Everyone these days loves movies. The older generations are concerned with the trend of films becoming Hollywood blockbusting extravaganzas with no attention to characters or storytelling. The younger generations... well, these types of films are pretty much all they know. Everyone can agree that films are definitely evolving. Amidst this change, I've found that the orchestral music that accompanies these movies often goes completely neglected. Most people don't realize its importance to the emotional investment of the viewer and its ability to assist in storytelling. Because it has been largely taken for granted, people also don't realize that the music which provides subtle contributions to what they see is also evolving. I'm writing this blog because I think that this genre of music doesn't get enough attention for its inspirational creations, and because of a lack of websites dedicated to reviewing and analyzing them.
My film knowledge is pretty limited, other than the fact that I've seen quite a few of them. My music knowledge is equally unrefined; I won't be able to tell you what key that cue was in or analyze the chord progression of that particular theme. Because of this, I'm the target audience for filmmakers and composers. I mean, they are making their movies (or should be) for the masses, the people who don't have an intimate knowledge of the process. In other words, the more people the film appeals to, the better for the filmmaker; it's not usually a niche market. I'm just a guy, one of those regular people that today's movies are aimed at. And you probably are too, unless you have your Bachelors Degree in Film and Cinema. As one of the masses, I'll talk about soundtracks from that point of view and I won't attempt to tackle the intricacies of the process that I'm not qualified to analyze.
That said, here is what I am interested in. I'm interested in the relationship between what one sees and what one hears, and how they can make each other better through the telling of a story. This is something that everyone can understand, and I think its the part that really matters. Richard Davis can say this better than me, so I invite you to watch his six-part lecture. Here's the first:
Also, I should say that I'm a young guy, only 22, and I don't really have a proper appreciation for the history of films and soundtracks. However, movies and their musical accompaniments had one of the most dramatic impacts on my childhood, probably the reason why I still love them today. My knowledge really only goes back to the 80's, although I've investigated plenty of scores that came before my time. Almost anyone can recognize the grace and effectiveness of Max Steiner's score for Gone With the Wind, but only those who have been alive since its release can really recognize its influence on the evolution of film and music. I'm just going to focus on the trends of the industry since the John Williams golden days, and where it seems to be headed at present and in the future.
I began this introductory post by raving about the inspirational efforts of composers in the genre. Spielberg has said that his movies would be nothing without music. I'll leave you with this short documentary that relates to the lecture series that I posted earlier, highlighting the influence that music can have on a movie:
No comments:
Post a Comment