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Anyone else tired of wall-to-wall music in movies? (1 Viewer)

Dick

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Didn't used to be that way, except perhaps for animated features. Now, it's unusual for there to be twenty minutes of footage without music of some kind, be it "incidental" or orchestral score. I love film music (well, good film music), but I am tired of directors who try to manipulate our every emotion through music rather than good writing or acting. I thought, for instance, that there were some lovely themes underscoring THE PERFECT STORM, but James Horner is so omnipresent that it became sensory overload long before the storm even hit. I love contrasts. I love what effects silence can bring to an audience if it's pulled of correctly; and bursts of music when appropriate, but Hollywood's reliance on music is way-y-y out of control!
 

Kevin Hewell

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Hasn't it been that way since the early days of sound, though? I've watched plenty of old movies that have music in nearly every minute of the film.
 

Malcolm R

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Actually while watching "The Odd Couple" (1967) the other night, I had just the opposite thought. There is so much dead silence in that film; I think the only music is the Odd Couple "theme" that appears 3 or 4 times.

By the time it was reprised for the fourth time, I was practically screaming out loud for an actual score.
 

Francois Caron

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Music is just like any other element in a movie. You need to add just the right amount. Put in too much or not enough, and you have problems as has been described. Too many filmmakers simply don't understand that music is an integral part of the script even though the notes are not written alongside the words.

As an example, Sergio Leone is a filmmaker who understood the importance of accompanying music. When he made "One Upon A Time In The West", he already laid out the music in the entire movie. The music was actually played back during shooting to get the timing just right. Just as important, he also knew when to turn the music off and let the surroundings speak for themselves such as in the introduction where all you hear is amplified environmental noise.

It's a hell of a balancing act. And very few filmmakers really know how to do it right.
 

JeremyErwin

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I remember seeing Meet Joe Black in a double feature with the Star Wars Episode I trailer. A bit of a weepy, really, but it wasn't so much the total film that got to me. It was the score, out in front, directing me to assume various emotional responses, when the film, as a whole, didn't really merit them. It wasn't as obviously manipulative as say, Dancer in the Dark (a film which embraces the concept, and in doing so, makes it seem like art), but it was clumsy.
 

Ravi K

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Kids movies are sometimes guilty of this. I remember thinking that Stuart Little had too much music.
 

DavidPla

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I think the case may also be made that sometimes music SAVES a movie. For me, music can make basically 50% of the film.
 

Mark Kalzer

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^ ^ That's true. Some have said that Lord of the Rings would not be considered half as great if it were not for the great score by Howard Shore, but of course, even he and Peter Jackson had a grasp on how powerful the presence of no music can be at specific points.

My feeling is that music can enhance the emotional feeling of a scene, but the emotion has to come from the performances first. It becomes manipulative when the music seems to try to dictate to the viewer what the emotion of a scene is when nothing on screen lives up to it. I definantly remember this about 'The Perfect Storm' even though I only saw it once years ago.

'Mission To Mars' is another great example, which has dramatic expressions playing at all the wrong moments. Another syndrome I find especially grating is when in 'scary' movies (I put quotes around scary for a reason) you have this character wandering around a 'creepy' room aimlessly. The music however is telling you, no hammering into your head that this is supposed to be creepy and scary. Sad thing is I have sat in a movie theatre next to someone to whom this effect actually works on, and I could only turn to her and say that the only reason she thinks something scary is going to happen is because the music is telling you that. Nothing on screen is even remotely scary, and so it is up to the music to do all the work. It seems to be effective to some, but to me I find it overly manipulative. I'm referring to movies like 'The Grudge' and 'Dark Water' for this.

I cannot help but think the creepy effects would be stronger without music. I find in student filmmaking that too often the idea is to have music everywhere, but as a learning filmmaker myself I tend to shy away from that because I find the wrong music totally kills the tone of the scene, and that I have not yet the resources to put in music I feel is appropriate. I have been told by other student filmmakers (without formal training I might add) that I need to put more music in, but in my opinion, I'd rather have no music then the wrong music there.
 

Nick Martin

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You dodged a bullet that time....
I almost misread your remark as an insult against James Horner.

I am glad you know well enough to understand that a composer has nothing at all to do with how much music you hear in a film - that decision falls on the director and sound editors. Being a Horner nut, and therefore having just about every score he's done, hearing the music in a film can be a very different experience than on a soundtrack - take ALIENS, for example. On album it is a suspense score that evolves into a militaristic horror/action piece. In the film, it is a random, chaotic jumble - all because Jim Cameron and his sound editors thought they knew better. It still works, but is a horrible misrepresentation of how the score really sounds.

Too often composers are blamed for these things - too much music, too little music, too many uses of the main theme, not enough....blame the freakin' director and sound editors. They have the final say on what you hear in the finished film.



Thumbs up to you for being a Perfect Storm music fan! :)
 

Nick Martin

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Another example of what I'm taling about is "The New World" - Terrence Malick, for whatever reason, decided to replace parts of Horner's score in the final mix. If the composer had any say in these matters, their scores would never be rejected, replaced, edited with a meat cleaver, etc.

I guess if a director and composer have a long-standing trust, like Spielberg and Williams, such issues probably don't arise often.
 

JeremyErwin

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I used to like the Jurassic Park theme. Now, it brings up memories of a certain figure skater.
 

Qui-Gon John

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Good music used even almost completely thru a film, doesn't bother me. What I don't like is when they use regular, (contemporary), songs and then have them so loud it drowns out everything else.
 

JohnRice

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If this is a problem for you, I suggest delving into more independent film. There are many movies made every year that don't have this problem. I tend to believe it is the old "more is better" philosophy and that most average movie goers expect to be told how they should feel at every moment. I even see some "critics" use this as a negative for movies, saying "how am I supposed to feel about this?" when the story doesn't dictate to them how they should react.

Endless scores are expensive and independent films tend to not have the budget, so they have to use other means. For an especially good example of sparse score, try In the Bedroom.
 

Ruz-El

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I actually came on to post about this very subject. The constant non-stop score in movies is driving me nuts. I don't mind a commercial song or score during an action scene or montage, but the constant score, intruding over every spoken line of dialog, with little gimmicks to try to manipulate the audience, is quite frankly insulting as a movie watcher.

Just as important, he also knew when to turn the music off and let the surroundings speak for themselves such as in the introduction where all you hear is amplified environmental noise
This would of helped Haggis, in CRASH. There wasn't a quiet spot in this film, the music actually taking me out of the movie (ohh listen, that's emo-club music piano, that means this is really sad, oh, now theres a chorus, this must be really deep and affecting to the characters.) Telling us how to feel about racial problems in America completely belies the power a film like this can have, by reporting it honestly and letting the audience draw it's own conclusions (I won't even get into the actual plot)

The flip to this is "Good Night and Good Luck", a movie that played mostly silent, with music interludes. It too handled a controversial topic, and by showing what happened, let the viewer draw their own conclusions without pandering to them. A much more satisfying film.

I also just watched "Dog Day Afternoon", "Network" and "All The Presidents Men" (thank you Warners!), The first 2 have no score ("DDA" opens with an Elton John song, than nothing for 2 hours, and "Network" only has the TV music), yet never seemed boring, and I seemed to laugh or respond at the right moments. ATPM has a score, perfectly used to play the emotions, while never burying the dialog.

The constant score in current movies are as hackneyed and gimmicky as those that must of played over silent movies, and were generally killed of on the 30's outside of musicals. I blame TV for this. Pioneered by "X-Files" and continuing into "Lost", you can be hard pressed to find a drama on TV today that has silence in it. You know what else I find? Movies and TV that don't rely on the constant gimmick score tend to have solid story, pacing and dialog. Constant manipulative scoring is basically a way to hide lazy film making.
 

JohnRice

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Once again, all movies today are not like this. Far from it. Stay away from vacuous blockbusters and you will discover that.
 

DavidPla

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This is where each movie should be judged on their own merit. What works for "Dog Day Afternoon" and "Network" doesn't necessarily work for "Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars". The genius of "Dog Day Afternoon" is the feeling that you're right there alongside everything which is why the movie works perfect with as little music possible. But take away most of the music from "Lord of the Rings" and, while still probably a great film, a lesser one.

I think the amount of music used in a film depends entirely on the film itself. Some films work perfect with "wall-to-wall" music while others work perfect with little music as possible. I don't think there's a formula to follow... just what works best with the tone and story you're working with.
 

Mark Kalzer

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hmm...I wouldn't accuse Lost of having wall to wall music, they use it sparingly, and use silence very effectively. I do agree that a great number of X-Files shows after the first season used an almost excessive amount of music.

One score in particular I have problems judging though is 'The Truman Show'. No doubt the score sounds fantastic, and it is pretty much 'wall to wall' music. Is it intrusive? That is difficult to say. It really does help to convey a far deeper meaning to the film then just the surface theme of fake reality on TV.
 

Holadem

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I am currently watching S2 of the X-Files and while music is certainly omnipresent, I can't say it bothers me. It's nicely atmospheric.

The music of Lost is fantastic and far from omnipresent. It is one of the highlights of the show. Addtionally, I am currently watching Veronica Mars, the Sopranos and 24 on broadcast and only the latter features constant music. The rest is at the spare end of the spectrum. Limited sample I know.

In the end, I can't agree with the OP on the prevalence of wall to wall music. I will side with John Rice in that many indies and much of european films feature minimal scores.

--
H
 

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