production Music ascap / Barnaby Taylor & Ben Salisbury

          All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master

          INTO THE DEPTHS /ATMOS244  (Killer)

          Atmosphere Music Ltd prs /David Goldsmith & Andrew Britton

          All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master

          LIFE CHAIN / Bbcpm014  (firstcom)

          Bbc Production Music ascap / Barnaby Taylor & Ben Salisbury

          All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master

          PASSING GENERATIONS /Bbcpm014 (firstcom)

          Bbc Production Music ascap / Barnaby Taylor & Ben Salisbury

          All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master

          MIRACLE OF BIRTH /Bbcpm014 (firstcom)

          Bbc Production Music ascap / Barnaby Taylor & Ben Salisbury

          All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master

          SIMPLE LEGACY /ATMOS266  (Killer)

          Atmosphere Music Ltd prs /Mark Sayer-Wade

          All Media Synchronization, Performance and Master

          The first track, “Great Lakes” was not Johns’ original choice.  Tennant wasn’t satisfied with the original track.

          “You need something bigger - not overpowering - but something that compliments those grandiose shots of the Pacific Ocean,” Tennant told him.

          Johns tried two or three tracks, and finally hit upon “Great Lakes”, which is orchestral, soft and majestic.

          “Perfect,” Tennant said. “This is the way we want to set the table.”

          When “The Ball” was completed Tennant felt it was special.

          “In terms of just a story I think it was one of the most powerful we ever told,” Tennant said. “It’s a story of how we are all connected in this world - it put a human face on global tragedy.  It captured humanity - acts of kindness and being connected as neighbors - what we’re supposed to be about.

          “After I watched that I will never look at a soccer ball in the same way again.  In some way it symbolized survival, the same way ‘Wilson’ the volleyball did in the film ‘Cast Away’ to the Tom Hanks character. 

          “Mike’s use of music in that feature is a classic case of where it enhanced the experience but didn’t take over.”

Posted by Steve Marantz on April 5, 2013