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
Posts
