WATCH: 50 years of Batman in music

 

In just four minutes, a group of musicians managed to capture 50 years of Batman music using mainly a piano and a cello—along with Batmobiles from three generations.

 

The Piano Guys performed the themes from the 1966 Batman TV show, the 1989 movie theme by Danny Elfman, and Hans Zimmer's "Like a Dog Chasing cars" in 2008.

 

"This is one of those projects we’ve wanted to do from the very beginning of The Piano Guys. We love super heroes, the dramatic music that has brought them to life, and the vivid films that have made them legends. We used piano, cello, handheld cameras, a radio controlled helicopter, and some scrappy special effect techniques in the most creative ways possible to emulate the three epic eras of one of the greatest super heroes ever created: BATMAN!" they said.

 

 

But they said their video was also a "ride through time," from the 1960s show with the campy comic-book feel to the Dark Knight Trilogy in the 2000s.

 

Even film and TV buffs will appreciate the detail The Piano Guys put into their work - the 1966 theme was played with a 4:3 aspect ratio and retro color grading.

 

"The piano used in this scene is a brushed aluminum/cherry wood Yamaha Neo with a clear plexiglass lid (there are only a handful in the world) and we painted 'Jackie' (one of Steve’s stunt cellos) to match it. Of course, would this all be complete without a sleek, stylishly finned road ready replica of the 60’s Batmobile?" they said.

 

On the other hand, the theme of Burton's 1989 Batman movie paid tribute to Elfman’s soundtrack with "layered tracks of steel and carbon fiber cellos played with a special technique – at times using paper underneath the strings."

 

A 16:9 aspect ratio and a heavy film grain were thrown in post-production, they added.

 

"We filmed in a 100 yr-old, dark, abandoned warehouse that actually houses several hundred bats! The piano used is a 9 ft. concert grand – one of the most sought-after concert hall performance pianos in the world and certainly big enough to make even Tim Burton happy," they said.

 

On the other hand, the “batcello” was hand built by Gail Flynn with a bat bridge, a cityscape stained glass front, a Batman scroll and hand-carved bat-shaped pegs.

 

Meanwhile, the most recent Batman series, the Dark Knight Trilogy, was not spared the attention of The Piano Guys.

 

"We worked tirelessly to recreate his (Hans Zimmer's) epic style of composition and full symphonic sound with piano and cello – writing fast, accented ostinatos and soaring brass-like melody lines. We mimicked the movie’s muted color grading and utilized anamorphic widescreen (2:34:1), snow candles (the same used in the last scene of the Dark Knight Rises), and drone flyby shots to emphasize the drama of the series – all in front of a replica of the unbelievably buff Tumbler!" they said.

 

The finale is a meshing of all three eras, "musically, visually, and thematically," The Piano Guys said.

 

Other works

 

Tech site The Verge said "Batman Evolution" is not the first time the group went over the top paying tribute to other legends in film and TV.

 

It said they had done similar work on Mission Impossible, Bourne Identity, and Star Wars. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News