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Three Great Scores by Bernard Hermann

Scroll through three great Bernard Hermann scores ... each for three of Alfred Hitchchock's best films. First is the openning title sequence of Psycho, then a montage sequence from Vertigo, and the title sequence of North by Northwest. You might not notice until its pointed out, but the score for Psycho uses only the string section of the orchestra. The screeching violins from the shower sequence aren't part of the title sequence, but there is the familiar unrelenting pounding theme. Vertigo has a more hypnotic, spinning feel. It also contains a two note motif that imitates the fog horns that blow on either side of the Golden Gate Bridge - which plays a key part in the plot of the film.

Walt Disney was directly and indirectly responsible for a great number of significant contributions to arts and entertainment. There was the first animated cartoon with sound, the first cartoon in color, the first stereo sound film, the invention of the multi-plane camera, audio animatronics, and so on. However, two Disney milestones seem to stand out well beyond the rest. Everyone knows Disneyland, his “real-world” fantasy land, but the other had to have been Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first feature-length animated film, a remarkable technical achievement and one of the most charming films ever made. All Disney’s creations centered around the art of story telling – so you’ll see examples of this everywhere. This is why it is interesting to note that the ending shot of Snow White (as you can see in the second clip here) is a portrait of a castle - a forshadowing - as a very similar castle would become the centerpiece of Disneyland almost 20 years later. Although Disneyland’s castle was “Sleeping Beauty’s Castle”, you will find a tribute to Snow White on its east side. The Disney Company had marketing on their mind (it wouldn’t be the last time) as Sleeping Beauty was a film that was due out a few years after Disneyland’s debut.

"Rejected" is a brief animated film by Don Hertzfeldt made in 2000. It first appeared at Comic Con in San Diego and grew to have a large cult following. It's a bit off-beat, R-rated and twisted, but demonstrates some very interesting and creative use of animated drawings. Hertzfeldt was 24 at the time this film was made and had never actually done commercial work.