posted by Will Lafrance on February 26, 2014 - 3:32pm
I recently watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and I really liked it. It’s a sort of Film Noir spoof, so of course there would be some saxophone in the score. This got me thinking. I’ve always thought that putting music in any kind of scene, theatre or movies, that it instantly makes it more interesting; but can it make or break a movie?
You take a look at the famous scores in movie history, and you’ll see all kinds of unforgettable tunes. From John Williams composing the Star Wars theme, to Monty Norman composing the James Bond theme; these are iconic tunes that will never go away. I won’t say that these scores made these movies what they were, but they definitely helped. I’ve always thought that the music played is something that really helps set the atmosphere, and if you mess that up, well… Let’s just say you shouldn’t.
Then, you look at all the movies that took advantage of silence. If anyone has seen The Dark Knight Rises, the first fight between Bane and Batman was so awesome. I like to think that the lack of background music playing made it all the more intense. If you watched Gravity, then you’ll know this already. Silence is about as great a tool as music is itself.
In short, no I don’t think a score can make or break a movie. There’s so much more to them for the score to make it not good. But I do think a good soundtrack can make an unwatchable movie a little better. Just the benefits of music I suppose.
The good thing about OIMA, is that there are tons of songs to choose from. As a part time sound designer, I would totally take songs from here and use them in shows. There’s just so much here that people have never heard of. You have Jack Pyl doing some experimental rock on his Originals album, and then you have Denis Brisson doing Instrumental music on his album, Old Time Fiddling. Then you get the more tradional music, that can all still be used as well. You have Uncle Steve doing his song Believe Me, which I think could be used as an opening credit song. This place, is a sound designers heaven.
With that, I’m out of here. Till next time!
