The score is the life blood of a film. I'm not talking about the soundtrack, although occassionally, they are one and the same thing. I am talking about the actual score. The music that plays underneath the dialogue or whatever else is happening on the screen. Music that is composed especially for that film.
Have you ever tried to watch a movie without the score? The difference is amazing and quite astonishing. Whether you realize it or not, it's that music that plays that heightens the emotion you're feeling in regards to what's happening on the big screen. It's what causes those tingles to race up your spine with suspense. It's what pulls you through when it seems like all hope is lost. It's what keeps you on the edge of your seat. It's what breaks your heart at that one critical moment. The score is what pulls you forward, the thread that holds it all together, the one constant in the ever moving, ever changing landscape.
I love music. And while I usually like lyrics, movie scores are the one time where I don't mind the lack of words. You can experience the tone and mood perfectly, without the need for verbal cues. I have my favorite composers and often turn on a score in the background, letting the music take me to far away places. Thanks to Mark Reilly over at www.schmoesknow.com I have a new composer to add to my growing list of favorites.
Michael Giacchino does masterful work. He won an Academy Award for scoring the delightful Pixar film, Up. (How it took me so long to find him, I'll never know!) Yes, he is the man responsible for the breathtaking melody during the 4:10 minutes entitled "Married Life", the beautiful and heartbreaking telling of Carl and Ellie's life together. He and the fabulous animators at Pixar studios are the reason that you always cry. He has also scored a handful of other Pixar properties, including The Incredibles, another of my favorites, and Ratatouille, which is probably my most favourite. The score to this film, with it's French flair is exquisite. He also scored both of the new Star Trek films, as well as Super 8 for J.J. Abrams and has some very interesting projects coming up this year. Now that he is on my radar (Again, what took me so long?), I am interested to see what he does with both Dawn of The Planet of the Apes and Jupiter Ascending. Makes me even more excited for Apes and a bit more curious about Jupiter.
Of course, no discussion about movie scores is complete without the mention of the incomparable John Williams. The man is a genius. Pure and simple. No question, no hesitation, no anything. He is a genius. He has created some of the most beautiful, most instantly recognizable pieces of music in history. His score for the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII will be his 113th film score. Let's look at that number again... he has scored 113 films. One hundred and thirteen. That number is staggering and astonishing. And cements him as the greatest composer over the last 60 years, if not arguably, ever. Hands down, there is no way that you can argue his genius. I mean, can you imagine Jaws without those two base notes? What about Star Wars without the Main Title theme or the Imperial March? Or the five tones that repeat throughout Close Encounters of the Third Kind? Who is Indiana Jones without his theme music? How about those first few notes that play over the credits of Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone? All John Williams. While I have a number of his scores (and with the list of movies that he's scored, you would be hard pressed to find anyone that doesn't!) and I enjoy them all, my favourites have to be the scores to the Star Wars movies. All six of them. I know that the prequels had a lot of problems, but the score was definitely not one of them. One of my all-time favourite pieces of music is Binary Sunset... the bit that plays in A New Hope when Luke is watching the twin suns of Tatooine set. To me, it is the epitome of Star Wars and always brings a smile to my face and a shiver to my spine.
There are many amazing artists out there who have created beautiful music. Marvin Hamlisch, who scored such classics as The Way We Were and Sophie's Choice. Paul Williams, who scored the delightful Muppet Movie and A Star Is Born (and two of my most favourite Christmas specials, Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas and A Muppet's Christmas Carol). Randy Newman, who scored all three Toy Story movies, as well as The Natural. Hans Zimmer, who scored The Lion King and Man of Steel, although my favourite scores are his Kung-Fu Panda and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. James Horner, who scored An American Tail, Willow (another of my most favourites), Braveheart and Titanic. Danny Elfman, who scored such films as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and Hellboy II: The Golden Army. James Newton Howard. Rachel Portman. Alexandre Desplat. The list goes on and on and on...
My favourite all time score was composed by Academy Award winner, Howard Shore. He has scored some amazing movies, like Philadelphia, The Silence of the Lambs and Eastern Promises, but to me, nothing will compare to the music he composed for the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The haunting beauty of the score holds a special place in my heart, as do the movies themselves. Listening to the score brings back all the emotion and feelings that I have when I watch the films. I can't listen to certain parts without getting emotional... The Grey Havens makes me tear up every time, and Annie Lennox's Into The West makes me bawl like a baby. (on a side note, I'm not actually allowed to watch the movies anymore, because when I do, I take the entire day and watch all 3 special editions back to back... and I pretty much bawl like a baby from about halfway through Return of the King, right to the end... so, no, I'm banned from watching them right now!)
They say the song remembers when. That just hearing a certain song or melody can take you back to places instantly, and that is never more true than with a film score. Once you take away the picture and the dialogue, and just feel what the composer is trying to tell you through their music, you'll appreciate the movie that much more. At least I know I do.
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