A Film Score is a modern interpretation of classical music written to underscore a film.
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Process of creation
Theme of Ben-Hur
Usually, after the film has been shot (or some shooting has been completed), the composer is shown an unpolished "rough cut" of the film (or of the scenes partially finished), and talks to the director about what sort of music (styles, themes, etc. ) should be used — this process is called "spotting. " More rarely, the director will talk to the composer before starting shooting, so as to give more time to the composer or because the director needs to shoot scenes (namely song or dance scenes) according to the final score. Sometimes the director will have edited the film using "temp (temporary) music": already published pieces that are similar to what the director wants. Most film composers strongly dislike temp music, as directors often become accustomed to it and push the composers to be imitators rather than creators. On certain occasions, directors have become so attached to the temp score that they decided to use it and reject the score custom-made by a composer. One of the most famous cases is Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, where Kubrick opted for existing recordings of classical works rather than the score by Alex North, which eventually led to a law suit by composer György Ligeti when he was surprised to hear his compositions in a motion film; though one should note Kubrick hired two composers (the other Frank Cordell) to do a score, and while North's 2001 is indeed a famous example, it is not the sole example of well-known rejected scores. 2001 A Space Odyssey is a 1968 Science fiction film directed by Stanley Kubrick, written by Kubrick and Arthur C Alex North ( December 4, 1910 – September 8, 1991) was an American Composer responsible for the first Jazz Others include Torn Curtain (Bernard Herrmann), Troy (Gabriel Yared), and the The Bourne Identity (Carter Burwell). Torn Curtain ( 1966) is a political Thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, featuring his trademark characters and camera techniques Troy is an epic movie released on May 14, 2004 concerning the Trojan War. The Bourne Identity is a 2002 Spy film loosely based on Robert Ludlum 's novel of the same name. See also the site for rejected TV and film scores.
The Good, The Bad And The Ugly main theme
Once a composer has the film, they will then work on creating the score. While some composers prefer to work with traditional paper scores, many film composers write in a computer-based environment. This allows the composer and orchestrator to create MIDI-based demos of themes and cues, called MIDI mockups, for review by the filmmaker prior to the final orchestral recording. Orchestration is the study or practice of writing Music for Orchestra (or more loosely for any Musical ensemble) or of adapting for orchestra music composed A MIDI mockup is an extensive demo of a recording project built using samplers to stand in for acoustic instruments Some films are then re-edited to better fit the music. Instances of this include the collaborations between filmmaker Godfrey Reggio and composer Philip Glass, where over several years the score and film are edited multiple times to better suit each other. Godfrey Reggio (born March 29, 1940) is an American director of experimental Documentary films Life Born WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Philip Glass (born January 31 Arguably the most successful instances of these are the associations between Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone. Sergio Leone ( January 3, 1929 &ndash April 30, 1989) was an Italian Film director. Ennio Morricone OMRI (born November 10, 1928) is an acclaimed Italian Academy Award -winning composer In the finale of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Morricone had prepared the score used before and Leone edited the scenes to match it. The Good the Bad and the Ugly ( Il Buono il Brutto il Cattivo) is a 1966 Italian epic Spaghetti western film directed His other two famous films, Once Upon a Time in the West and Once Upon a Time in America, were completely edited to Morricone's score as the composer had prepared it months before the film's production. Once Upon a Time in the West ( Italian title C'Era una Volta il West) is a 1968 epic Spaghetti Western Once Upon a Time in America (Italian title C'era una volta in America) is a 1984 Crime film directed by Sergio Leone Another example is the famous chase scene in Steven Spielberg's E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE (Hon (born December 18 1946 is an American Film director, Screenwriter and producer. This article is about the 1982 film For the term "ET" which redirects here see ET. The score, composed by long-time collaborator John Williams, proved so difficult to synchronize in this specific scene during the recording sessions that, as recounted in a companion documentary on the DVD, Spielberg gave Williams carte blanche so to speak and asked him to record the cue without picture, freely; Spielberg then re-edited the scene later on to perfectly match the music. John Towner Williams (born February 8 1932) is an American Composer, conductor and Pianist.
Music from Naqoyqatsi
When the music has been composed and orchestrated, the orchestra or ensemble then perform it, often with the composer conducting. Orchestration is the study or practice of writing Music for Orchestra (or more loosely for any Musical ensemble) or of adapting for orchestra music composed Musicians for these ensembles are often uncredited in the film or on the album and are contracted individually (and if so, the orchestra contractor is credited in the film or the soundtrack album). However, some films have recently begun crediting the contracted musicians on the albums under the name Hollywood Studio Symphony after an agreement with the American Federation of Musicians. The Hollywood Studio Symphony is the credited name of the Symphony orchestra behind many major soundtracks, including The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe The American Federation of Musicians ( AFM / AFofM) is a labor union of Professional Musicians in the United States and Other performing ensembles that are often employed include the London Symphony Orchestra, the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (an orchestra dedicated exclusively to recording), and the Northwest Sinfonia. The London Symphony Orchestra ( LSO) is one of the major orchestras of the United Kingdom.
The orchestra performs in front of a large screen depicting the movie, and sometimes to a series of clicks called a "click-track" that changes with meter and tempo, assisting the conductor to synchronize the music with the film. Meter or metre is a concept related to an underlying division of time characteristic of western music
Films often have different themes for important characters, events, ideas or objects, taking the idea from Wagner's use of leitmotif. A leitmotif (ˌlaɪtmoʊˈtiːf (also leitmotiv; lit "leading motif" is a recurring Musical theme, associated with a particular person place These may be played in different variations depending on the situation they represent, scattered amongst incidental music. A famous example of this technique is John Williams' score for the Star Wars saga, and the numerous themes associated with characters like Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia (see Star Wars music for more details). John Towner Williams (born February 8 1932) is an American Composer, conductor and Pianist. Anakin Skywalker Darth Vader is a fictional character in George Lucas ' Science fiction saga Star Wars. Luke Skywalker is the main protagonist of the Star Wars universe portrayed by Mark Hamill in the films Star Wars Episode IV Leia and Princess Leia redirect here For the Blackadder character see Princess Leia of Hungary. The music of Star Wars consists of the scores written for all six Star Wars Films by composer John Pirates of the Caribbean has similar traditions, such as a regular music theme when introducing the character Captain Jack Sparrow. Pirates of the Caribbean is a multi-billion dollar Walt Disney franchise encompassing a theme park ride a series of films Captain Jack Sparrow is a Fictional character from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise who is portrayed by Johnny Depp. Others are less known by casual moviegoers, but well known among score enthusiasts, such as Jerry Goldsmith's underlying theme for the Borg in Star Trek:First Contact, or his Klingon theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture which other composers carry over into their Klingon motifs, and he has brought back on numerous occasions as the theme for Worf, Star Trek: The Next Generation's most prominent Klingon. Star Trek First Contact is a 1996 Science fiction film and the eighth feature film based in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe Star Trek The Motion Picture is a 1979 Science fiction film from Paramount Pictures. Worf, played by Michael Dorn, is a Main character in both Star Trek The Next Generation and Star Trek Deep Space Nine Star Trek The Next Generation ( STTNG or TNG) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning science fiction television program created by Gene Roddenberry
Most films have between forty and seventy-five minutes of music. However, some films have very little or no music; others may feature a score that plays almost continuously throughout. Dogme 95 is a genre that has music only from sources within a film, such as from a radio or television. Dogme 95 or Dogma 95 is an Avant-garde Filmmaking movement started in 1995 by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and This is called "source music" because it comes from an on screen source that can actually be seen or that can be inferred (in academic film theory such music is called "diegetic" music, as it emanates from the "diegesis" or "story world"). Film theory debates the essence of the cinema and provides conceptual frameworks for understanding film's relationship to Reality, the other Arts individual Diegesis is the (fictional world in which the situations and events narrated occur and telling recounting as opposed to showing enacting Diegesis is the (fictional world in which the situations and events narrated occur and telling recounting as opposed to showing enacting Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 thriller The Birds is a rare example of a Hollywood film with no non-diegetic music whatsoever. Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 The Birds ( 1963) is a Horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, based on the Short story of the same name by Diegesis is the (fictional world in which the situations and events narrated occur and telling recounting as opposed to showing enacting
In 1983 a non-profit organization, the Society for the Preservation of Film Music, was actually formed to preserve the "byproducts" of creating a film score: the music manuscripts (written music) and other documents and studio recordings generated in the process of composing and recording scores which, in some instances, have been discarded by the movie studios. The Film Music Society, Inc (formerly the Society for the Preservation of Film Music Inc The written music must be kept in order to perform the music on concert programs and to make new recordings of it. Sometimes only after decades has an archival recording of a film score been released on CD.
Artistic merit
The artistic merits of film music are frequently debated. Some critics value it highly, pointing to music such as that written by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Aaron Copland, Bernard Herrmann, and others. Erich Wolfgang Korngold ( May 29, 1897 &ndash November 29, 1957) was an Academy Award -winning 20th century Film and Aaron Copland (November 14 1900 &ndash December 2 1990 was an American Composer of concert and film music as well as an accomplished Pianist. Bernard Herrmann ( June 29, 1911 &ndash December 24, 1975) was an American composer noted for his work in Motion pictures. Some consider film music to be a defining genre of classical music in the late 20th century, if only because it is the brand of classical music heard more often than any other. In some cases, film themes have become accepted into the canon of classical music. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music These are mostly works from already noted composers who have done scores, for instance Sergei Prokofiev's score to Alexander Nevsky or Vaughan Williams' score to Scott of the Antarctic. Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Серге́й Серге́евич Проко́фьев Sergéj Sergéjevič Prokófjev) ( - 5 March 1953 was a Russian composer who Alexander Nevsky (Александр Невский is a Historical drama film directed by Sergei Eisenstein and Dmitry Vasiliev and produced Ralph (reɪf Vaughan Williams OM (12 October 1872 &ndash 26 August 1958 was an English Composer of symphonies, Chamber music Scott of the Antarctic is a 1948 Film about Robert Falcon Scott 's ill-fated expedition to be the first to the South Pole in Others see the great bulk of film music as meritless. They consider that much film music is derivative, borrowing heavily from previous works. Composers of film scores typically can produce about three or four per year. The most popular works by composers such as John Williams and Danny Elfman are still far from entering the accepted canon. John Towner Williams (born February 8 1932) is an American Composer, conductor and Pianist. Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American Musician, who is famous for composing scores and songs for Tim Burton Even so, considering they are often the most popular modern compositions of classical music known to the general public, major orchestras sometimes perform concerts of such music.
Historical notes
Before the age of sound motion pictures, great effort was taken to provide suitable music for films, usually through the services of an in-house pianist or organist, and, in some case, entire orchestras, typically given cue sheets as a guide. In 1914, The Oz Film Manufacturing Company sent full-length scores by Louis F. Gottschalk for their films. The Oz Film Manufacturing Company was an Independent film studio from 1914-1915 Louis Ferdinand Gottschalk ( October 7, 1864 - July 15, 1934) was an American Composer born in St Other examples of this include Victor Herbert's score in 1915 to Fall of a Nation (a sequel to Birth of a Nation) and Camille Saint-Saëns' music for L'Assassinat du duc de Guise in 1908 — arguably the very first in movie history. Victor August Herbert ( February 1 1859 &ndash May 26 1924) was a Cellist, conductor and Composer best known Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (/ʃaʁl kamij sɛ̃sɑ̃s/ (9 October 1835 &ndash 16 December 1921 was a French Composer, Organist, conductor, and It was preceded by Nathaniel D. Mann's score for The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays by four months, but that was a mixture of interrelated stage and film performance in the tradition of old magic lantern shows. The Fairylogue and Radio-Plays was an early attempt to bring L The magic lantern or Lanterna Magica was the ancestor of the modern Slide projector. Most accompaniments at this time, these examples notwithstanding, comprised pieces by famous composers, also including studies. These were often used to form catalogues of film music, which had different subsections broken down by 'mood' and/or genre: dark, sad, suspense, action, chase, etc. This made things much easier for the in-house pianists and orchestras to pick pieces that fitted the particular feel of a movie and its scenes.
A full film score widely regarded as the first made by a popular artist came in 1973 with the film Pat Garret and Billy the Kid, by Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman, May 24 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota) is an American singer-songwriter author poet and painter who has been a major However the album received very little critical acclaim. This had not been done before in popular film history: any featured band had films written around the music (notably The Beatles with Yellow Submarine). The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960
Orchestral soundtracks
This list includes soundtracks that are mostly or entirely orchestral, with few songs. Notable composers of orchestral soundtracks include John Williams, Basil Poledouris, Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith, Rachel Portman, James Horner, Alan Silvestri, Howard Shore, James Newton Howard, Thomas Newman, Michael Kamen, Alan Menken, Hans Zimmer, Gaili Schoen, Elmer Bernstein, Dimitri Tiomkin, Harry Gregson-Williams, Bill Conti, Mark Isham, Nino Rota, Ennio Morricone, Trevor Rabin, Patrick Doyle, Miklós Rózsa, Michael Giacchino, John Debney, Randy Edelman, and Danny Elfman. John Towner Williams (born February 8 1932) is an American Composer, conductor and Pianist. Basilis "Basil" Konstantine Poledouris ( August 21, 1945 - November 8, 2006) was a Greek American film Composer Bernard Herrmann ( June 29, 1911 &ndash December 24, 1975) was an American composer noted for his work in Motion pictures. Jerrald King "Jerry" Goldsmith ( February 10, 1929 – July 21, 2004) was an American Film score Composer Rachel Mary Berkeley Portman (born December 11, 1960) Scores Infamous (2006 The Lake House James Roy Horner (born August 14 1953) is an American Composer of orchestral and film music Alan Silvestri (born March 26, 1950, New York City) is an acclaimed American Academy Award nominated Film score Composer Howard Leslie Shore (born October 18, 1946) is an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Grammy Award -winning Canadian Composer James Newton Howard (born June 9, 1951 in Los Angeles) is an Academy Award nominated Film score Composer and Thomas Montgomery Newman (born October 20, 1955 Los Angeles California USA is an American 8 time Academy Award -nominated Film score Michael Kamen ( April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American Composer (especially of Film scores Alan Menken (born July 22 1949 in New Rochelle, New York) is an American Broadway and an eight-time Academy Award Hans Florian Zimmer (born September 12, 1957 in Frankfurt/Main, Germany) is an Academy Award, Grammy, and Golden Gaili Schoen (born Susan Gaili Schoen in Venice California is an American Film composer, Orchestrator, and Pianist. Elmer Bernstein ( April 4 1922 - 18 August 2004) was an Academy and two-time Golden Globe award winning American Dimitri Zinovievich Tiomkin (Дмитрий Зиновьевич Тёмкин Dmitrij Zinov'evič Tëmkin, sometimes translated as Dmitri Tiomkin) ( May Harry Gregson-Williams (born December 13, 1961) is a Golden Globe - and Grammy -nominated British Film score Composer Bill Conti (born April 13 1942 in Providence Rhode Island) is an Italian American film music composer who is frequently the conductor at the Academy Awards Mark Isham (b September 7, 1951 in New York City) is an American Trumpeter synthesist, and Academy Award-nominated film Composer Nino Rota ( December 3, 1911 &ndash April 10, 1979) was an Italian Composer best known for his work on Film scores Ennio Morricone OMRI (born November 10, 1928) is an acclaimed Italian Academy Award -winning composer Trevor Rabin (born January 13, 1954) is a South African American musician best known as a guitarist and songwriter for the British Patrick Doyle (born April 6, 1953, Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, Scotland) is an Academy Award nominated Scottish Miklós Rózsa (ˈmikloːʃ ˈroːʒɒ or Miklos Rozsa ( April 18, 1907 - July 27, 1995) was a Hungarian -born Composer Michael Giacchino ( Italian Pronunciation) (born 1967 Riverside Township, New Jersey) is an Academy Award - nominated American John Debney (born in Glendale California, 18 August 1956) is an award-winning American film composer who received an Academy Award Randy Edelman (born June 10, 1947) is an American film and TV score Composer. Daniel Robert Elfman (born May 29, 1953) is an American Musician, who is famous for composing scores and songs for Tim Burton Composers Philip Glass and Sergei Prokofiev are also noted for their film music. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Philip Glass (born January 31 Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev (Серге́й Серге́евич Проко́фьев Sergéj Sergéjevič Prokófjev) ( - 5 March 1953 was a Russian composer who
Some well-known orchestral soundtracks include:
Love Theme From The Godfather
- The Godfather trilogy
- The Rock
- Star Wars Series
- Titanic (soundtrack) the biggest selling primarily orchestral film score in history
- Star Trek TV Series and films
- The Last Temptation of Christ
- The Lord of the Rings trilogy
- Gone with the Wind
- Jaws
- Psycho
- Batman (1989 film)
- E.T.
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Dragonheart
- The Lion King
- Back to the Future trilogy
- Conan The Barbarian
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
- Crimson Tide
- The Aviator
- Harry Potter Series
- The Man With No Name trilogy
- Casablanca
- The Passion of the Christ
- Lawrence of Arabia
- James Bond series
- Indiana Jones Series
- Vertigo
- The Great Escape
- Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy
- Once Upon a Time in the West
Generic soundtracks
Groups like Associated Production Music often have generic tracks that are left largely uncredited. The Godfather is a 1972 Crime drama film based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Mario Puzo and directed Star Wars is an epic Space opera franchise initially conceived by George Lucas during the 1970s and significantly expanded Titanic is the soundtrack to the film of the same name composed by James Horner. The Last Temptation of Christ (or The Last Temptation; Greek: Ο Τελευταίος Πειρασμός O Teleftaíos Peirasmós The Lord of the Rings is an epic Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American dramatic - romantic - War film adapted from Margaret Mitchell 's 1936 Jaws is a 1975 thriller / horror Film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley 's best-selling Psycho is a suspense / Horror film directed by auteur Alfred Hitchcock, from the Screenplay by Joseph Batman is a 1989 Superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name. This article is about the 1982 film For the term "ET" which redirects here see ET. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 American drama and Romantic comedy by French director Michel Dragonheart is a 1996 Fantasy / Adventure Film directed by Rob Cohen, and starring Dennis Quaid, David The Lion King is a 1994 American animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, released in theaters on June 15 1994 Back to the Future is a 1985 science fiction Comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg. Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian, from the name of his homeland Cimmeria) is a Fictional character often associated with Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 Science fiction film directed and written by Steven Spielberg. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Harry Potter is a series of seven Fantasy novels written by British author J The Man with No Name is a Stock character in western films but the term usually applies specifically to the character (or possibly characters played by Casablanca ( is an American Romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and The Passion of the Christ is a 2004 film co-written co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson. Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 Epic film based on the life of T James Bond 007 is a Fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve Novels and two Short story Dr (also Col Henry Walton Jones Jr, better known as Indiana Jones or Indy after his pet dog is a fictional Adventurer, Soldier Vertigo ( is a Psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring James Stewart and Kim Novak and featuring Barbara The Great Escape is a popular 1963 War film about the 250 Allied prisoners of war escaping from a German POW camp Pirates of the Caribbean is a trilogy of Adventure films directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and produced Once Upon a Time in the West ( Italian title C'Era una Volta il West) is a 1968 epic Spaghetti Western
See also
External links
- The Film Music Society
- The Journal of Film Music
- Film Music on the Web
- Film Music Articles
- Film Music Review
- Most Prolific Composers list at the Internet Movie Database
- Music/Film Scoring has a practical look at film scoring (from the Movie Making Manual of WikiBooks)
Independent specialist original soundtrack recording labels
- 1M1 Records
- Film Score Monthly
- Alex Ross-Iver
- Intrada
- Label X
- Milan Records
- Prometheus Records
- Southern Cross
- Varese Sarabande
- Krister Axel
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