‘SCORE’ brings movie music making to audiences

Category: Movies

For anyone interested in movie making or music or music in movies, SCORE is an interesting documentary. Director Matt Schrader says, “As a cinephile I’d long appreciated the music of film, and in the age of endless press featurettes for Hollywood productions, I’d hoped for a documentary about how film composers create scores.” This film is his brainchild.

Imagine movies without music. It’s almost impossible. Even silent films had a live musician, usually a pianist or an organist, accompanying the film.

As they say in this documentary, “The score is the heart and soul of a film.” The “composer is a storyteller” in his or her own way. The music is a story unto itself.

In the 2006 movie The Holiday, Jack Black’s character explains to Kate Winslet’s character about how important music is to movies. Think about just those few notes that signify the shark in the film Jaws. What about the five notes that welcome the aliens in the 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Star Wars would be a little different without its signature sound, as would James Bond and The Pink Panther, and there are plenty of other instances when music is identified with a particular character or film.

King Kong was the first film that truly represented just how important music could be in movies. Music makes the movies flow, often tricks the mind, and adds an important layer to a story and all movies.

SCORE takes viewers through the process of creating music for films. Whether composers are using mainstream instruments or creating sound with other items, it is an absolute that music is definitely what makes a movie great. Whether it is jazz, big band, orchestral, electronic, or whatever, music is instrumental (no pun intended) in the movie business.

Hans Zimmer, Danny Elfman, John Williams, James Cameron, Trent Reznor, Rachel Portman, Randy Newman, Howard Shore, Quincy Jones, Junkie XL (Tom Holkenborg), Alexandre Desplat, Harry Gregson-Williams, Brian Tyler, Joe Kraemer, Heitor Pereira, Steve Jablonsky, Thomas Newman, Bear McCreary, Moby, Garry Marshall, Jerry Goldsmith, John Debney, Steven Spielberg, Marco Beltrami, Christophe Beck, Tyler Bates, David Arnold, Christopher Young, James Horner, Dario Marianelli, Leonard Maltin, David Newman and many others are part of this interesting, entertaining, and educational film.

Think about how you feel when you first hear a familiar tune like the Star Wars theme welcoming you back for another adventure in a galaxy far, far away. Or when you hear that familiar statement song introducing 007. There is no substitute for music, and music in the movies is just as important as the casting of the actors.

SCORE opens in theaters June 16, 2017.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 20 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books.

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