The soundtrack is a vital part of a film as a whole – it fills the void of silence that may usually be present in a scene and engages the audience by further drawing them into the story. From the invention of film itself, music has always accompanied the story, even long before soundtracks were ever professionally produced – a pianist or organist would often improvise a score along with the film to provide musical background in such a time. Music and film are inherently interwoven, and the fact is apparent in the two’s impact on one another; some of the greatest films of all time are also accompanied by the greatest scores of all time. However, it takes much more than well-written music to create a truly fantastic score – it takes a great amount of time, thought, and sustained influence from the creators of the film to ensure a well-rounded soundtrack.
Now, I am in no way a professional in regards to this subject – I simply watch and enjoy a variety of films and that’s the extent. Any soundtrack or feature film produced by me would be doomed to fail and would most likely never reach completion. However, I do feel that my considerable experience in this regard has allotted me some knowledge as to how one should create a fantastic score. Therefore, I will be sharing what I find to be the key aspects of a great soundtrack (with some examples to guide the way).
Communicating The Setting – Tron Legacy
The setting of a film, obviously, is an important aspect of the plot and story. You can have no conflict if there is nowhere for conflict to be had. Like this, a film cannot be correctly communicated if the score does not fit the setting. Imagine a film of medieval knights and dragons scored with an electronic synthesizer. In 99 out of 100 instances, such a combination would make for a confusing experience overall. Most filmmakers don’t often have to worry about making such mistakes, as a traditional orchestral score can be overlaid over almost any genre without cause for concern. However, a good filmmaker understands the necessity of a score when it comes to communicating important plot details, such as exposition, and therefore will adapt the score to better fit the environment the film takes place in. This can be done subtly or extravagantly – both ways can produce excellent scores with careful consideration, but a score that accomplishes whole-heartedly communicating the setting can create a genuinely unique viewing experience and radically change a film for the better.
A perfect example of this comes from the Disney-produced sequel of the cult classic, Tron Legacy. Although the film itself did not wow viewers, the score was an instant hit and is considered to be one of the redeeming qualities of the movie. With the plot centered around a character who ventures into a computer program to find his long-lost father, the film is filled to the brim with cutting-edge visual effects, creating an elegantly futuristic setting. To match this setting, the creators made the interesting decision of hiring Daft Punk, the well-known French electronic duo famous for their EDM hits, as the composers of the score. Considering that the pair had no previous experience in producing soundtracks, there was considerable risk in this decision. However, what the two were able to produce was nothing short of groundbreaking; intense synthesized melodies, hard-hitting percussion, and intermittent mixtures of traditional scoring contrasted by the main electronic instruments – the soundtrack truly excels at capturing the world of Tron.
My favorite tracks: End of Line, Derezzed, The Son of Flynn, The Grid, Arena
Reflecting Thoughts, Emotions, and Conflict – Revenge of The Sith
The characters’ reactions to certain events and conflict are what drives the story to move forward. Whether positive or negative, the way characters move forward and process these events is what makes up the body of the story itself. Considering what great amounts of emotion soundtracks can communicate, these musical compositions can be excellent avenues for materializing these machinations. A well-designed score can give the viewers greater insight into how a character may be thinking and feeling internally, thus deepening the effects of specific events taking place in the plot.
For Revenge of The Sith, this form of plot communication is imperative; with a complex chain of events ranging from the valiant rescue of a political leader, the systematic destruction of a democracy, a religious purge, and the tragic death of a lifelong friendship, there is an incredible amount of turmoil, anxiety, grief, and sorrow being communicated in the story as well as the acting. Thankfully, the franchise’s long-time composer, John Williams, is seasoned in translating these emotions into scores, as his work on the previous five Star Wars films (along with many other classics) has shown. With sweeping and intricate choruses and extensive use of a choir, the score assists in making the film truly feel like a Shakespearean tragedy. A scene of tension-filled reflection is accompanied with eerie tones and a lone wailer (see Padme’s Ruminations), another of a great battle between former friends, signifying the death of a life-long brotherhood, is filled with quick-tempoed, pain-stricken melodies and a powerful, yet mournful choir (see Battle of The Heroes). In each scene, Williams’ composing is able to so accurately depict the inner strife and conflict of the characters and overlay it perfectly to match the acting and choreography.
My favorite tracks: Battle of The Heroes, Anakin’s Betrayal, The Immolation Scene, The Birth of the Twins and Padme’s Destiny
Setting The Scene – American Beauty
For some films, outrageous choreography and flamboyant melodies don’t capture the story in the same way as it might for others; in some cases, a dose of subtlety may be the perfect ingredient for a great film. For such instances in which a film may have more dimmed settings and composed acting, a score that can artfully set the scene without overemphasizing itself can make for a truly enthralling experience.
Unlike the fantastical space-opera, American Beauty does not use heavy emotion in the acting, brilliant choreography, stunning CGI, or a dramatic score to move the audience. The story itself is much more realistic – a man going through the motions of his life finds new vigor after falling into lust for his high-school daughter’s friend. Instead of taking place in a technologically advanced civilization on a different planet, the setting is a rather normal suburb in California. And just like the setting and the story, the score for this film, composed by Thomas Newman, is much more reserved, yet still delicately crafted. With the quiet use of unconventional sounds and instruments, Newman is able to create a sense of uncertainty, allowing the user to draw different conclusions about the story unfolding. Within that, the composer’s variation in the tone of his tracks allows the listener to gain a better understanding of what the scene may hold; with much of the acting being more restrained and the settings being less telling of coming events, the way a track is orchestrated may allow viewers to better predict coming events and emotions. In this way, Newman is able to deepen the viewer’s tension and emotional connection to the story. Whether your story is theatrical or more reticent, such use of the score in the right setting can help improve nearly any film.
Favorite tracks: Dead Already, Arose, American Beauty, Mental Boy, Walk Home
Enthralling/Moving the Audience – Interstellar
A score is nothing if it can’t inspire the audience on its own. No matter the story, setting, or composing style, a score that can be awe-inspiring will improve the viewing experience a thousand times over. You can have all of the previous aspects to a fantastic score, but the created soundtrack simply won’t be great if it does not seek to enthrall the audience. The issue with the current industry is that many cash-grab blockbusters don’t often take the time to make a score that is truly a joy to hear; they simply use it as a means to fill the background noise and communicate the mood of the scene.
Interstellar’s soundtrack is the direct antithesis to this technique. Helmed by the great Hans Zimmer, a composer with nearly a dozen Oscar-worthy compositions under his belt, the score is truly a masterful creation, and where it excels is in its ability to amaze and move the audience. With some tracks being quite quiet and almost peaceful (Message from Home) and many others filled with such grandeur and intensity, Zimmer adapts his style artfully to each scene to create raw emotion. Strangely enough, much of the incredibly emotional scores don’t have a truly defined mood – they cannot be considered sad, tense, aggressive, or joyful – it is just pure, raw emotion. An excellent demonstration of this was when the film was first released into theaters – it was reported that during a tense scene in which the main character had to dock his vessel to a space station, many audience members watching the film would begin to cry simply due to the raw intensity of the score. Truly, Hans Zimmer is truly proficient in breathing vitality and emotion into his scores, and Interstellar is a gleaming example of such mastery.
Favorite Tracks: No Time For Caution, Stay, Mountains, Message From Home, Murph
Putting It All Together – Schindler’s List
Making just one of these criteria work to the best of its abilities can be a feat in itself, but having all of these different mechanisms working at their best in conjunction with one another is something only the greatest composers can truly accomplish. John Williams has done it many times before, but in my personal opinion, the Schindler’s List score is his crowning achievement.
A biopic of Oskar Schindler, a man who saved the lives of 1,200 Jews from concentration camps, the film is a heart-wrenching, intimate, and incredibly emotional portrayal of Schindler’s life during the Second World War and his impact on the people he sacrificed everything for. It’s a film that doesn’t pull any of its punches – it depicts the traumatic and dehumanizing experience the Jewish people endured through the Holocaust as accurately as possible, no matter how disturbing or agonizing it may be. It is considered by many critics to be one of the greatest films of all time, if not the greatest; despite its maturity, the motion picture illustrates the importance of self-sacrifice, the most impactful act of love a person can undertake. Schindler’s List truly is a masterpiece.
And with such a distinction, the film would be incomplete without a score that could captivate audiences in the same way the story does. Thankfully, under John Williams’ guidance, as well as assistance from one of the most prominent modern violinists, Itzhak Perlman, the picture has a soundtrack to match. Unlike his previous work with films such as Star Wars and Jurassic Park, the Schindler’s List is in no way animated or flamboyant in its orchestration; there’s a greater level of sophistication and intimacy ingrained into the performances, although it communicates just as much emotion. To add to the depth of the scores, Itzhak Perlman’s solo performances are used in conjunction with the traditional orchestra on many tracks. Beyond this, Williams also acquired the use of other distinct musical performances, such as piano and flute solos as well as both traditional and Jewish choirs. All of this combined talent helped Williams in making this score truly special.
For me, this soundtrack hits all of the focal points of a fantastic score. The wistful violin solos and Jewish hymns give the viewer insight into the setting – the ghettos and concentration camps of Nazi-controlled Germany. The sorrowful melodies and chanting choir reflect the exterior conflict of the Holocaust as well as Schindler’s own interior conflict of deciding whether to continue profiting off the war or sacrifice his financial stability to save Jewish people from encampment. The change in instrumental use helps communicate the specific mood of a scene, whether it may be hopeful and using lighter melodies (Making The List) or tense and sorrowful and using more grim tones (Auschwitz-Birkenau). The level of emotion communicated through the music, especially with Perlman’s violin, is astounding and sure to move an audience to tears. In my humble opinion, Schindler’s List is the epitome of a superb soundtrack.
Favorite Tracks: I Could Have Done More, Immolation (With Our Lives, We Give Life), Remembrances, Theme From Schindler’s List
