Lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about film scores, but in all honesty I listen to them all the time. I think that a lot of film students do the same thing and would agree with me that film scores hold a place of very high emphasis when it comes to movies.
The score acts by pushing and propelling the story of a film without us even realizing it sometimes. This can be done through helping to create character relationships and development, manipulating emotions and illustrating movement. I did my senior project on film scores and used some famous examples of scores that evoke certain emotions while watching the film.
One of the more famous examples was Jaws. Sure, the score may not be the most complex but it’s the simple two note melody that everyone knows, even if they haven’t seen the movie. Even Spielberg laughed at John William's simplicity the firs time around, but grew to love it. The low tuba creates a sense of tension and anxiety that builds up inside the viewer that tells us to be prepared for what’s coming. The tone of danger is there and it can clearly be felt through the music.
Another famous score that heavily impacted a film is Psycho. Everyone knows the classic screeching sounds of the violins as the famous shower seen occurs. Psycho is one of the first movies to set up a new level of violence in the thriller genre. Alfred Hitchcock actually didn’t want there to be any music at first in the shower scene, but after hearing what his composer Bernard Herrmann had written, he quickly changed his mind. Psycho went on to become one of the most famous movies of all time, due in huge part to the score. Hitchcock ended up putting Herrmann’s name right after his in the credits because of how much he felt the music impacted his work of art.
In terms of more modern films, one of the scores that sticks out to me is that of The Grand Budapest Hotel. Wes Anderson likes to portray some kind of humor in his films, even in the darkness of humanity. He has used Alexander Desplat to compose a few of his films including The Grand Budapest Hotel. Desplat’s music functions to add to the humor in The Grand Budapest Hotel. The score relies on several different European sounds and uses different instruments in each song to heighten a feeling. Overall, Desplat’s music adds and upbeat, folk sound the film that adds to the humor Anderson represents.
Inception is another film with a beautiful score, but this one is more dramatic to fit a thrilling and emotional plot. I’m talking specifically about a song called “Time” which plays at the end of the film. Hans Zimmer has composed many famous film scores, but in my opinion this is one of his more moving pieces. The music plays with us by pulling in out and slowly becoming a crescendo of brass instruments and bit of electric guitar. The music makes us feel as though there is something outside of reality to pay attention to, but it also gives us the feeling that something has been lost. Which strings together the idea of dreams vs. reality and losing yourself in your own mind, which is one of the themes of Inception.
The last score I’m going to mention is that of How to Train Your Dragon. Animated movies can have great scores as well. John Powell was the composer for this film and he wrote beautiful music for it. The most powerful is “Test Drive” which plays when Hiccup rides Toothless for the first time. The setting of the film is placed in a Viking village, so all of the music for the film has the feeling of Nordic music, which is exactly what the directors asked for. “Test Drive” is bold from the beginning, with heavy brass and authentic Scottish sounds. It makes the scene that much more compelling and fantastic to watch. It is a film about dragons after all.
