It's Favourite Film-Score Month!

Hi everyone, and welcome to Favourite Score Month!  Today I’m going to talk about three of my all-time favourite film scores and what it is about them that makes it a great score for me.  I’ve picked three very different scores from three different decades.

'Jaws' by John Williams - 1975

When Steven Spielberg first heard the Jaws theme played on two notes on the piano, he thought Williams was joking.  It took him a few listens to hear the potential and the rest, as they say, is history.  This incredible ostinato played on double-basses and low piano became an iconic signature motif.  Given the issues the crew had with Bruce the mechanical shark, it had a lot less screen time than originally planned, and Williams’ theme did more to terrify audiences than the visuals ever could have.  
 
Jaws was early on in Williams’ film career.  Having a jazz background, Williams brought a lot of dissonance and atonality to this orchestral score via the octatonic scale.  There are no discernible (Western) keys to be heard in much of the score as there are in later scores of his, the dissonance provides the much-needed tension for a horror film.  Devices that created this tension include the use of atonal ‘busy’ strings, disjunct melodies in the strings and woodwinds, syncopation and the increase and decrease in pace of the theme.

'The Terminator' by Brad Fiedel - 1984

This is mostly a complete electronic score, as was common in the 1980s but in my opinion, has not dated like some of the other scores of that time.  It has a very memorable theme and the electronic nature of the score fits in with the gritty sci-fi and tech themes of the film.  This was also in the time before MIDI, so Fiedel played the entire score to picture himself and ended up having odd time signatures, as his synthesizers didn’t sync up.
 
Fiedel also uses dissonance to create tension, utilising synthetic pads with frequencies sweeps and atonal disjunct melodies and harmonisation.  He also uses a lot of rhythm in both melodic and percussive sounds to create pace and tension.  I think this score has stood the test of time well, unlike many other 80s scores.

'Tron Legacy' by Daft Punk - 2010

This score is a mix of both orchestral and electronic and is my favourite style to write in.  Daft Punk's 'Tron Legacy' is my go-to music when I have to get through something tedious and always gives me a boost.  Unlike the  previous examples, this score is lyrical and not at all dissonant.  It’s very rhythmic in both the orchestral and electronic elements and uses a lot of brass swells and soaring strings.  The score is pretty much entirely in a minor key which gives it drama and emotion, and the percussion and ostinatos give it tension.  The score won a number of well-deserved awards and still stands strong eleven years later.
 
Anyway, those are three of my favourite scores, out of many.  What are some of your favourite scores and why?  I’d love to know which scores made your top ten list, let me know in the comments below.  And if you are interested in learning how to score to picture, send me an email.  Thanks for reading and I will see you next month.