As early as silent films, movies have used music to help tell their story, drawing their audience into their world, hinting of things to come, shaping each character with tempo, pitch, range and melody.
Motion picture score composers provide the backbone for the most memorable films.
Filmakers often use the score to bring different types of scenes closer to a common theme. It can really help with continuity in the editing room.
Imagine the opening scenes of "Star Wars", the credits floating up into space, the giant starship moving overhead, Darth Vader first appearing through a smoky hallway on the rebel ship; can you imagine those scenes without John Williams' score to reinforce them?
Just imagine any of his most legendary works without his touch and you'll be left with little more than mediocrity.
Here are some of my favorite films with music composed by the great John Williams; , the entire Star Wars Saga (1977-2005), Munich (2005), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), War of the Worlds (2005), The Terminal (2004), the Harry Potter movies (2001-2004), Catch Me If You Can (2002), , Minority Report (2002), AI (2001), Saving Private Ryan (1998), the Jurassic Park movies (1993-1997), Nixon (1995), Sabrina (1995), Schindler's List (1993), Far and Away (1992), JFK (1991).
Here are some of the older ones; Home Alone (1990), Always (1989), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), the Indiana Jones movies (1981-1989), Empire of the Sun (1987), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), E.T. (1982), 1941 (1979), Superman (1978), Jaws and Jaws 2 (1975-1978), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), The Towering Inferno (1974), Earthquake (1974) and TV shows like; Amazing Stories (1985), Lost in Space (1965), Wagon Train (1963) and who can forget the music from Gilligan's Island (1962-1965)?
It has always been a dream of mine to have a full orchestra playing along in a movie theater. We like to believe that at some point this might have been the case.
"After 1903, when exhibitors began to build movie theaters for the exclusive showing of full-length features, large orchestras proved much too burdensome, and music was instead often provided by a solo pianist banging on a battered, frequently out-of-tune nickelodeon upright." -Movie Music: The Definitive Performances, Sony BMG Music, sonymusic.com
Electronic music can be very organic and expressive.
Some of the best film scores are made with samplers, synths and computer software like Reason and Digidesign's ProTools. Mark Mothersbaugh is one of the best electronic composers. He comes to us from the 1980's synth group DEVO and works with directors like Wes Anderson, Catherine Hardwicke and many others in TV and films. He is one of the busiest composers in the industry.
Another one of my favo0rite film composers is Jon Brion. His work in the following films is original, thematic and adds so much to the films. Make sure to watch these films again with special attention for the music; The Break-Up (2006), 2012 una odisea en las Tendillas (2006), Todos los días (2006), I Heart Huckabees (2004), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Blossoms & Blood (2003), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Magnolia (1999) and Sydney (1996).
Jon Brion takes advantage of tools like sampling, synths, keyboards and software as well as organic instrumentation to bring together all of the most important sounds he requires for a film.
Any way you work it, there should almost always be some kind of music in a film unless silence is used as a specific tool in certain scenes or short films.
A good soundtrack is essential to getting the attention of your target audience.
When a movie is over and a song rolls into the credits it may end up on the official soundtrack (if the track can be licensed beyond use in the film). Then radio can play a more important role in marketing the project.
Songs associated with a film could be played on radio stations during the launch and release phases of the film to help spread a buzz to fans of the music and just people tuning in.
"Cavatina", written by Stanley Myers, was the main theme for The Deer Hunter, Directed by Michael Cimino, starring Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep.
William Saracino; the supervising music editor for The Deer Hunter chose additional songs for the film.
One of the most moving parts of The Deer Hunter is a scene in the bar, where all the guys know they will be separated by the war and they are kind of quietly spending a moment playing pool, drinking and hanging out. Then "Can't take my eyes off of you" comes on the jukebox or radio and they all begin to sing along with the choruses. (lyrics)
Can't Take My Eyes Off You
written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio
for Frankie Valli (1967)
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
You'd be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
Pardon the way that I stare.
There's nothing else to compare.
The sight of you leaves me weak.
There are no words left to speak,
But if you feel like I feel,
Please let me know that it's real.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
I love you, baby,
And if it's quite alright,
I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Don't bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby,
now that I found you, stay
And let me love you, baby.
Let me love you.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off you.
You'd be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive.
You're just too good to be true.
I love you, baby,
And if it's quite alright,
I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby,
Don't bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby,
now that I found you, stay.
The placement of this song helps mark the era and shows how close they were as a group of friends. It was that moment just before men went to Vietnam to do their duty and defend our country.
Movies like "The Harder They Come" directed by Perry Henzell, brought an entire culture into foreign lands from Jamaica to the U.S., Europe and Canada.
When Perry Henzell was casting the lead role, he looked to the music of that culture and found singer/songwriter Jimmy Cliff to play his struggling musician in a corrupt and impoverished city.
The whole rosta image and lifestyle was largely invisible before Perry Henzell and Jimmy Cliff brought it to the rest of the world for all to see back in 1972.
Although it wasn't on the soundtrack, "Sunday Sun" by Neil Diamond became associated with one of the most successful movies in history; Love Story.
This movie was such a huge hit because guys would take a different girl to see it every night. It started the 1970's trend of realism and personal story telling that in my opinion gave that era some of the most important contributions in film history.
But the real love story was happening behind the scenes. While Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw were falling in love on the screen, producer, Robert Evans and actress, Ali MacGraw ran off and got married.
Watch "The Kid Stays in the Picture". In this film based on excerpts from his book, Paramount Pictures Producer, Robert Evans tells his love story with Ali MacGraw and how he let her slip through his arms while he worked on The Godfather with Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola.
Music plays an important role in "The Kid Stays in the Picture". As each chapter in his life unfolds, the music from films like "Love Story", "The Godfather", "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown" bring the stories to life.
Music helps films become classics and some legendary. Think about the song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head" by B.J. Thomas in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, one of the most important films in Robert Redford and Paul Newman’s careers.
Here is the clip from that scene. It is truly a classic in every frame.
With original music by Burt Bacharach and conducting the orchestra too, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid has one of the most memorable scores in film history.
Music can be the most important part of a film to support feelings like sadness, joy, pain, tension, triumph, suspense, intrigue, patriotism, danger, fright, folly or fury.
Music can also help a scene convey a specific location, country or city as well as a very specific year and season.
One of the best examples of time stamping in Back to the Future (1985), directed by
Robert Zemeckis. The score was composed by Alan Silvestri and the bank of songs is orgainized by Bones Howe; the music supervisor. The songs from the 1950's like Mr. Sandman and many others provide the real time travel experience for the audience. Successful time-travel movies like this one rely heavily on music to set back the clocks.
Music is one of the most important tools for writing films too. Many screenwriters and novelists will use specific works of music to help inspire their writing or even to plant the seed for a completely new project.