For this essay I will examine the work of Hans Zimmer to discuss how music in films engages the viewer, evokes emotion, and draws the viewer into the film. Hans Zimmer is a German-born musical composer. Hans Zimmer's love for music began in childhood when he learned to play various instruments. Before Zimmer began composing film music, he was in a famous band. The band was called The Buggles and was famous for their song Video Killed the Radio Star. After the Buggles Zimmer played in other bands but never had another hit. As Zimmer has progressed as a film composer, so too has his list of nominations and awards. Zimmer has won 4 Grammy Awards and 2 Golden Globes and many more for his outstanding film scores. The reason I chose to write this essay on Zimmer is that his genres and soundtrack are extremely versatile, ranging from animation to comedy to dark thrillers. This is important to highlight as it shows that Zimmer can create almost any atmosphere with his music, whether it is sad or creates tension that makes us engage in the film. Zimmer's use of themes and the introduction of different instruments allowed him to create this beautiful and engaging soundtrack. In this essay I will examine three films by Hans Zimmer, namely The Holiday Rush and Rain Man. The Holiday is a festive and romantic comedy that is as different from the works generally associated with Zimmer as Inception or The Dark Knight as the soundtrack in The Holiday is Very lighter and less intense. The Holiday shows a much more sensitive side of Zimmer and demonstrates his flexibility when it comes to film genres. The Holiday tells the story of two women played by Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet. Both women are extremely unhappy in their lives... middle of paper... music in films has a heightened power to influence the viewer and can lead us to engage with meaning and answers without knowing it. I examined three films scored by Hans Zimmer, each made years apart and based on different plots. Although the genres of all three films were different, each soundtrack was used to achieve the same thing. Each soundtrack was the reason the films had an emotional impact. The motifs in all three films were identifying to the viewers and allowed them to understand the meaning of the films. Zimmer understands that the soundtrack must draw the viewer towards answers as the image on the screen is not always capable of doing so. Zimmer is an amazing composer and can write scores for any film and use the score to suggest the central meaning of the film. Zimmer's versatility is also evident in the fact that he can create soundtracks for films of any genre.