Film Music

The opening titles of Blade Runner - with music,





Count on David Lynch to use a classic like Bobby Vinton’s Blue Velvet in an amusingly ironic fashion, initially playing it over gorgeously-shot images of roses and fire engines in a quiet, suburban utopia, before we cut to Jeffrey Beaumont’s father, who suffers a stroke. The idyllic song continues to play its optimistic tune, creepily juxtaposed with this man writhing around on the floor in agony, which perfectly encapsulates the film’s central premise, of a dark underbelly resting beneath the squeaky-clean veneer of Lumberton.
Blue Velvet eventually fades out, and the more sinister score fades in, making it clear that something very unpleasant indeed is about to come to the forefront.


One of the most distinctive aspects of every Quentin Tarantino film is the soundtrack, and Pulp Fiction is certainly no exception. QT usually picks music from his own record collection, and reportedly first heard Urge Overkill’s cover of Neil Diamond’s Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon in a small record shop while visiting Amsterdam.
It’s just as well, then, because the result is one of the most iconic scenes in Tarantino’s entire filmography, in large part thanks to the tune, as Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman) dances around to it while Vincent Vega (John Travolta) tries to talk himself into being well-behaved.
There’s a tremendous irony that the song, about a girl coming of age, is juxtaposed with Mia snorting some cocaine. The song fades out just as things take a turn for the worse and Mia begins to convulse, having accidentally overdosed, which is another classic moment all by itself




Stanley Kubrick used Strauss to convey the awe and wonder of this sci-fi opening......



then more classical and classically inspired music in his movie of Steven King's 'The Shining'.

Lastly, directed by Steven Spielberg, the iconic 'Jaws' theme by John Williams, say no more...

Sound in Film

This is the clip that we use to look at how sound is used to create ambience and atmosphere in film, introduce and/or reinforce genre and enhance or emphasise meaning. The tempo emphasises the editing and construction of the narrative and the sense of urgency. The level of detail and variation is immense and precise and evidences the craft of this aspect of film-making perfectly.

Below is the opening sequence of David Lean's adaptation of Charles Dickens which also creates a vivid mental picture using sound.



and again the sequence below makes effective use of ‘audio closeups’ to set the scene – a singing school choir, a bicycle wheel turning, a ‘stream of consciousness’ voiceover, and music.

Mise-en-scene

Cinematography at the oscars from gedlyn

The Art of Film-making.

OK so you might not agree with everything he says, but there are some good points and tips.

Remakes: Back To The Future II

This is never going to happen but just imagine if.........My choice would be the middle one of the trilogy as it relates to us in 2015. Some predictions they got right and some we have surpassed. Some just did not come to pass. How would you update the original ? Who would play your Professor and Marty McFly? How would you update the story? Would you be tempted to copy frame by frame like Gus Van Zandt or would you go for a more radical update like Baz Luhrmann? This would probably be what I would do and include an iconic soundtrack to represent current times and, of course,  use green screen to recreate all the settings that are not even thought of yet. Anyway, here's a reminder of what we're messing with - obviously the day-glo kiddy clothes will go and the Jaws hologram!

I look forward to seeing your ideas!

One last thing.....

RIP Spock. Live Long and Prosper.



     

Film Remakes II

Sometimes directors may just want to pay homage to another director. Why else would Gus Van Zandt remake (in 1998)  Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), frame for frame, if not as a labour of love?

Even the music is the same.

Sometimes the director puts his own 'auteur' stamp on the story. Take Zefferelli's 1968 Romeo and Juliet which uses a romantic, muted and rich palette of colours with slow 'renaissance-style' music and costumes to transport us to the world of the C14th/C15th Italian court.

Whereas in Baz Lurhmann's 1996 version we have a very distinctive modern soundtrack, with props and costumes to match, plus overt references to and representations of, the darker sides of the story, all of which are remind us of the style of Luhrmann's other 'remake' films such as Moulin Rouge and the recent The Great Gatsby.

And finally, here's a roundup of the Top 10 best remakes

and, the Top 10 Worst!