MOVIE MUSIC: No, not songs; knowing the Score!

by Terry 18 Replies latest jw friends

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  Terry

  Ever since my mother took me to that sci-fi movie when I was 4, I've been aware of what movie music does to persuade us that what is onscreen is something we can identify with emotionally.

  Filmmusic has had many incarnations from the guy with the piano in front of the silent film making it up as it happens on screen to the symphonic scores of the Golden Age of film to the proliferation of pop tunes that are "dialed in" and "dialed out" by contemporary directors.

  The truly long-lasting classic films have stand-alone music that lives after them. The Gone with the Wind or Ben-Hur, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and Jaws, Star Wars and Star Trek; all have strong melodies that immediately conjure up--not only the film experience--but, a special emotional resonance as well.

  What are your favorite pieces of Movie music?

  What scenes would not have worked; or, worked especially well with music?

  Some of my all time favorites are:

  Lawrence of Arabia (Lawrence on top of the derailed train with the sunlight behind him as he prances around to the cheers of the bedouin)

  Spartacus (the final scene when Varinia holds the infant up for the crucified father to see and she says, "He's FREE, Spartacus, He's FREE."

  The Wind and the Lion (When Raisuli [Sean Connery] rides down on his horse at full gallop and swoops the child up on his saddle).

  The Black Stallion (The horse on the beach with the waves crashing in and the sun going down)

  Goldfinger (Bond fights OddJob inside Fort Knox as the nuclear bomb ticks the countdown to doom)

  Walkabout (The storytelling scene as the children walk across the outback with the aborigine as their guide)

  The Nightcomers (The smoking frog)

  Citizen Kane (the sled in the furnace as the smoke goes up the chimney and the camera pulls back in an exact reverse of the opening scene)

  I'll stop now.

  Your turn.
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  morty

  My ultimate favorites are The Sound of Music and Dirty Dancing.....

  I could watch them 24/7 and never get sick of them.....
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  Big Tex

  Yeah I know what you mean Terry. I don't know if these are my favourite scences, but they are memorable to me:

  I was 8 when I watched "Love Story" and the scene where Ryan O'Neil and Ali McGraw are walking across the snow for the final trip to the hospital, the music of a few notes on the piano were powerful

  Toward the end of Ordinary People when Timothy Hutton's guilt over his brother's death comes to the surface. He's splashes water on his face in the bathroom. There are just a couple of notes played, but it really struck me

  "No. I am your father." The only time I've ever heard an audible gasp in a theater

  The little girl in red running from the German soldiers in "Schindler's List". That stayed with me for several weeks

  The first time I saw Norman Bates' mother down in the cellar. I'll never forget that swinging light fixture

  The ending to "Lady Jane"

  The soundtracks to "Peggy Sue got Married", "The Last Emperor" and "Starman" were bad times in my life
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  City Fan

  Terry,

  I think one of the signs of a great movie is the score or music that goes with it. I think some work well on their own and others not so well e.g. Jerry Goldsmiths Alien score.

  Some pieces of movie music that come to mind:

  Gandalf and the Balrog appearing in flames at the top of the chasm from the beginning of the Two Towers, by Howard Shore.

  The death of King Arthur in Excaliber to Wagner's Siegfried's Funeral March.

  The music in 'A Beautiful Mind' in the scene where John Nash is deciphering the code on the wall and also his Nobel Prize speech.

  Sometimes great movie moments don't have any music, such as when Michael Corleone searches frantically for the gun behind the toilet, and train noise builds up the suspense.
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  TresHappy

  The Sound of Music - definitely my favorite also!
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  wheres caleb?

  This is one of my favorite subjects Terry. I'm a huge soundtrack fan and wanted to be a composer for film myself.

  Some of my first leanings would be by James Horner: I liked his sweeping heroic music in the movie, "The Rocketeer". Horner used strings with no virbrato to create an eerie atmosphere at the beginning of "Aliens". His percussive music in the part where Sigourney Weaver has to save the day was very good and has been used in many movie trailers.

  "Braveheart" had many cues but I'll just mention the one where the young Wallace discovers that his father was killed. The cue in "A Beautiful Mind" when he is cracking the code was especially good. That one has already been mentioned.

  Of course there is John Williams. His melody writing is exceptional but I'll stick to his use of sound in his orchestrations. The use of low reeds for Darth Vader in the first Star Wars was unusual at the time. In scenes where there is flight, such as in "Superman" or "Hook", he uses sweeping high strings with a hint of bass. It's like the bottom has gone out from under your feet.

  "The Color Purple", where the two sisters are being seperated by Danny Glover's character and one promising to write to the other. Very emotional.

  I have to admit that many of my favorite cues are melodic. Too many to mention. I might post again if I have time.
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  LyinEyes

  I was still living at home , maybe early teens , when I first saw the movie " Somewhere in Time", Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. I was so moved by the music in that movie that I tried to tape the music from the TV. To this day,,,,,,,I still am moved by the music , the Rapsody. I think the composer for the movie was John Berry, and I think he may also composed the music for "Dances with Wolves".
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  wheres caleb?

  LyinEyes

  You are right, John Barry wrote the music for both "Somewhere in Time" and "Dances with Wolves". He also wrote the music for "Out of Africa". He received an oscar for both scores, "Dances with Wolves" and "Out of Africa". He is a great composer and I agree with you, "Somewhere in Time" is a very moving score. The rhapsody was written by Rachmaninoff, a beautiful piece as well.
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  dh

  Thin Red Line - Tribal Chants (the scene when the lead actor is swimming on some pacific island) &Wedding Song

  Black Hawk Down - the whole soundtrack

  Lawrence of Arabia - i like this soundtrack as well

  Legends of the Fall - various scenes, in the house when samuel is singing and susana is playing piano.

  La Amistad - i think this is a very powerful score

  Last of The Mohicans - the theme to this movie is great

  Schindlers List - often cited as the best movie score of all time!

  The Red Violin - the violin solo of Kaspa Weis is brilliant as was the rest of the music

  I really like the soundtrack to Bladerunner & 1492 - Conquest of Paradise by Vangelis
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  scotsman

  Zbgniew Priesner's are invariably haunting - Three Colour's Trilogy, Damage, People's Century.