History of Film Music Final

Composers of Marketable Film Scores

• soundtrack album increased through 60s and 70s

• 1. composers of rich melodic themes repeated over and over, monothematic (john barry)

• 2. composers who wrote hard-driving grooves with jazz or rock, appeal to younger audience (lalo schifrin)

• 3. songwriters who could also provide underscore, built in connection to soundtrack album (burt bacharach)

John Barry

• jazz trumpeteer

• James Bond theme between ‘63 and ‘87

• award-winning composer of slowly developing themes for period dramas

• ‘born free’

lalo schifrin

• argentinian jazz composer

• came to US in 60s and composed for detective tv shows like mission impossible (inspired by mancinis Peter Gunn)

• eclectic jazz-rock style, dissonant atonality, traditional orchestra, ethnic influences

• Bullitt (1968)

Burt Bacharach

• songwriter from 1960s onward, collab with lyricist Hal David and singer dionne warwick

• consistent pop-jazz approach, highly popular soundtrack albums with multiple hits

• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Michel Legrand

• one of the original french composers of the new wave in the 50s

• umbrellas of cherbourg (1968), thomas crown affair ‘the windmills of your mind’ (1968), summer of ‘42 (1971)

• long career as jazz performer while scoring over 200 scores

marvin hamlisch

• child prodigy, broadway composer and songwriter

• EGOT and pulitzer prize

• 3 academy awards in 1974 for adapting Scott Joplin’s ragtime music for The Sting and best score and songs for The Way We Were

Hollywoods Anti-Heros

• 1970s, trust in traditional authority structures were declining and audience was drawn to stories with anti-heroes

• Bullitt, Dirty Harry, Shaft, Chinatown, Taxi Driver (Herrmannn), Death Wish, The Godfather

• urban settings and violent action = jazz-rock fusion (Schifrin), dark neo-noir sound established by Herrmann and rosza, dissonant modern approaches used by Goldsmith

Nino Rota

• scoring many of fellinis films post WW2

• classical, italian folk, and american modern

• The Godfather and The Godfather pt2 (with Carmine Coppola)

Jerry Goldsmith

• began scoring radio dramas, CBS radio, tv work in 60s, then films

• fast creative and inventive composer, spotting choices

• Planet of the Apes (1968), Patton (1970), Chinatown (1974)

Bill Conti

• neoclassical approach, moving back to older styles

• big break was Rocky (1976)

• combined conservatory training and jazz background and songwriting abilities

Licensing and publishing

• music is an intellectual property so it must be cleared before it is used and rightsholders are compensated

• each piece is commonly controlled by both the composer and the publisher, clearance rights are usually administered by one or more Performing Rights Organizations (ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC in US)

• composers choose one while publishers are usually a part of all

• music cue sheet (performing rights log) - must be prepped and submitted to appropriate PRO, allows for proper compensation, shows title, duration, and usage

PROs

• american society of composers authors and publishers (ASCAP) - founded in 1914 by songwriters from “tin pan alley” in NYC

• Broadcast music inc. (BMI) - founded in 1939 by recording industry to compete with ASCAP

• society of european stage authors and composers (SESAC) - founded in 1930, smallest, invitation only

• all three collect royalties on behalf of their members, track uses of music in media, and negotiate rate scales on behalf of their members

Types of Licenses

• sync license - allows filmmaker to use copyright of the music in sync with the film, does not include the recording, paid depending on length and type of usage, media, and distribution

• master use license (mechanical license) - allows use of recording, same basic parameters as sync but usuallt administered by recording company as opposed to PRO

• public domain - copyright has expired, older than 70 years after death of author, only refers to the musical work itself, not recordings

Director and Composer collaborations

• fall of studio system, became easier for directors and composers to seek out their own partnerships

• Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock (Vertigo), Blake Edwards and Henry Mancini (The pink panther strikes again), Sergio Leone and Ennio Morricone (Once Upon a Time in America), Steven Spielberg and John Williams (Jaws, ET), David Cronenberg and Howard Shore (Naked Lunch), Robert Zemeckis and Alan Silvestri(C) (Cast Away), Tim Burton and Danny Elfman (Edward Scissorhands), Spike Lee and Terence Blanchard (Crooklyn), M. Night Shamalan and James Newton Howard (Unbreakable), Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and David Fincher (The Social Network)

Postmodernism

• need for constant change and innovation becomes less essential

• all styles of art become more acceptable, everything becomes relative

• emotional appeal is important, in the direction of romanticism

• humor, satire, and irreverence is often displayed

• treaded aspects of past artistic movements as models, american approach of picking and choosing from a variety of styles and traditions

• nostalgia and admiration for earlier styles, often collage different influences (Spielberg, Lucas, Scott, Lynch, Tarantino)

• to appreciate these films, its often necessary to be familiar with earlier genres or iconic directors (Chaplin, Hitchcock, Wilder)

• Williams (star wars), Goldsmith (star trek), James Horner (star trek 2+3, Krull), Ennio Morricone (days of heaven, the untouchables), Angela Morley (watership down)

John Williams

• responsible for rebirth of the romantic orchestral film score

• studied piano and composition at Julliard and UCLA

• jazz musician and bandleader, worked as studio player for Newman, Goldsmith and Mancini

• known in 70s as ‘disaster film’ composer, earthquake (1974)

• influence by motivic technique of steiner, romantic orchestrations of korngold, newmans string sound, coplands americana, mancinis jazz, and his own jazz-rock experience in the 60s

• worked with boston pops in the 80s to promote film music as serious art form

• close encounters of the third kind (1977), raiders of the lost ark (1981)

James Horner

• studied in london, USC, and UCLA

• devotee of goldsmith

• originally took orchestral approach, moved to hybrid in the 80s

• killed in 2015 plane crash

Basil Poledouris

• UCLA film student

• background actor in star treak

• lush orchestral writing, postromanticism in the 70s and 80s

• conan the barbarian (1982)

orchestration & prominent orchestrators

• often more than one orchestrator

• takes sketch from composer and “fleshes it out”, assigns material to instruments

• composer trusts orchestrator to execute their creative vision, why we see teams work together continuously

• Hugo Friedhofer - worked with Newman, steiner, korngold

• arthur Morton - worked with raskin, friedhofer, goldsmith

• alexander courage - worked with rosza, goldsmith, williams

• herbert spencer - worked with raksin, herrmann, newman, north,williams

• shirley walker - worked with elfman, zimmer

• william ross - worked with kamen, silvestri, williams (harry potter)

• john neufeld - jurassic park w/ williams

orchestral mockups

• if the director wanted to get an idea of the finished product, the composer could play themes on the piano and explain what the orchestration would sound like

• as music is now more accessible through technology, “mock ups” of the music are now more common before scoring sessions

• sometimes may end up in the final score like titanic (horner)

• tangled, kevin kliesch and alan menkin

music synthesis in film scoring

• experimental scores began an association between electronic music and science-fiction films (theramin and ondes martinot)

• music synthesis more accessible by the 80s, electronic instruments began to supplement and even replace the acoustic orchestra (moog 35 modular, NED synclavier)

• synthesis was also a big part of disco and techno-pop in the 70s and 80s, so it acted as a bridge between film and popular music (fairlight CMI, yamaha CS-80)

• jerry goldsmith (runaway, legend *og), tangerine dream (sorcerer, legend *replacement), Maurice jarre (witness), quincy jones (the color purple), herbie hancock (round midnigh), jan hammer (miami vice), georges delarue (a little romance), trevor jones (excalibur)

giorgio Moroder

• synth-pop artist and disco producer turned film composer

• worked with donna summer, led to roles as music supervisor on films

• midnight express (1978), first all synth score to win an academy award

• scarface (1983), flashdance

wendy carlos

• first composer to make extensice use of music synthesis

• developed modular synthesis with dr. robert moog

• switched-on bach (1968) album

• collab with kubrick, a clockwork orange and the shining

• tron (1982)

John Carpenter

• director of horror who scored his own movies

• designs to shock audiences rather than hitchcock approach

• halloween (1978)

vangelis

• self-taught musician, star performer in synth-pop groups

• documentary film composer in the 70s

• traditional acoustic approach even when writing for synths

• chariots of fire and blade runner

back to the blockbuster

• 1985-1995, return of big budget blockbuster approach

• appeal to younger generation with special effects and loud sound

• tim burton, darker wave of superheroes

• robert zemeckis and alan sivestri (back to the future, who framed roger rabbit)

Michael Kamen

• oboist, roots in rock

• neoromantic style, action and period scores

• Brazil (1985), die hard, lethal weapon

danny elfman

• 70s rock band oingo boingo

• “hummer”, relied on orchestrators to realize score

• influenced by herrmanns film noir style, steiners physical function, and korngolds leitmotifs

• Batman (1989)

David grusin

• composer, producer, performer

• jazz and pop background, “takedown artist” on The Graduate (1967)

• wide variety of films, drama, nostalgia, broad comedies

• the milagro beanfield war (1988)

Hans Zimmer

• the buggles keyboardist

• synth programmer with stanley myers

• technological sampling approach with elements of world music

• returned to the studio system with his own hollywood music company

• rain man (1988)

Hans Zimmers music company

mark mancina (speed, twister), benjamin wallfisch (blade runner 2049, twisters), blake neely (the mentalist), john powell (how to train your dragon), harry (shrek) and rupert (wonder woman) gregson-williams, trevor rabin (armageddon)

back to the past

• james horner - titanic, glory

• john barry - dances with wolves

• john williams - far and away, schindlers list

• luis bacalov - il postino

terrence blanchard

• jazz trumpeteer and composer, art blakeys band

• performed for spike lees early films, became his preferred composer

• over 50 films, most successful african american composer to date

• malcom x (1992)

back to the hollywood musical

• walt disney studios, collaboration with robert b. and richard m. sherman, studio entered golden era of musical films

• the sword in the stone, the jungle book, aristocats, mary poppins

• alan menkin - beauty and the beast

• hans zimmer - the lion king

david newman

• son of alfred newman, composer, conductor, violinist at USC

• ‘teen comedies’ and low-budget horror composer in the 80s

• now done over 100 movies, touring the country conducting

• galaxy quest (1999)

thomas newman

• son of alfred newman (younger), studied at yale, orchestrator for return of the jedi

• lighter comedies at first but progressed to more substantial films

• scent of a woman, shawshank redemption, american beauty

• one of few recent composers to develop definitive signature style

james newton howard

• piano at USC, session and touring musician with elton john and toto

• moved beyond pop and rock to embrace romantic orchestral tradition, still incorporates synthesis and studio effects

• known for suspense work with M. night shyamalan

• the fugitive, the sixth sense

rachel portman

• member of OBE, known for stage and concert works

• first female composer to win academy award (emma ‘96), also nominated for cider house rules and chocolat

• often takes ‘pastorale’ approach in composition with occasional monothematic scores

back to classic film genres

• the chase film - the fugitive, james newton howard

• the ghost story - the sixth sense, james newton howard

• the screwball comedy - chocolat, rachel portman

• the martial arts film - the matrix, don davis

• the sword-and-sandals epic - gladiator, hans zimmer

a survey of film scoring technology

• computing revolution of the 90s, personal PCS are faster and more affordable

• used in all stages of film score production, automating spotting and music clearance/cue sheet processes

• graphic programs to generate punches and streamers for picture cueing

• AURICLE time processor developed by ron and richard grant in 1984, became industry standard

4 types of software

• notation - allows for traditional composition, orchestration and parts copying

• sequencers - using MIDI and audio material, writing directly from a keyboard

• sample libraries - digitally recorded elements and loops, often acoustic sources

• digital audio workstations - allows recording, editing, and mixing of digital audio resources

“world music” in film scoring

• move away from the hollywood cliches from “travelogue films”, now sounds authentic using instruments and musicians from the settings

• postmodern philosophy, all cultures and traditions are equally important

• soon became common to hear instruments from different cultures in films not relating to those places

• Ghandi (ravi shankar), the year of living dangerously (maurice jarre), a passage to india (jarre), empire of the sun (williams), the last emperor (david byrne, ryuichi sakamoto, cong su), the mission (ennio morricone)

a return to americana

• return to role models of the past, examining the idea of americana itself

• gangster films, westerns, war films, heros journey

• music tribute to copland but also electronic and world music influences

• the untouchables (morricone), the right stuff (bill conti), field of dreams (horner), silverado (bruce broughton), hoosiers (jerry goldsmith), platoon (cue tracked with samual barber, og by georges delarue)

randy newman

• nephew of alfred, satirical songwriter and performer

• new orleans blues piano, copland-esque touches, americana style

• writing for disney/pixar

• the natural (‘84)

film music in the new millenium