Re: /Matrix muzak

[ndk <ndkent@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> >>  >>  I left the
> >>  >>theatre thinking about how Blade Runner continues to be
> >>  >>unmatched when it comes to future dystopias *and*
> >>  >>marvelling at how Vangelis' score to Blade Runner
> >>  >>continues to be timeless and futuristic after 15+
> >>  >>years. 

20 years and going on.

Odd bit of irony, in my mind the memorable spot of music from the first
Matrix was liscenced music from Enigma (who perfers Vangelis from the
666 & Earth days) doing a fairly good imatation of "Blade Runner". Its
most notable in some trailers and U.S. TV ads for the film and just a
fragment of an Enigma song avoiding any lyrics.

>the soundtrack will probably sell very well considering its perfect MTV kid
>material....  THAT is the future, as much or little as you may like it.

What? Last season's stuff vetted by connected labels is the future? 

I think almost everyone can agree that doing a "contemporary" score is
probably the most shortsighted approach possible - it's already when it
debuts, imagine a year or 2 later.  

When thinking of the future for today's film audiences I guess the most
likely to succeed approach is one of noticeable anachronism.

Intellectually one would always think some kind of invented musical
language or style
would be best, "Forbidden Planet" pretty much does that, a great rarity
for a commercial film, though one might argue that while it suceeds
brilliantly for more extreme emotions and overall otherworldly-ness, at
other times I'm conflicted when it remains being relatively extreme in a
context that isn't.

Without getting into a whole big essay, in general I think music in
films can be grouped one of 3 categories of use. You have source music,
the music the characters in the film are actually hearing. 

One has the film score itself, its important that its agumenting the
picture itself and communicating. I guess some danger is while one may
abstactly desire a score to be all hip, cutting edge, experimental. The
danger is sometimes or maybe kind of often the articulate ties to the
actual film material are severed by that desire to place what might be
on its own cool music. Sometimes specially composed music may wind up
only be inspired by the film ideas or surface rather than engaging and
interfacing with the film and its other sound. 

Then what I guess is usually the spoiler, overlaying music that is
neither source nor underscore. Now in some cases you could have an
existing song with lyrics or feeling that comment perfectly on the film,
nothing wrong there, its that desire to place music, far more obnoxious
than on set product placement under the supposed criteria that because
the target audience likes this music that can be cross-promoted then it
should be included to enable that.

nicholas d. kent
http://www.artskool.biz/jem/ndkent/

FWIW: on 5/11 CNN did a segment including a indie feature I scored,
"Every Move You Make".

------------------------------