Filmmusic Blog-A-Thon (June 2007)

Damian said in his invitation to the Filmmusic Blog-A-Thon,

"...I have noticed that such significant cinematic elements as writing, editing, cinematography, acting and directing often get mentioned in movie reviews but music is almost universally ignored..."

Might I begin by saying that I am indeed one of these perpetrators. In my defence, with my dabbling in filmmaking, my suspicions were confirmed when I concluded that sound and music is the least interesting part of the process. I'm a visual guy. My background is photography, my hobbies include lots of writing and the occasional painting. Storytelling, that is what interests me. What we see, that's what I'm about.

Musicals aren't my thing. Not only do they tend to be light airy tales, but they include dancing and singing and all that fruity Broadway stuff that keeps me from the harsh reality I seek in the films I watch (thanks Lars, for Dancer In The Dark).

Of course, only a complete moron wouldn't acknowledge the importance of sound and music in film. Good music and good sound can make a broken film, but we all know that.

So why am I even a part of this? When I first heard of this event months ago, my first thought was, "I might read a couple posts", then I watched Jaws.

Music.

Not only music but such perfect music as to be immortalized forever to the point of head-nodding satirization. Today rather than going into history or biography, I thought I'd simply explore my favourite film music contributions made famous over the years.

Let us begin with James Bond shall we? Not only is Bond music awesome and thrilling but we have in it theme songs that children sing to give just enough warning to their parents that they're going to do something crazy like swing from a chandelier, as they shout the climactic "Buh-Dum, Dah-Dum!"

Ah, but the same can be said about the immortal Indiana Jones tune. I guess when your kids shout "Baa, dah-dum-dum, bom-da-dum!" it's less about the super-spy and more about the adventure, meaning something valuable in the house is going to get broken.

Jaws has got to be the most played tune on the piano at your friend's place. Hit a deep key, then nail one deeper, alternate in a quickening pace and you have instant thriller in your living room - can be enjoyed by even the youngest fans (always end with a climactic slamming of several keys with both hands).

Friday The 13th, the entire serial, sucks. I have no qualms about that, but hoo boy does that awesome "huh...huh..huh... CHH...CHH...CHH..." before the kill still give me the quivers! Oh, wait... not as much as the crazy violin from the ever-famous scene in Psycho... of course the Duelin' Banjos from Deliverance has a chill factor all its own.

Let me finish my list of famous music moments with my top three groups that equal film for me: Vangelis, Goblin and the Dust Brothers.

For as much as I hated the inappropriate music in Chariots of Fire, I can't deny the award-winning acclaim it received. For me it's all about the Blade Runner. I can't possibly imagine that movie with any other music.

You may not immediately recognize Goblin by name, but if you're seen Dario Argento's Profondo Rosso or Suspiria, then you've heard them. Those of you not into mildly obscure gore horror might know them best from Romero's Dawn Of The Dead. Now there's a soundtrack I highly recommend.

The Dust Brothers are a couple of producers that made the wickedly awesome soundtrack for Fight Club, among my top five favourite films of all time, and the music certainly helped it get there.

Before I leave you to enjoy the rest of Damian's sound-fest, I just wanted to nod to another terrific album, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells, made even more famous thanks to The Exorcist, certainly worthy of a listen.

Now if you're actually looking for an insightful article about a music heavy movie you may never have heard of but you absolutely need to see, there's nothing that beats an adventure in synchronicity, thanks to Pink Floyd.

Jump into the rabbit hole and learn about the magic that is The Dark Side of Oz...

My simple yet saucy entry for Damian's Filmmusic Blog-A-Thon - Go cut a rug!