Movies that use the music well

[donjuan]

Name some movies that use the music well to make the plot more effective.  I can think of a few-
- once upon a time in Mexico
- Kill Bill Vol.1 (Bang Bang...)
- Gladiator
- Edward Scissorhands (sp?)
- Blood and Sand
- Shine
- Ten
- Jaws
- Brief Encounter

[squiggly_girl]

*There are mild movie spoilers in this post*

Resident Evil - the music is very atmospheric in this movie and in my opinion is one of things that adds to the movie's scariness. Its percussive drive, like a half-syncopated heartbeat, is just great at winding up the tension. It really evokes a subconscious feeling of these not-quite-human zombie beings lying just on the periphery.

Interestingly, Marilyn Manson did the score for the movie, and he speaks of using images rather than dots and lines to create the music. He apparently also used a lot of higher-than-the-human-ear can hear frequencies...he speaks of the score driving dogs crazy!

Jaws I agree with this one. Probably one of the first suspense movies to use music so effectively.

Cast Away What I like about this one is the complete absence of score when Hanks' character is by himself on the island. When he breaks free of the island on his craft, the orchestra quietly kicks in. Wonderful way to accompany the sense of freedom the main character feels.

[willcowskitz]

Interestingly, Marilyn Manson did the score for the movie, and he speaks of using images rather than dots and lines to create the music. He apparently also used a lot of higher-than-the-human-ear can hear frequencies...he speaks of the score driving dogs crazy!

Humans don't "hear" ultra- and infrasound, but they affect us in the same way as the sounds that are within our audible frequencies, altering our states of mind and emotions. Has been researched.

[squiggly_girl]

Yes! Creepy, no? I'm not sure if technology would enable the reproduction of those ultra-high frequency sounds in distribution copies, ie DVD and VHS. But maybe in the copies distributed to theatres?

[willcowskitz]

The data can be written on any medium and I think standard sound equipment is capable of replaying at those frequencies, somebody give in more insight if you have some. Creepy, maybe, since I used to think music is something that comes to you and you actively experience it but it has to go through your "mind" to produce images or however you experience music. Now, its yet another implication of that we humans are nothing but mere machines.

[squiggly_girl]

Well...I would have thought that standard sound equipment would be designed to only cover the range of human hearing. After all, what use is a speaker that can vibrate at 30kHz if humans are not going to be able to hear (here I mean hear in the conventional eardrum way) it. Also, from what I know about compression of sound for DVD, only a specific bandwidth of sound is selected. Keep the bandwidth down, reduce the bit storage requirements. Anything beyond that will be lost.

I do find it a bit freaky that although my ears can't detect certain audio frequency vibrations, my body is subconsciously picking it up!

[willcowskitz]

Yep but they can define what frequencies to include in the recordings, technically I'd say its possible you just have to be aware of that while running the data through the compression, just like encoding mp3's. And there exists music that has infrasound in it.

I do find it a bit freaky that although my ears can't detect certain audio frequency vibrations, my body is subconsciously picking it up!

You know why?
It is same as seeing blood or death. It shows you that you're a biological machine, that you're physical, and this creates an irritation and potential imbalance in your mind between your soul and it's vehicle.

[squiggly_girl]

Machines?

We appear to have wandered rather from the original topic, but this discussion on metaphysics is really interesting.  Willcowskitz, here is what I am getting from you:

If we are conscious of the sound, ie if it is causing our eardrums to vibrate at a frequency that our brains can detect as information we recognise, then we have some control over it. When the sound enters our brain we can tune in, or tune out and thereby determine whether it will then affect us on that deeper, spiritual if you like, level.

However, if we are not physically conscious of that sound, it is ultrasonic, say, then we are not consciously making a tune in or tune out decision. Our brain and our deeper self is engaging in some random way with these sounds that we’re not aware of.  

So just because at some point sound does not consciously affect us on the physical level, it continues to affect us on the spiritual to a greater or lesser degree in some indeterminate way.

You are saying, I think, that someone can be affected by these ultrasonic sounds without their realising the cause.

So how does that relate to being machine-like? Doesn’t this random indeterminacy make us less like machines? How does seeing blood and death come into it?

[willcowskitz]

If we are conscious of the sound, ie if it is causing our eardrums to vibrate at a frequency that our brains can detect as information we recognise, then we have some control over it. When the sound enters our brain we can tune in, or tune out and thereby determine whether it will then affect us on that deeper, spiritual if you like, level.

Normally if I listen to music and it affects my mood, I think it is because I paid special attention to it and, as you say, "tuned in" to it, it was indeed my own decision. Now if I listen to ultra(or infra)sonic 'music', I don't have this decision, as you stated. This means the vibrations of air that our eardrums receive will send signals in our brain, affecting our mood, without us knowing it. This hints that whatever our conscious mind creates from the music we *hear*, is nothing but cream on a cake or paint on a car. It makes things aesthetically prettier for us humans who look for a reason for those mood alterations. It reminds me of consciousness in general - are we really conscious of anything, or is the sense of consciousness only illusion created by the active brain electricity, is it only a blur that makes us think we live in the present though we actually live in the past. Whatever happens, we will realize it after it has happened, but this latency between the unconscious and conscious brain activity makes us think we *made* the decision. This would explain "foretelling" or "sensing the future" as I'd rather call it, it is some sort of an 'error' that happens in the flow of information, something leaks and we get to taste the essence of tomorrow so to say.

However, if we are not physically conscious of that sound, it is ultrasonic, say, then we are not consciously making a tune in or tune out decision. Our brain and our deeper self is engaging in some random way with these sounds that we’re not aware of.

I've been thinking about starting to analyze sound that our TV receivers transmit; are the companies already experimenting with ultra/infrasonic sound in commercials as means of altering the target's mood to create sensations of joy or sorrow, the recipient then associating these sensations with images they see at the same time, and becoming happy when they see that chocolate bar in the shop. Hahah. Might not be yet, but I can tell you, IT WILL HAPPEN if there exists no "objective" regulations as to what frequencies are within the legal limits. And how long will it take until the first engineer comes up with the idea and design and sells it to a megacorporation, in relation to how long it will take for "normal people" to suspect this kind of activity.

So just because at some point sound does not consciously affect us on the physical level, it continues to affect us on the spiritual to a greater or lesser degree in some indeterminate way.

What spiritual is in inarguably 100% physical, mechanical one-way communication between vibrating air molecules and the brain's emotion centre (was this in the forehead, I don't remember)? I'd rather call it raw, direct programming of state of mind that comes from the outside and which you have no real power over. Where's the spiritual, free soul?

You are saying, I think, that someone can be affected by these ultrasonic sounds without their realising the cause.

So how does that relate to being machine-like? Doesn’t this random indeterminacy make us less like machines? How does seeing blood and death come into it?

Machine is mechanical, and so is the way that these ultra/infrasonic vibrations alter our mood. There no longer exists (even) the illusion(?) of this 'space' we all have in our minds, that we are and what makes us human - the conscious, free mind, capable of making decisions. The fact that we don't first have to process music through our conscious mind, makes the consciousness obsolote in creating our moods - it is evidence of that everything in the universe is just simple rules between particles that they obey. Anything that exists is nothing but reflections of these particles, and all complexity only means more mirrors between the "source" and the destination, in music we have simple and complex music, in mathematics we have algorithms, in nature we have the simplicity of monocellular life forms and complexity of humans - but all this is based on the number "1" and "+" and "-".  Everything can be constructed using number 1 and it's multitudes, but as the numbers grow to insane string lengths, we must cut the whole to half and start handling these halves as wholes (take an animal (whole) and it's organs (parts of the whole) and organs (whole) and cells (parts of the whole) and so forth). When we've splitted the concepts enough times, we're so drowned in the information that we only see the simple. Consciousness is simple, it consists only of reflections from the outer world that we've gathered by and filtered through our senses. Images, colours and shapes that we've seen, sounds that we have heard, forms and shapes we have touched, and so on, are duplicates of the data that exists outside our consciousness, but it has been compressed, encoded, into some sort of engravings or printings in our brain. Our continuous use of senses keeps them alive as our brain detects an association and the receptors of braincells that store this data start signaling each other to keep the link between them alive. Though all this would seem complex on a visual presentation as a whole, each of it's mechanisms is straight-forward and 'logical'. When we see the details and their deterministic behaviour, we see from cradle to grave, the growth of a person, the movements of the nations, the development of the mankind and the alfa and omega without the µ (somewhere in middle in the Greek alphabet). When the present loses it's meaning, one goes into an existentialistic crisis, or vice versa. Not only past builds the future, but the future paints the past, there's no direction, all just IS.

Blood and death I brought in because once when I was driving home and saw a dead toad in the garage (poor thing had got driven over by somebody). I stopped and looked at it, and then it struck me - the reason why it looked so awful; I didn't see a toad but I saw it's shell, I saw everything physical (or what was left of it) that the toad was, but I didn't see the glimmer in it's eyes or the vibrations on it's skin. I didn't see a toad that was observing the world and experiencing it, none of this reality was passing through it's "mind", it was not a toad but a corpse. When people see blood, they instinctively know something is wrong. Blood is essential for our living but if you can see it directly, something is wrong in the system, blood is not where it should be. This messages of the presence of death, it reminds us of our mortality and it rawly shows us how fragile we are - we are after all physical beings and are going to have an end to our lives. It rips us outside the time, off the present and it shows us bits of the letters on both sides of the µ, it stretches us from our place and irritates our minds that are so concentrated on the seemingly unphysical consciousnesses. This is directly related to the phenomen of sound vibrations reprogramming our moods on unconscious level.

[donjuan]

ohh my brain hurts! how, oh how did you guys come up with this debate out of my innocent little query?
ohhh, im going to bed...

[squiggly_girl]

My head is hurting too. I will have to sleep on this one.  

In the meantime here's another movie that particularly impressed me with its subversively invasive soundtrack - Die Krieger und die Kaiserin (The Princess and the Warrior). What's unique about this one is that the main theme is just three notes, played in the same slowly ramping rhythm throughout.

[Spatula]

John Williams - Star Wars trilogy( episodes 4-6)(excluding episodes 1 and 2 because those were crap)

Nobou Uematsu - Final Fantasy Series

Hans Zimmer - Gladiator, The Last Samurai, the Rock (co composed with Harry Gregson-Williams)

Harry Gregson-Williams - The Rock, Metal Gear Solid 2 SOL orchastral arrangement of main theme as well as game play themes.

   

[Spatula]

Name some movies that use the music well to make the plot more effective.  I can think of a few-
- once upon a time in Mexico
- Kill Bill Vol.1 (Bang Bang...)
- Gladiator
- Edward Scissorhands (sp?)
- Blood and Sand
- Shine
- Ten
- Jaws
- Brief Encounter

Regarding Kill Bill, I loved that Bang Bang song.  IT was the perfect thing to get into the mood of revenge.  And with that was the "siren" song when Black Mamba first meets the Vernita Green, or that Black lady assassin, that was just adrenaline pumping.  

I didn't quiet find Shine's music all that compelling, maybe the Rach 3 fit the difficulties and hardships of what David Helfgott had endured.

[donjuan]

I loved Kill Bill's music when Uma Thurman was looking at the samurai swords...It was so magical- and when Hattori Hanzo was talking, the lighting was such that it looked as though he were glowing.  VERY effective.  I dont particularly like that band "the 5,6,7,8's" when they were playing at the final showdown.  The music was distracting and annoying, IMO.
donjuan

[Motrax]

I'm surprised Kill Bill Vol. 1 was mentioned, because it was the first movie which popped into my head when I saw the topic title. It's definitely got a great soundtrack.

The Pianist also has a very good soundtrack, and is an excellent movie overall too.

[Spatula]

I loved Kill Bill's music when Uma Thurman was looking at the samurai swords...It was so magical- and when Hattori Hanzo was talking, the lighting was such that it looked as though he were glowing.  VERY effective.  I dont particularly like that band "the 5,6,7,8's" when they were playing at the final showdown.  The music was distracting and annoying, IMO.
donjuan

I don't think I've come across any Japanese or Asian band for that matter where I truly enjoyed their music, save except for X-Japan/Yoshiki  

[rlefebvr]

John Williams - Star Wars trilogy( episodes 4-6)(excluding episodes 1 and 2 because those were crap)

Nobou Uematsu - Final Fantasy Series

Hans Zimmer - Gladiator, The Last Samurai, the Rock (co composed with Harry Gregson-Williams)

Harry Gregson-Williams - The Rock, Metal Gear Solid 2 SOL orchastral arrangement of main theme as well as game play themes.

Actually, the music from Episode 2 is very very good.

Anything by Zimmer is great.

-Legend of the Falls
-Out of Africa
-Interview with a Vampire. (Amazing piano work)

Not Piano

-Blade Runner

[sharon_f]

Original scores that I think are extraordinary are:

The Others - Amenebar not only composed the score, but wrote the screenplay and directed. (Talk about a triple threat!)

Jaws

Corigiliano's scores for The Red Violin which won an Academy Award and Altered States, which should have won one also.

Morricone's score for The Mission.

Scores that use music already written:

Visconti's Death in Venice (Mahler's 5th)

Sunshine (Schubert's sublime F minor Fantasy, also used in Madame Souzatzka (Sp?)

Manhattan (Gershwin)

Platoon (Barber)

[squiggly_girl]

[shadow=blue,left,300]BRAVEHEART[/shadow]

Why that movie's score did not win an Academy Award I'll never get. The music is para-excellente.

I particularly recall that scene between an orphaned William and a young Mirren which is accompanied by "A Gift of a Thistle". Not 5 minutes into the movie and there we were, blubbering messes! Near perfect synergy of emotion and music.

[Snappy Joe]

the movie Hook..one of my favorites

[squiggly_girl]

the movie Hook..one of my favorites

Tee Hee Hee Haa haa that is so...

funny.

[rlefebvr]

Original scores that I think are extraordinary are:

The Others - Amenebar not only composed the score, but wrote the screenplay and directed. (Talk about a triple threat!)

I can't find anything on this guy.

[sharon_f]

I can't find anything on this guy.

Sorry, that's because I mispelled his last name. It should be Amenabar. He is considered primarily a film director.

[janice]

I saw "The Passion of the Christ" twice at the theatre and I DO NOT REMEMBER HEARING ANY MUSIC!!! I guess that I was too focused on the screen!  The friend I saw it with the 2nd time did not remember hearing any music, and she saw it FOUR times!!! LOL  Can someone help me out please?!!  What music played and during what scenes?

[Snappy Joe]

Tee Hee Hee Haa haa that is so...

funny.

What do you mean it's so funny?  

I really like that movie, mainly the scenes with James Hook and Smee

[squiggly_girl]

Hook. Second only to Jaws III on my alltime worst movies list. I would have walked out of the cinema if I had been less young and dependent on parents at the time.

I don't remember the music though. I will concede that it must have been rather good for you to put it on this list  

[donjuan]

I didnt like hook.  I thought Robin Williams was poorly cast.  I also didnt remember the music...

the music from the original "Peter Pan" is memorable.  
- "what makes the red man red..."  although, there is tons of rascist stuff in that movie that wouldnt stand today.
donjuan

[Snappy Joe]

Yes well, come to think of it...
But  though now I forgot it...

Anyways,  there's some good music in Hook, worthy of a mention is Hook's theme, and the music when Rufio kabals before Peter..

Willow! hah, well I only remember the main theme, which is a happy adventure tune, tra la la laaaa...tra la la laaah...etc  

Devil May Cry(ps2 game) has extreme music which fits very well to the athmosphere in the game(...take this ya SOD!) heheh

All Final Fantasy games, all of them.
Parasite Eve: creepy, funky game with spicy music

finally....

Shine  

[BajoranD]

Corigiliano's scores for The Red Violin which won an Academy Award

Yeah, that was pretty incredible. I also really liked the use of music in "A Knight's Tale." I'm not always too excited by scores that rely heavily on popular music, whatever the era, but those heralds at the beginning, "playing" the guitar riff at the end of Queen's "We Will Rock You" on their trumpets . . . well, that had to crack me up.

[BajoranD]

Jaws I agree with this one. Probably one of the first suspense movies to use music so effectively.

Oh, I dunno, ever see a little old movie called Psycho?

[donjuan]

Oh, I dunno, ever see a little old movie called Psycho?

psycho is great!! Hitchcock is a genius!
donjuan

[bernhard]

Usually I am not very fond of musicals, but I thought Cabaret was superb in its use of the music.

Also "Oh Lucky Jim" (with Malcolm MacDowell) with the music of Alan Price. (Anyone ever heard of him?)

2001 A space Odissey.

Three colours: Blue (with Preisner's superb score)

The double life of Veronique (also with a Preisner score)

Tous Les Matins du Monde (with Gerard Depardieu as the baroque violist Marin Marais).

Just a few of the top of my head.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[ahmedito]

The passion of christ doesnt use ANY music. And it works very well. The lack of music is chilling; makes the story more real.

Im surprised noone has mentioned a Clockwork Orange. That movie is a lesson on how to use music to manipulate your audience. You can watch a violent raping and beating and think its funny because the music is The thieving Magpie, or Singing in the rain. Youve got a scene out of a porno film, but the sound track is the William Tell overture so you actually think its funny... its a very good movie and anyone over 17 should really watch it. And the electronic rendition of Beethovens 9th is one of my favorites.


By the way, loved the whistling tune in killbill 1.... gave me chills. Now I whistle it everywhere.

[bernhard]

Im surprised noone has mentioned a Clockwork Orange. That movie is a lesson on how to use music to manipulate your audience.

Yes, I agree. In fact all of Kubrick’s movies use music extremely well. His last one “Eyes wide shut” has a most effective piano soundtrack.

Woody Allen Movies also have superb music (apparently he chooses the tracks personally).

The Coen brother’s “Oh brother were are thou?” also has a perfectly matched soundtrack.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[donjuan]

Yes, I agree. In fact all of Kubrick’s movies use music extremely well. His last one “Eyes wide shut” has a most effective piano soundtrack.

that is such a weird movie!  Have you seen his playboy production of Macbeth?

[ahmedito]

Ligetis soundtrack from The Shining is chilling, and one of my favorite soundtracks of all time from one of my favorite composers of all time.

[mwillia5]

I think any movie whose soundtrack is composed by John Williams should be at the top of the list. Hanz Zimmer and Williams are, in my opinion, two of the greatest masters of using bringing forth greater emotion through soundtrack. A few of my favorites include:

(Of Course) Shindler's List-thanks also to Itzak
Far and Away
Hunt for the Red October
E.T.
Glory (Any Civil war movie pretty much)
and Last of the Mohicans (So wonderful)

But I could also simply list all 20+ songs on the Best of John Williams Cd and I won't. He's the king. He rocks.

[Nana_Ama]

Amadeus

[Nana_Ama]

Name some movies that use the music well to make the plot more effective.  I can think of a few-
- once upon a time in Mexico
- Kill Bill Vol.1 (Bang Bang...)
- Gladiator
- Edward Scissorhands (sp?)
- Blood and Sand
- Shine
- Ten
- Jaws
- Brief Encounter

And um the Lord of the Rings Trilogy(sp??) maybe

[MzrtMusic]

I'm glad to see that someone finally mentioned Lord of the Rings. I thought that Howard Shore did an excellent job! I own all three soundtracks, and I can't listen to them when I'm driving, because I get too distracted. That's the sign of a good sountrack.

I also like the soundtrack for Moulin Rouge.

Apollo 13 had a good one.

Oh, and "The Passion of the Christ" DID have music in it. I saw it twice, and the second time I saw it, I remember being rather distracted by the music. It didn't really fit in several places. It was too loud. But I know it has it. You can actually buy the soundtrack now.

Love,

Sarah

[Honest Bob]

Someone mentioned "O brother where art thou" - that was a great soundtrack.

Not to mention "Lost in Translation" - I liked the music more than the film, and I loved the film!

Just watched "Gregory's Girl" last night and would love it if someone could tell me the beautiful simple piece of piano the headmaster was playing.

Kia Ora!

[reinvent]

I've noticed that all of Barbara Streisand's movies worked beautifully.

[klavierkonzerte]

interview with a vampire
the matrix movies
and magnolia (amazing)