Take a moment.
Hey, I'm a blog post,
I've got a lot of time on my hands.
............
Alright, now what have you come up with?
Is it the direction, no no it has to be the script, movies don't work without a good script!
Maybe it's the performances, I mean I'm not sure if I'd like the movie half as much if the actors weren't as good. What about the Cinematography, that's supposed to be good, right?
While these are all valid hypothetical answers, and they all important to the overall experience.
BUT, and that's a big but...
You're probably forgetting a very important element that didn't come to mind.
The Score.
Or as many people that I know lovingly call it: "Background Music".
Well that "background music" has been around pretty much since the birth of film, and has been using it to great effect to heighten the emotion associated with a particular film, or particular scene.
We've become accustomed to it of course, and I believe that a lot of the times the music in a film goes unnoticed during a person's movie-going experience.
Sometimes I believe that people don't know why they love the movies that they love, or certain scenes the way that they do. But what I can say is that I believe that the SCORE of a scene can have a lot to do with that person's overall impression with it.
A perfect example is "Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope", or as it was simply known back in 1977, "Star Wars".
Oh man...
That opening scene.
No one knew what they were in for,
No one, before that moment, had heard even a single note of what would become arguably the most recognizable theme in film history.
The screen was black.
And then audiences saw those bright blue words.
"A Long Time Ago In A Galaxy Far, Far Away...."
And then BAM!
Can you imagine if those scrolling words randomly floating in space were not accompanied by the orchestra of John Williams?
I will sit behind this computer and type these words and tell you that I honestly believe that without John Williams' mesmerizing score, STAR WARS would not even be as 1/100th as popular as it is today.
It was the score that really sold the world of Star Wars, it sucked people in and was the perfect companion to that galaxy far, far away.
And I know that sounds crazy.
Because I'm talking about music.
But I'm telling you, it has the ability to be so much more than just music...
In case you haven't figured it out by now,
I love movie scores.
And please don't misunderstand me when I say that a lot of collaborative efforts go into making a movie, and the score plays only a part in that collaboration.
It's not the alpha and the omega.
But, I do believe that it has the ability to play a massive role in the success of a film.
What's frustrating is when scores aren't recognized, and not just by an average person going to the movies, I mean like at the Academy Awards. As an avid film-score lover, it really peeves me when I see five movies that are nominated for Best Picture, oh and wouldn't you know it, every nomination in the Best Original Score category is one of those movies.
Does that mean that those scores are the best five of the entire year?
NO.
Does that mean that those scores are even necessarily good?
Nope.
All this means is that the Academy watched those five movies, and went:
"Oh that movie that's up for Best Picture has a score? Well it should be nominated then."
And they nominate it. And one of them wins. And this happens every single year now.
(This phenomenon is more recent, I should note, and it has not always been this way.)
Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about.
In the 2002 Oscars, when the Academy didn't just cut and paste their Best Picture Nominee sheet
to their Best Original Score sheet, their were five nominations for Best Original Score.
Two of them included some pretty good scores, one of them was Catch Me If You Can, and the other was Road To Perdition.
But you know what won?
"Frida"
What the hell.
Okay, no one remembers that score.
But you know what else was came out that awards year?
"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"
This iconic score contained what would later be regarded as one of the most powerful and recognizable movie themes in history.
Did it win?
No.
Was it even nominated?
Nope.
But something like Frida took home the gold that year.
Hopefully this example helps you understand my frustration with the Academy recently, because frankly their choice for the nominees is insulting.
Anyway, I should probably end my rant about movie scores before I scare you off for good.
I just get passionate about it.
The point is: scores can really add to the movie-going experience and sometimes (cough very often cough)
its presence can be frustratingly ignored or forgotten entirely.
So I simply ask that the next time you go see that movie that you've been dying to see (cough cough The Dark Knight Rises cough),
take the score into consideration, and appreciate it a little bit more.
Soak it all in.
Enjoy this beautiful little piece of that giant puzzle which helps make the movie-going experience so magical.
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