Clockers by Spike Lee

Spike Lee's film Clockers is a tale of young men selling drugs for a local kingpin in Brooklyn. Having only seen do The Right Thing by Lee previous to this (which was years ago), I was struck by the soundtrack used throughout the film. Being a huge soul fan, it was good to hear people like Chaka Khan and Seal's music.

But it was the way the music was used that interested me. For example the scene below, where the protagonist "Strike"(Mehki Phifer) was getting attacked by his local police officer in front of a lot of people. For me and my experience in watching films akin to Clockers, the music in scenes like this where something nasty is going on, it wouldn't be as soulful, smooth and dare I say it, relaxing? The music was almost the opposite of what you would expect in a gritty scene like this. I'd expect something like this to be playing, as it would fit the scene and the surroundings. But I guess that would be too obvious.

It did cross my mind that the music could be diegetic, but there was no evidence of diegetic music in any shots throughout the film. My theory as to why Lee used the song was that it was perhaps something that would have been ringing out of the close-knit houses on a summer day like this.

Either way, it's a good movie with an interesting choice of songs.

Bad Santa

I was watching the film Bad Santa yesterday and noticed that the soundtrack was made up of famous classical music. The film revolves around a alcoholic Santa and his crooked elf. The film is a dark comedy set in a very warm, sunny Phoenix during Christmas, which in itself is a major contrast.

I found this anachronistic soundtrack working really well with the film. The contrast worked very well with the score and the film, when you think of classical music, the connotations are of grand buildings, Vienna, men in wigs, Pimms and high brow events!

But this is almost the opposite; a beat up man who's had a shit life and resorts to stealing and philandering.

I also noticed at some points the director had used the "mickey mousing" effect when playing some classical music and syncing it in time with the protagonist hammering a safe he was trying to break into.

Below is a clip where classical music is used.

A Complete Guide to Film Scoring by Richard Davis

Just started reading this book and it promises to help me know the process of film making and the of evolution of a film score, how to write a score and an insight of how the music business operates.

But on the opening page of the introduction of the book I found a nice quote that epitomises, in my un-nurtured opinion of course, the true essence and first rule of writing music for film:

"..finding the heart of the film, the soul of the film, and expressing that in music"

Quote of the day

Mychael Danna, the composer behind scores such as Little Miss Sunshine and Capote, said something I felt quite compelling in the sense that it broke down the role of music and its desired effect within cinema concisely:

"The role of music is to enlighten the audience about the film from a sonic perspective, and to bring some sonic understanding of the themes of the film."

Music & Cinematic Marriage

Howl's Moving Castle is a film that took me by surprise and made me actually applaud after it had finished.

Being an anime fan from the age of 13, this film along with its delectable score, made for fantastic viewing, even though these Studio Ghibli films are basically kids films.

This film made me nostalgic and the score, with its vast orchestral instrumentation, had me from the opening scene. The score and the visuals go hand in hand here to create a wonderful universe for people of all age to get lost in.

Love it.

The Reel World: Scoring for Pictures by Jeff Rona

I have been skimming through this book for the past day or so and I've found myself disagreeing with some of the things Mr Rona is saying.

Per Example:

Why are virtually no films made without music? Music adds emotional energy to the stories and characters in films in a way that a film can not do on its own.

I find this statement to be a little bit false. If Mr Rona had ever seen films that choose to negate music such as Michael Haneke's startling but excellent movie Cache(Hidden) then he would have thought twice about opening his book with the above quote.

There is no non-diegetic music throughout this movie and I doubt that any post audio work was re-created(such as street noises, after dialogue recording, foley etc)to complete this film.

Personally I found this gritty, raw, untouched style of cinema enthralling and captivating. The film itself is charged with emotion due to the strong acting performances and the realistic storyline. Even silence between characters in a scene is enough to make a seen tense and emotional. It was refreshing to have a real film I think compared to some of the watered-down, majorly diluted works of Hollywood and her counterparts.

Le there be leitmotifs!

For those of you who don't kow, leitmotifs have been used in cinema since the 1930s to help the viewers identify what character they are dealing with on screen.



Here is a famous leitmotif that crops in almost every Bond film I've seen. Normalyl as it is introducing the main character for the first time:

Inspirational.

The work of Pedro Almodovar snared my attention around 3-4 years now after being show one of his movies by a friend. As a child I spent many holidays in his native Spain soaking up the sun and life amongst other things

As a child though, you tend to let everything fly by you and you are in your own little bubble, but Spain and her cultural givings have always had a lasting effect on me. It is my favourite country, I love everything about it from the cities, the lifestyle, the art, the football, the food and more. So loving Almodovar is no shock. My love of Spanish music is also strong, and when watching the art of Almodovar grace the screen with the fantastic music of his key composer, Alberto Iglesias, I am in escapist heaven.

The below film is probbaly my favourite film of his, along with arguably the best score of all his films. The instrumentation and delicacy of some of arrangement is startling on its own, but paired with the immeasurable poetic visuals of Pedro Almodovar is fantastic.

A quote I found interesting

Film music is functional music-music whose structure has been determined by factors that lie outside the music itself

From Peter Larsen's Film Music book. The book has held my interest intensely.

Fritz Lang's Metropolis

The film mentioned above is a seminal classic in so many ways; from the score to the set to the budget to the cast list and more. It was only natural for me to stumble across this in my research on the music in films. The film itself is over 3 hours long, so watching it will take 2 sittings(my next sitting is this evening). The score has been sliced, diced, spliced and more over the years as technology has advanced. But the version I have has the original score by Gottfried Huppertzplaying throughout.

What makes this film special is the relationship the music shares with the characters and props. Below is a snippet. I shall report back other findings after I watch part 2 tonight.

Thoughts of a confused man Pt.2

So here is the remainder of my thoughts thus far:

As well as escapism and grittiness from the lesser budgeted foreign films, their scores tend to be rooted in that of the country in which the film is made, with orchestras and even instruments associated with the said country. A perfect example of this is Pedro Almodovar’s Talk To Her. The score here is wretched with emotions and high strung instruments, played by orchestras, but traditional Latin-based instruments such as the maracas feature prominently in the track Hable Con Ella, and of course, the Spanish guitar, which is featured throughout the score. The emotional bond the orchestra and traditional, native instruments forge is one of the reasons this score is so lauded. The composer, Alberto Iglesias, took many plaudits for his work here, and this led me to think; what sort of relationship did he have with the director to create this score that has been deemed so successful?

The special relationship between a director and composer is an intriguing one. Through previous projects it has been learned that even when relations between both are at times tempestuous(see Hitchcock & Herrmann), they can still prove to be extremely fruitful(see the infamous scene in Psycho were Janet Leigh is attacked). It is this intriguing and beguiling relationship that has sparked something inside of me to find out what just goes on between a director and composer, and to see how it effects the outcome of the film.

 
The first method of research is to watch films. By watching films and taking mental note of the music will help me to gauge if the score works with the scene. Having had experience in writing about films in past projects could be beneficial, although this project is more based on the relationship a director has with his composer.

To help explore ideas and thoughts, I initially discuss them with my peers to see if these ideas are viable. My friends and classmates provide a great wall to bounce my ideas off, and their feedback often helps me in my goal of completing tasks, in life and in University.

Thoughts of a confused man.

I started writing below on a word document some time ago, but have decided it will be better suited to the blog, as it helps show my thinkings. It will be added to over time.


Being a creative sound production student for 5 years opens your mind and eyes to the various possibilities and avenues sound can be used. Music and sounds are all around us, and how music is made and how music is perceived is arguably the main reasons why anyone would wish to study Creative Sound Production.

Over the 5 years, tastes and skills are acquired and in some cases perhaps lost, when it comes to films though, my taste has expanded into Independent and foreign cinema. Perhaps it’s the grittiness of their cinematography or the fact the escapism to a foreign land is much more appealing than that of the worn out Hollywood type films, whatever it may be, these films tend to get my attention much more.

A film a night..

Well, I try to watch a film a night seen as I have a few hours to spare most evenings. One film recently that struck me was 4 months, 3 weeks & 2 days. I haven't watched a film as gritty as this for a while.

From the off, the setting of 2 women in a room with one camera taking in the action, set in a grey, drim looking building, set the tone for the film. What was more surprising was the fact this film had no score(even though the trailer has music)and no music at all.

This was done surely to enhance the directors view and to make the film more realistic, which I believe it was. The acting was fantastic and the scenes felt real and edgy without music permeating the scene as most of us expect. This was a good example of music not being needed to enhance the directors vision, something which I think has to be rare as I feel music helps convey certain emotions that tie in with that is happening on screen.