Ballooning Around: Michael Giacchino’s ‘Up’

Michael Giacchino’s crowning achievement in film scoring, his score for Up won the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 2009. In this episode, where I am joined by composer Johan Macaraeg, we explore how Giacchino uses his two leitmotifs, “Ellie’s Theme,” and “Muntz’s Theme,” to deftly accompany the emotional story. After all is said and done, the score for Up basically can be whittled down to one sonority: a major 7th chord.