Trust me, if you're working on a $70 million movie and you're the last guy, you feel all that weight on your shoulders.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the immense pressure and responsibility that comes with high-stakes projects.
Hans Zimmer highlights the significant burden that rests on individuals involved in large-scale projects, like a major film. This weight of expectation can be overwhelming, especially if you are the last person in the chain, likely responsible for ensuring everything comes together successfully. It underscores the idea that success often comes with high pressure and accountability.
In practice
Using this quote during a film industry panel discussion about the challenges of movie production.
The thing that hasn't changed, and I don't think will ever change, is that the operative word in music is "play." You have to have a playfulness about it. As the world shifts, it's starting to understand more and more that to have a playfulness about any and everything is actually the way of having a better life, or being more creative, or being more productive.
You always hear these stories of how Hollywood is so merciless on composers and how they all get beaten up. Nobody beats me up as much as I beat myself up. This is what I love doing and I have one life to do it in, and I better do it right. I better do it well.
Anything can become a musical sound. The wind on telegraph wires is a great sound; get it into your machine and play it and it becomes interesting.
What's the point of getting up in the morning unless you're gonna have an adventure? As the moments of our life are ticking away you have to be aware that it needs to be an adventure
I've spent my life trying to make things simpler. Because I find ultimately that complicated doesn't reach the heart.
The writing gets done away from the keyboard and away from the studio in my head, in solitude. And then I come in and hopefully have something, then I wrestle with sounds and picture all day long. But the ideas usually come from a more obscure place, like a conversation with a director, a still somebody shows you, or whatever.
One of the reasons I became a writer is that, unlike starting a band, directing movies, or acting in a theatrical production, you can do it alone. Your success and failure depend entirely on yourself.
There are no bad business and investment opportunities, but there are bad entrepreneurs and investors. To be a successful business owner and investor, you have to be emotionally neutral to winning and losing. Winning and losing are just part of the game. The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire, the size of your dream and how you handle disappointment along the way.
A people... who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything.
The extra pass and the extra effort on defense always get the job done.
I don't want to end my career and then start something. I like to do something while my career is still hot and I've always enjoyed designing.
When I was 19, I made my first good week's pay as a club musician. It was enough money for me to quit my job at the factory and still pay the rent and buy some food. I freaked.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.