You’re having a typical day until you hear a magical, epic theme song but cannot figure out which movie or TV show to which it belongs. You’re probably imagining yourself wielding a lightsaber, flying, or facing off against a maniacal foe. But who are the people responsible for you wearing a cape and running around the house? The answer is composers.
Now, I’m not referring to songs that were added to a movie and presented in a soundtrack. Rather, I refer to the music created specifically for the film itself. The music that helps invoke further emotion alongside the mostly visual experience of a film. Can you imagine Star Wars or Superman without their iconic scores?
The creation of a score involves many different elements and these differ depending on the film and its director. Sometimes a director would like a composer to witness filming whereas others like to work with composers while the editing is taking place. Within these processes, a score is formed by the composer alone or in collaboration/guidance with the film’s director. A theme can be established for certain characters, ideas, and events or a score can literally serve to ‘underscore’ the situations on film.
The most popular use of theme would likely be the “Star Wars” series with Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker having separate themes. A good example of a score that serves more in setting a tone for a film would be Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” score. What is great about a score that serves a setting would be when the composer decides to build a tempo and then change things up when a major event occurs. It makes the event all the more impactful.
The aspect of a musical score was initially only used to drown out the noise made by the projector, according to Kurt London. Before recording sound, organists/pianists or entire orchestras were brought in to provide music for silent movies. Actually, I had the rare experience to witness two musicians from the band, Faint, play their own musical score to the German silent movie classic, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1920) and it was fantastic.
TV scores are also important. Can you think of the “X-Files” theme or the “Game of Thrones” theme without going back and listening? I’m sure most could. Just as the medium of TV has become more accepted as a legitimate source for storytelling, you can be sure that the use of score is even more prevalent.
That brings us to my personal film and TV score favorites!
Some of the Best Film Scores
The Social Network (2010) – Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
Trance (2013) – Rick Smith
Braveheart (1995) – James Horner
2001: A Space Odyssey (1969) – Aram Khatchaturian, Gyorgy Ligeti, Richard Strauss and Johann Strauss
JFK (1991) – John Williams
Some of the Best TV Scores
BattlestarGalactica (2004) – Bear McCreary
Game of Thrones (2011) – Ramin Djawadi
Breaking Bad (2008) – Dave Porter
Dexter (2006) – Daniel Licht
House of Cards (2013) – Jeff Beal
Today, musical scores are everywhere and have taken an art form of their own. Just look in the genre section in iTunes. You’ll see a genre dedicated to soundtracks.
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