Tip # 11: Film Score

By Anant Mathur (September 18, 2011)

The Film Score is original music written especially for a film and along with the dialogue and sound effects it forms the film's soundtrack. The film score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental or choral pieces called cues which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film. Songs are usually not considered as part of a film score.

The film Love Story (1970) probably has one of the finest film scores I can use as an example. Although most of the film uses orchestral compositions for the score, there are times in Love Story where you only hear a piano - no other instruments are used by composer Francis Lai - it's very effective and enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact of the scene in question. It touches your senses in a more dramatic way than an orchestra ever could.

If you've watched any Hollywood Blockbusters chances are you've had a taste of composer John Williams' musical talent. John Williams is identified with many popular Hollywood film scores and themes. He has composed for films such as the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, The Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Home Alone and the first three Harry Potter films. John Williams has been composing music for films for more than 5 decades. Inspired by the 19th century large-scale orchestral music, Williams is especially said to be influenced by Richard Wagner. He began his career working with the likes of Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann, and Alfred Newman. Today John Williams is perhaps the most popular composer in Hollywood, he frequently collaborates with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. If Superman made you believe that man could fly it was partly because of the incredible compositions created by John Williams. His theme has been synonymous with Superman. Any film or television program based on Superman since he created the original Superman theme has used that theme in some form. He not only created a theme he gave a character life on the screen. Superman just wouldn't be the same without that theme. The same is true for Indiana Jones, Star Wars and the hundreds of other John Williams compositions, he not only provides a score for a film, he give it a soul. 

Bernard Herrmann composed the score for Alfred Hitchcock's thriller North by Northwest. Next time you watch the film, turn the sound off. It's incredible the impact the score has on the action sequences in the film. Bernard Herrmann was a Hitchcock favourite, they worked on 9 films together. Herrmann's score for Vertigo is considered masterful. In several key scenes his score takes center stage and dramatically conveys the main character's obsessive love for the woman he tries to shape into a long-dead, past love. Herrmann's most memorable scores include: Citizen Kane, The Devil and Daniel Webster, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Psycho, Cape Fear and Taxi Driver.

Throughout film history there have been many great composers, from the brothers Dorsey (Tommy and Jimmy) to Henry Mancini, Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Newman and André Previn to Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner, Bill Conti, John Williams, Alan Silvestri, Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman Hollywood film scores have always made the visuals come alive and we've been able to enjoy various genres of music including Jazz, Rock, Pop, Blues, Classical, New Age, etc. in the process. 

The score is one of the most important elements of a film it can take the audience on an emotional journey or scare the living daylights out of them.

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