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Showing content with the highest reputation on 13/01/13 in all areas

  1. Quintus

    Upcoming Films

    Hahaha that looks terrible! I'll be there.
    1 point
  2. Aye, erectile dysfunction with a chap like Alex would explain a lot of that pent up angst... ... Bazinga!
    1 point
  3. So you think everything about it is dreadful, but you love it? Stefan...
    1 point
  4. Uni

    The Psychology of Film Music

    I don't think there's any denying this. And I think it can resonate mentally or emotional, or both at once. And I have to believe that one of the reasons Williams is so highly regarded is because he makes good decisions, on both levels, the vast majority of the time. His stuff just naturally resonates with people. They get what he's trying to tell them. And it fits so many different kinds of stories, so very much of the time. I'll throw in another fitting example here, one that was on my mind a couple of days ago as I was listening to a recent acquisition: Jerry Goldsmith's score for King Solomon's Mines. Now, I know in saying this I'm setting myself up for a flogging with the Goldsmith fans, but . . . well, there's a reason you want to tap John and not Jerry for a movie like this. It's a serviceable theme, I suppose, but it's no Raiders. If that's the case, however—what's the difference between the two? Why does one resonate, and the other doesn't (at least not as well)? Both are upbeat, "heroic," and allude to adventure in exotic locales. But the musical path KSM follows too basic, and too obvious. The main line follows a common 4-step process: 1) the theme line; 2) the "answer" to the theme line; 3) the theme line again, with a slight variation that sets up . . . 4) the resolution. And at that point it's done. It's been expressed. You can repeat it, move on to another theme, whatever. It doesn't do much on a psychological level other than slapping an "ADVENTUROUS HERO" sticker on the main character's forehead. Raiders (the main theme, I mean, as rendered in all the Indy films) follows a different path. First, there's the setup: instead of a great big buildup to a grandiose theme, we get a steady, repetitive, cadence of low horns and strings. Nothing daring or epic, just a pacesetter to get things rolling. The theme itself resists the temptation to launch into the higher range as a way of lauding how galactically awesome the character and his adventures are going to be. It's just a solo trumpet in the middle range. It proceeds (without major explosions) through the main theme, but finishes curiously unresolved, which allows it to move fluidly into the bridge, which is also expressed—hopefully and positively, but still not epically—in the middle range. The bridge, too, is built in such a way as to finish unresolved and lead us back to the main theme (though it's flexible enough to add a resolution during it final expressions). The effect of stringing all these unresolved elements together is that it gives the impression of ongoing adventure, a road that keeps stretching to the horizon. The steady pace suggests a horse's canter, like you're going somewhere, moving onward to new exploits. Its middle-range setting makes it workaday music—this is a character who engages in epic escapades, but he does it in the context of his occupation. This is just his job. The emphasis on brass, bass strings, and percussion give it the natural and palpable tenor of a desert locale, which features prominently in the first film. In other words, nearly everything about the music communicates a sense of who the character of Indiana Jones is, the sort of things he does, and the kinds of places he does them. If you take away all the feelings it inspires simply because you know it so well by now, you find that there isn't much in the way of emotional depth here. It's mostly functional music, but it fulfills its function perfectly . . . because it resonates so well with the audience. That's why so many symphonies elect to play it so often—and why they never give much attention to King Solomon's Mines. - Uni
    1 point
  5. No, Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend is Goldsmith's JP.
    1 point
  6. No one knows how to paint with physical media anymore. Or if they do, the suits don't consider it marketable. I mourn the death of poster art. Really all commercial illustration, for that matter.
    1 point
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