On Film or Standalone
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You are watching a movie. At home, at the cinema. The music of the movie has a pulling power, it gets your attention. You are still thinking about the music when the credits have rolled. You got to get that cd. It’s just that good. You decide to get that cd or preview it online and then it happens. Disappointment…
You listen to this cd and it just doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t have the impact as it did when you were watching the movie. It’s disappointing because you always like a new and good sounding score. A score that hits the mark. It leaves you puzzled why it disappoints. But why? Why does the musical score as a standalone miss the mark.
I recently got this feeling while I was watching The Escapist. A fun little movie I saw. I loved the sound from the beginning. It had the pulling power. So when I was home I went on the internet. I tried to find the score. I found it somewhere and previewed it. Somehow the magic was gone. The theme was there and was nice but nothing more.
This is not the first time I have had this experience. I’m sure some of you had this as well. There is just some added value to the music when it plays with the film. The impact is bigger. The excitement is higher.
Brian Tyler said it once “I’m the unseen emotion of the film”. The music and the images are all impulses on our brain. The mix of those two have an impact which works or which doesn’t work. Sometimes it works better to have no music during a certain scene. Which is better? It depends on alot of things and everyone has their opinion about that.
My question to you: What score did you like when you first saw it on film but when you heard it standalone it was just disappointing? What scores do you like as a standalone too?
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Comments
The Dark Knight and The Rock score are what come into my mind (yeah, I see that for someone these may come as a shock/suprise) – somehow these scores just couldn’t give me as much as they did in the movies. It’s a shame, though, such great music in there, and yet again, no matter how many times I listened to those albums, never could grasp them, as I felt them while watching the movie(s).
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
January 16th, 2010 at 11:42 pm
I can actually see that. As awesome as they were on their own, the way they propelled the action onscreen… wow.
D-Wars was a great standalone score. It worked great in some parts but it didn’t fell the same listening to it with the movie.(and the movie was awful.) Alien vs. Predator would a score that I only want to listen to with the movie. I got excited when I got it. BUT It just doesn’t work on it’s own to me.
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:54 am
Same here with Aliens Vs. Predator. In fact add the sequel too.
The Passion of the Christ holds up pretty well apart from film. I think that most film music, if it really achieves that perfect syncretism that really penetrates you, then it will continue to last for a long time after the picture is removed.
On the other hand, is the opposite possible? Music that you enjoy more apart from the film? I’d have to say that to some extent this is true for me for some of George Fenton’s music to the Planet Earth series.
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 7:56 am
Wu Ji (The Promise) by Klaus Badelt is one of those scores I love a lot more as standalone than in the movie so it’s certainly possible.
I just remember another movie that the score was much better within the context of the movie than on it’s own: Stardust by Ilan Eshkeri.
Weirdly I often find it the other way round, music I don’t seem to like whilst watching the film I do like when I hear it as a soundtrack. It happened with The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man, both scores I like a lot. As for stuff that stands up just as music to listen to, it’s few and far between these days. Gone are the memorable scores of Superman and Alien, replaced by the instantly forgettable, endlessly recycled school of Hans Zimmer.
Those I do like; the Bourne Trilogy, Star Trek Nemesis, (much better than First Contact even if the film wasn’t), and Stripes.
Soundtrack Seek
Recently I saw a horror movie caleld Trick ‘r Treat and the score by Douglas Pipes was a treat! So incredibly effective in the movie and I think I even got a little scared. When I listened to it outside of the movie, the magic, like you said… was gone. The excitement was non-existent without the movie. A huge disappointment, but I’ll happily watch the movie again and hopefully get that great experience.
Usually I listen to scores before I watch the movie, and that can be an experience in itself. Most movies match the score though (luckily). The most annoying thing is when you see a movie with great music and the score is nowhere to be found!
Great article Steven and certainly thought provoking. What has everyone else experienced?
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