{"id":5308,"date":"2016-02-18T07:56:28","date_gmt":"2016-02-18T12:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=5308"},"modified":"2016-03-03T07:07:27","modified_gmt":"2016-03-03T12:07:27","slug":"the-sounds-of-movie-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=5308","title":{"rendered":"The Sounds of Movie Music"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_5309\" style=\"width: 311px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5309\" class=\" wp-image-5309\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vweisfeld.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/512px_35mm_film_audio_macro_converted.jpg?resize=301%2C223\" alt=\"film\" width=\"301\" height=\"223\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-5309\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(photo: wikimedia)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Movie soundtracks are meant to enhance and amplify. They\u2019re successful when they\u2019re so much in sync with the film that the viewer internalizes them as part of the experience. Not all scores work, while some may work too well: the modern soundtrack for <em>The Revenant<\/em> was more likeable than the movie&#8211;to me, but not to the Grand Pooh-Bahs of the Golden Globes and\u00a0 BAFTA !<\/p>\n<p>Without doubt the composer\u2019s contribution \u201chas become an essential part of the medium\u2019s power,\u201d said <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hitfix.com\/in-contention\/star-wars-ben-hur-lord-of-the-rings-the-25-best-oscar-winning-film-scores-of-all-time\">Matt Patches and Kristopher Tapley<\/a> for HitFix, and can be as identifiable as any visual image. In just a couple of notes, people will nail the theme from <em>Star Wars<\/em>, <em>The Godfather<\/em> (good ring-tone choice there), or <em>Chariots of Fire<\/em>. I\u2019ve linked a few movie titles below to soundtracks or excerpts that show good melding of sight and sound.<\/p>\n<p>The Academy Awards are coming up February 28, and we\u2019ll be re-hearing five of the best scores from 2015. First, a look back:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ten great soundtracks from film adaptations of books, by <a href=\"http:\/\/bookriot.com\/2015\/11\/17\/10-soundtracks-scores-movies-based-books\/?utm_source=Book+Riot+Subscriptions&amp;utm_campaign=353181c56a-RIOTRUNDOWN_SUNDAY&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_ffcca77bbb-353181c56a-320350249&amp;mc_cid=353181c56a&amp;mc_eid=8d5c6b7c97\">Kate Scott<\/a> at Book Riot includes <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zKB2VIGTUQI\">Brokeback Mountain<\/a><\/em> (with tracks by various folk and bluegrass artists, including Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, and Steve Earle, as well as the work of composer Gustavo Santaolalla); one of my all-time favorite scores, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-7tzxwg6sHY\">The Last of the Mohicans<\/a><\/em> (music by Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman), which I skated to!; and the bittersweet score to <em>The Painted Veil<\/em> (music by Alexandre Desplat, who\u2019s received eight AA nominations and won for <em>The Grand Budapest Hotel<\/em>).<\/li>\n<li>A previous <a href=\"https:\/\/bookriot.com\/2014\/08\/20\/20-amazing-soundtracks-songs-movies-based-books\/\">Kate Scott<\/a> story featured the scores from <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=u4DZPemB4uI\">Pride &amp; Prejudice<\/a><\/em> (with music by Dario Marianelli and featuring Jean-Yves Thibaudet on solo piano) and <em>A Series of Unfortunate Events<\/em> (music by Thomas Newman), which Scott says are her \u201ctwo favorite soundtracks of all time.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Patches and Tapley looked back at Oscar winners of the past 80 years and picked the best of the best. Their top three: 3) <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xTs83Ej5nS8&amp;list=PLABB56F4F645F1786\">Schindler\u2019s List<\/a><\/em> (John Williams, AA 1993), which \u201caches with palpable melancholy; 2) <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZkjGdG9JnnI\">The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring<\/a><\/em> (Howard Shore, AA 2001), \u201cmoving, thrilling and chilling\u201d; and #1) <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=4_MAK0rYdnQ\">Lawrence of Arabia<\/a><\/em> (Maurice Jarre, AA 1962) \u201can epic musical journey.\u201d And, unforgettable.<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.afi.com\/100years\/scores.aspx\">American Film Institute<\/a> list of 25 greatest film scores gives <em>Lawrence of Arabia<\/em> the third spot, with <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pg5wCJuPdXI\">Gone with the Wind<\/a><\/em> (Max Steiner) second, and <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=u2pWMeAPrG4\">Star Wars<\/a><\/em> (John Williams) at the pinnacle. A little lower on the AFI list is a pair of my favorites, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=L9p01KefkCs&amp;list=PLB36iOkpAr0QP9sFtsxupz-KyYGAwrC5W\">The Magnificent Seven<\/a><\/em> (Elmer Bernstein) in eighth place and <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=OsQC4HPruDQ\">Chinatown<\/a><\/em> (Jerry Goldsmith) in ninth.<\/li>\n<li>None of these retrospective lists include another in my personal luvvit list\u20141982\u2019s <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=aekt13U2ktw\">Blade Runner<\/a><\/em>, with music by Vangelis.<\/li>\n<li>This year\u2019s AA nominees for best original score are:<em> Bridge of Spies<\/em> (Thomas Newman);<em> Carol<\/em> (Carter Burwell);<em> The Hateful Eight<\/em> (Ennio Morricone);<em> Sicario<\/em> (J\u00f3hann J\u00f3hannsson); and<em> Star Wars: The Force Awakens<\/em> (John Williams). In only 20 days, we\u2019ll see who wins!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Do you have a favorite movie score, from days past or present?<\/p>\n<h6 class=\"zemanta-related-title\" style=\"font-size: 1em;\">Related articles<\/h6>\n<ul class=\"zemanta-article-ul zemanta-article-ul-image\" style=\"margin: 0; padding: 0; overflow: hidden;\">\n<li class=\"zemanta-article-ul-li-image zemanta-article-ul-li\" style=\"padding: 0; background: none; list-style: none; display: block; float: left; vertical-align: top; text-align: left; width: 84px; font-size: 11px; margin: 2px 10px 10px 2px;\"><a style=\"box-shadow: 0px 0px 4px #999; padding: 2px; display: block; border-radius: 2px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"http:\/\/manwithoutqualities.com\/2016\/02\/12\/the-glance-of-music-ennio-morricone-documentary\/\" target=\"_blank\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; border: 0; display: block; width: 80px; max-width: 100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.zemanta.com\/365829150_80_80.jpg?w=584\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><a style=\"display: block; overflow: hidden; text-decoration: none; line-height: 12pt; height: 83px; padding: 5px 2px 0 2px; background-image: none;\" href=\"http:\/\/manwithoutqualities.com\/2016\/02\/12\/the-glance-of-music-ennio-morricone-documentary\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Glance of Music: Ennio Morricone Documentary<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Movie soundtracks are meant to enhance and amplify. They\u2019re successful when they\u2019re so much in sync with the film that the viewer internalizes them as part of the experience. Not all scores work, while some may work too well: the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=5308\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The Sounds of Movie Music - the best of the best","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[59,207,104],"tags":[162],"class_list":["post-5308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academy-awards","category-music","category-the-morgue","tag-movie"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2NkiT-1nC","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5308"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5310,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5308\/revisions\/5310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}