Minority Report

Minority Report is a John Williams score for the 2002 neo-noir science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg. Based on a story by famed American science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, Minority Report is set in Washington, D.C. in 2054, a time when police utilize a psychic technology to arrest and convict murderers before they commit their crimes. Tom Cruise plays the head of this Pre-Crime unit and is himself accused of the future murder of a man he has yet to meet.

The composing process
"This film represents a departure for Steven and to some degree for me," Williams said of his score for Minority Report. "It's a science-fiction film and an action film and it has elements of film noir. It's also tinged with humor and satire. Then, on top of all that, there's an emotional dimension that's warm and tender. The score has to address all of this."

Where most film composers are usually forced to score work-in-progress film edits, Williams was able to view a nearly complete version of "Minority Report" before he started the composing process. This allowed him to weave together the film's disparate moods in a cohesive manner.

It also enabled him to take some unexpected approaches. The haunting theme "Visions Of Anne Lively," for example, unites the orchestral and the electronic. "The electronic piece is synched up with the orchestra," Williams adds. "So it becomes a kind of loop that's orchestral but also synthesized. It wafts through the film." Another unforseen change of style happens in the cue "A New Beginning," heard at the end of the movie. "That surprises a lot of people," says Williams. "We've been in a dark, futuristic mode and then, unexpectedly, there's this lyricism reflecting a sense of innocence and hope."

"There are some films where music can play a major role, a major melodic voice," Williams says. "And there are types of films where not only doesn't it, but it shouldn't. And that's as simple as that." Minority Report belongs in the second category, he says. "That particular film is almost a genre film in a way. And it's the sort of film that seemed to me, and also to Steven Spielberg, that would be best served by music that would reflect in some way that particular genre, to be dramatic and compelling and rhythmically energetic. But there wouldn't be a place for a long lyrical line in a film like that. It would be out of place, I felt."

The result—rhythmic, insinuating, darkly impulsive but almost entirely devoid of melody—may work so well in supporting the film that viewers won't notice or remember it. "Most of what I write is meant to be an exact accompaniment to something else," Williams says. "If you take that something else away it's like playing the Mendelssohn concerto without the solo line. To expect otherwise is to be unrealistic. I will go to a film and if I become engrossed in it I won't hear every note of the accompaniment, either. We're talking about a reality that I've lived with all of my life. And it's a reality that doesn't require any kind of an emotional response from me any longer."

In an interview which appeared in The New York Times, Williams said that the choices for many of the pieces of classical music were made by the studio. He also said that while he did not know why certain pieces were chosen, Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 (commonly known as the Unfinished Symphony), which features prominently in the film, was most likely included because Anderton was a big fan of classical music in the script. Some of the other choices, such as Gideon's playing of "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" by Bach on an organ in the subterranean prison, were also in the screenplay, and he figured that "they are some writer's conception of what this character might have listened to." Williams did choose the minuet from a Haydn string quartet (Op. 64, No. 1) which plays on the radio in the scene where Dr. Hineman is gardening in her greenhouse. He said he picked the piece because "it seemed to me to be the kind of thing a woman like this would play on the radio."

In the liner notes of the 2002 album release Spielberg gives an insight into the score: "The plot and story find their roots in the combination of American film noir and the classic 'whodunit' mysteries that were so popular in the era of Humphrey Bogart and filmmaker John Huston. John Williams and I have often marveled at the way Bernard Herrmann was able to contribute so much musical suspense to an Alfred Hitchcock picture. So in that tradition of mystery, suspense and film noir, John has fashioned a fast-paced, yet dark portrait of America in the year 2054 when the murder of one human being by another can foretold through the miraculous gifts of three precognitives. Unlike our other collaborations, John's score for Minority Report is not lush with melody. It is nonetheless brilliant in its complexity and forceful in its rhythms. It is the kind of music that will start in your spine and eventually find its way to your heart in the section titled 'Sean's Theme.' If most of John's scores for my films have been in color, I think of this score as his first one in black and white."

The New York Times characterized the score as "evocative" and said it was "thoroughly modern" while also being "interlaced with striking snippets of masterworks."

Paul Haslinger was employed to create two mostly-synth based source cues for the film called "The Ad-Mall" and "Neuroflex". John Williams composed another source cue for the Pre-Crime Commercial scene.

Recording sessions
The score was recorded and mixed by Shawn Murphy at the Sony Pictures Scoring Stage in Culver City, CA. Supervising music editor was Ken Wannberg.

Awards
John Williams received a nomination for the Saturn Award, won the BMI Film Music Award and the Critic's Choice Award as best composer for the work on his 2002 scores including Minority Report, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Catch Me if You Can and Star Wars Episode 2: The Attack of the Clones.

Primary themes

 * Sean's Theme: This theme is the emotional backbone of the score representing Anderton's memories and love for his dead son. It's a sad and bittersweet melody mainly played by piano, woodwinds or strings. It is often used in conjunction with Lara's motif as the loss of his son also destroyed John and Lara's marriage.
 * (Listen to the OST track "Sean and Lara" from 0:10 - 0:40)


 * Pre-Crime Motif : A constantly repeating kinetic motif associated with the Pre-Crime department and the hunt for suspects. It appears in the first act of the film during the Pre-Crime operation, later returns for Anderton and Agatha's escape and for the End Credits.
 * (Listen to the OST track "Pre-Crime to the Rescue" from 0:19 - 0:22)


 * Anne Lively's Theme: A haunting and appropriately creepy theme for the tragic character of Anne Lively. Ethnic vocals by singer Deborah Dietrich are employed to achieve the desired effect.
 * (Listen to the OST track "Visions of Anne Lively" from 0:04 - 0:24)

Secondary themes and supporting motifs

 * Spyder Motif: A frantic little 8 note motif that characterizes the mechanical spyders during the corresponding sequence. Through tempo and texture changes as well as constant repetition an irritating nasty little rub and beat is created. The music replicates the feeling of a creature hitting your skin that you want to get rid off. Careful listeners can hear the Spyder Motif again during the End Credits. (Track 1 "Minority Report" on the OST)
 * (Listen to the OST track "Spyders" from 0:20 - 0:37)


 * Escape Motif : This motif exclusively appears during the big action setpiece of the film. It's an action variation on the Pre-Crime motif. Synth percussion adds a futuristic touch.
 * (Listen to the OST track "Anderton's Great Escape" from 0:00 - 0:18)


 * Lara's Motif : John Williams uses Lara's motif to illustrate Anderton's longing for his wife and family in the scene where Anderton watches old hologram recordings of the once happy couple. It's an ethereal and otherworldly sounding piece much in the style of A.I.. The motif reappears during the Swimming Pool scene and the Leo Crow confrontation.
 * (Listen to the OST track "Sean and Lara" from 2:46 - 3:07)


 * A New Beginning: The lyrical melody at the end of the film signifies a shift from the darker issues to innocence and hope as with the Pre-Crime program ending the Precogs are finally happy and free. They enjoy the rest of their lives far away from civilization in nature and peacefulness.
 * (Listen to the OST track "A New Beginning" from 0:14 - 1:04)

Original Soundtrack
The Original Soundtrack was released in June of 2002 by the Dreamworks label.



Cue Listing

 * 1M1  The Crime
 * 1M2  Creating the Red Balls
 * 1M6  Stopping the Crime
 * 1M6  PT2 Stopping the Crime
 * Pre-Crime Commercial (Source)
 * 1M9  Image of Sean
 * 1M9R Image of Sean (Revised)
 * 2M1  Presenting the Precogs
 * 2M2  Agatha Springs Forward
 * 2M3  Witwer Snooping
 * 2M4A Containment Center
 * 2M5  Annie Lively
 * 2M6A Elevator Confrontation
 * 2M6B Schubert Collage
 * 3M1  Anderton on the Run
 * 3M3  Don't Run John
 * 3M4  Anderton's Escape
 * 3M5  The Conveyor Belt
 * 4M1  The Greenhouse Scene
 * 4M2  Dr. Eddie's Operating Room
 * 4M3  Dr. Eddie and Miss Van Eyck
 * 4M5  The Swimming Pool Scene
 * 5M2  Robotic Spiders
 * 5M3  In the Tub
 * 5M4  Saving the Eyeball
 * 5M5  How Much Time Have We Got?
 * 5M8  Aghata Sees All
 * 6MA  The Man in the Window
 * 6M1  Crow's Hotel Room
 * 6M2  Last Scene with Crow
 * 6M3  Remembering Sean
 * 6M3  (Insert)
 * 7M1  Run !!!
 * 7M2  Anderton in Halo
 * 7M3  I Never Said She Drowned
 * 7M6  Confronting Lamar
 * 7M7  Thought Transference and Finale
 * 8M1 A New Beginning
 * 8M1ALT Piano Version
 * 8M2 End Credits