ANH 5: Hologram Opera (Minutes 21-25)

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope." In minutes 21-25 of Star Wars, we see and hear Princess Leia's hologram, Lovesick Luke™, and the glorious ambience that is the Lars Homestead. Joining me for this episode is opera singer/librettist/robot dad Aiden Feltkamp! This episode is also available on YouTube in video format.  Timestamps: 0:00:00 - Hello there. 0:02:31 - Layers of sound in Luke's garage. 0:06:59 - Luke's interactions with the droids and what that indicates about his character. 0:12:20 - Threepio introduces himself to Luke. Does he make a dirty joke? 0:17:06 - Threepio sounds so self-deprecating. 0:18:00 - Zap! Bloop! Cello. "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi; you're my only hope." 0:19:18 - Hologram message looping but artfully mixed in and out. 0:20:30 - We discuss the "bigness"/drama of the cello entrance (sound clip example). This is "The Princess Appears" on the soundtrack. 0:21:34 - Leia's theme (and the difficulty thereof). 0:25:36 - Context matters when it comes to evaluating the impact/drama of musical cues. 0:27:54 - Parallel to Luke in his hut on Ahch-To in The Last Jedi. 0:29:00 - Cat bomb. 0:29:46 - Orchestration of Leia's theme while the hologram plays. Lots of beautiful space for the dialogue to lay on top. Orchestration as "pre-mixing." 0:35:26 - Recitative (the sung-style of dialogue in opera). 0:38:29 - Artoo is the smartest in the room. 0:39:09 - "Where'd she go? Bring her back! Play back the entire message!" 0:40:41 - The quirkiness of old robots (like R2) running on the same hardware and software. Aiden has a robot. 0:42:45 - Aiden talks about showing his robot Star Wars and how the robot tries to mimic Artoo and the soundtrack... 0:47:57 - Moving on to the Lars kitchen, comparing the ambient hums in the kitchen and garage. 0:55:00 - Our different relationships with scores/soundtracks, consumption habits, etc. 1:01:11 - Threepio name drops Obi-Wan Kenobi and Captain Antilles. Worldbuilding. 1:03:21 - Dialogue between Uncle Owen and Luke (while Aunt Beru watches and gives looks). 1:06:55 - Luke's personality, adventure-seeking, quick buy-in to the Force. Do gullible people take to the Force the most? 1:12:33 - Star Wars Minute podcast references. 1:15:54 - Shazam test. 1:17:18 - SWMM Questionnaire. 1:23:15 - Cat bomb. Musical Themes: 4. Leia Note: For consistency, I use the theme names and numbers established in Frank Lehman's Complete Catalogue of the Musical Themes of Star Wars. You can download it free at his website: https://franklehman.com/starwars/. Where we are in the soundtrack album: "The Princess Appears" "Hologram/Binary Sunset" Shazam test: "Sector 12" by Marsfinder "Who Am I" by Marsfinder "Daft Fader (Original Mix)" by DJ Phully "Alot More" by Jett I Masstyr "Tron, Clu, & R2D2" by DJ Digital Josh "Luke Skywalker" by MISTER References: Aiden's robots are Sony aibo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIBO 10 hours of the Lars family kitchen hum: https://youtu.be/ZJXEoG66LUY Switched-On Bach by Wendy Carlos: http://www.wendycarlos.com/+sob.html ---------- STAR WARS MUSIC MINUTE QUESTIONNAIRE: 1. In exactly 3 words, what does Star Wars sound like? Expansive. Dramatic. Romantic. 2. What's something related to Star Wars music or sound that you want to learn more about? R2-D2. 3. What's a score or soundtrack you're fond of besides anything Star Wars? TRON (composed by Wendy Carlos) ---------- Follow Aiden Feltkamp! Website: https://www.aidenkimfeltkamp.com/ Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/TransCherubino Instagram: https://instagram.com/TransCherubino Star Wars Music Minute: YouTube: /starwarsmusicminute Twitter: @StarWarsMusMin Instagram: @starwarsmusicminute TikTok: @StarWarsMusicMinute Email: [email protected] Xanthe: Twitter: @chrysanthetan Instagram: @chrysanthetan Spotify Artist Page: Chrysanthe Tan Website: chrysanthetan.com Patreon: patreon.com/chrysanthetan