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A film score is the original music written specifically to accompany a film. It serves to enhance the narrative, evoke emotions, highlight characters, and create an immersive atmosphere that aligns with the movie’s themes and visuals.
- Birdman
- There Will Be Blood
- Psycho
- Requiem For A Dream
- Gravity
- Drive
- The Shining
- The Good The Bad and The Ugly
- Jaws
- Joker
A drums-only score for a film. This film was directed by Alejandro G. Iñarritu, and its score is one of the most peculiar that I can think of. Composed mostly for drums and percussion by Antonio Sánchez, I remember being quite impressed by this quirky choice when I saw the film for the first time. The soundtrack is also interspersed with pieces fro...
Texture and microtonality applied to film music. We have already looked at some of the score’s characteristics in this film by Paul Thomas Anderson in a previous article here on Flypaper. Composed by Johnny Greenwood, lead guitarist for the band Radiohead, this film is a precious resource for how to make use of orchestral timbre in a score. Greenwo...
A new sound for strings. One of Alfred Hitchcock’smost acclaimed films was also one of the most controversial films of the 1960s. Before this film, nobody in popular cinema showed a woman in lingerie, or a toilet bowl, in a movie. The “shower scene” — probably one of the most iconic and influential scenes in modern cinema — also created stir for fe...
Where string textures and electronic music meet. Darren Aronofsky’s second feature film features one of the most iconic scores of the last couple of decades, composed byClint Mansell. The style of the film is very frantic, featuring fast-paced edits, and it’s built in a sort of collage form. The film deals with the topic of drug addiction in a broa...
Spatialization and mixing as a composing tool. This acclaimed film by Alfonso Cuarón was scored by Steven Price. The score is quite innovative in that it purposely keeps away from the clichés of action film music (e.g.: there is very little use of drums and percussion). What is more, the score was conceived and engineered for full surround-sound pe...
A postmodern use of pop music. This film, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, features Johnny Jewel from the band Chromaticsas its musical composer. The truly groundbreaking approach this film took can be found in the way the songs are edited to the visuals — essentially by extrapolating pre-existing lyrics and tuning them to the feelings and perspec...
Experimental on so many different levels. Stanley Kubrick’s horror masterpiece features a fantastic score and soundtrack. In this film, as in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Kubrick makes use of bits of classical music from a wide range of periods: from Hector Berlioz to Bela Bartòk to Krzysztof Penderecki. Berlioz’sexcerpt is taken from his famous masterpi...
Classical themes that sound like popular music. Sergio Leone’s famous western was scored by none other than composer Ennio Morricone. This score is quite innovative in both its concept and compositional execution. Firstly, this is one of the few cases of a composer scoring the themes before the film has even been shot and a director shaping some of...
A modern classical approach to film composition. Our list would not be complete without this masterpiece, filmed by Steven Spielberg and scored by the great John Williams. Williams’ scores are probably the most acclaimed in the whole film music industry, and rightly so. In this example, one among many possible choices, he makes use of the most simp...
Timbre as a motivic representation of character. This film, directed by Todd Phillips, was scored by Hildur Guðnadóttir. The Icelandic composer did a wonderful job of it, and ended up winning an Academy Award for her score. The treatment of the music reflects the overall take on the character of the Joker, which for a comic book story is as far fro...
- The Social Network. The brilliant production and storytelling behind The Social Network are just partly responsible for the shivers that run down your spine whenever you’re watching this movie.
- La La Land. How can anyone ignore the movie score when it comes to musicals? La La Land is one of the brightest examples of the modern musical, especially when the musical genre is considered by many a thing of the past.
- The Revenant. It’s not surprising that a movie of such profound emotional depth called for mastery of even three virtuoso artists: Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, German electronic producer Alva Noto, and instrumentalist Bryce Dessner.
- Amélie. Amélie didn’t gain its status as a cult movie just for depicting the ever-trendy Paris life or telling the modern fairy-tale story about a whimsical, genuine protagonist.
A film score is the music that underpins any great movie, adding an extra layer of emotion and power to a narrative. Successful scores prepare the audience for major plot events, guide them through character emotions, and leave a lasting impression.
Film composers expand on common building blocks through sophisticated arrangements, blending traditional orchestration with modern sound design to give each film score its unique personality. Each composer has their own signature style, as we’ll explore later in this article.
Mar 21, 2023 · In addition to traditional musical elements, a film score will incorporate sound effects or unconventional instruments to create unique soundscapes.
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He became popular as Rakib Musabbir after the release of his first solo album (Jare Amar Mon)'s title track "Jare Amar Mon". According to The New Nation, "He is notable for his fusion of Bengali music with contemporary techno and urban beats, film score, folk, pop, [and] rock."
