Score

source: Score: A Film Music Documentary

Too much John Williams and too little Ennio Morricone. The old masters are almost forgotten. Too much modern garbage like Avengers and Transformers. Very disapointing documentary.

I had the opportunity to see this in theaters, and loved every second of it. As a fan of film music, I went into the documentary expecting a kind of "fly on the wall" approach as the viewer learned about the writing processes of the featured composers. While we did get a bit of that, there was also a nice focus on the past -- a retrospective look at the history of film music throughout the first half. The interviews are split in such a way where there's a little something for everyone. Film critics, historians, and film composers all have interesting tidbits to share. When we're not seeing an interview, we're watching the creative and recording process of various film scores. I'd recommend this documentary to anyone interested in music, film, and any combination thereof. If you don't know anything about film music other than "Hey, John Williams is pretty good!" this is a great way to learn about the incredible amount of work that goes into crafting a good film score.

I'm such a sucker for filmmaking docs, and this is a good one. Covering the entire history of composers scoring films, it's surprisingly comprehensive for how giant the topic is. Still, its scant 94 minute runtime did make me wish there was a "The Story of Film: An Odyssey" mini-series version of it. This will do for now.

Maybe it is too much to cover the whole history of film music in one film. The golden age of cinema is overlooked and the silver age is touched on in this film. They started talking about Jerry Goldsmith then quickly cut over to John Williams. John Williams is a great composer, I think his best work is Superman (1979) that whole score is great. But we know Williams because he scored Lucas and Spielberg. All the other composers didn't have that exposure. What about Basil Poledouris Conan? Or James Horner's earlier work like Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan? And going back to Goldsmith. The guy has the greatest library as a whole such creativity, experimentation. The film does show composers fiddling with instruments to get a certain sound. Guess who started that? Goldsmith. Who experimented with moog and electronics? Goldsmith. Guess who wrote the creepiest song ever for the anti christ? Goldsmith! I guess I would say to anyone that is a slightest of a fan of this music, just start listening there is so much great stuff out there. And a lot of it is on Youtube, which I hope stays up there so people can learn and enjoy these people's work.

I've always loved film scores. Orchestral works that utilize themes and a large collection of musicians that go along with the action on screen but also work independently has been the kind of music I've listened to almost exclusively my whole life. I wish it got a better documentary than this. It's not really bad, but it's wildly unfocused. The documentary has four sections of interest: the history, the process, the techniques, and the personalities. The movie is more than the sum of its parts because I think each section is bad unto itself (shallow and uninformative) but overall the documentary has a salubrious effect on the mind. It's slickly made, is what I'm trying to say. So, the first thing it does is try to cover some history. From the earliest theater organs to the modern use of rock stars to write scores (instead of just sourcing their music), the movie skips through Max Steiner, Bernard Herrmann, and a few others with words of appreciation from modern day composers and little else. There's some talk here and their about their importance, but it doesn't dig deep enough. Honestly, unless you're going to spend two hours exploring the history of the art form, leave this out completely. The second part is the process. This was probably the most interesting, and the one that got interrupted the most and was told the most out of order. There's no real structure to the film (which is a bit ironic since some of the composers interviewed talk about structure being important), so we start with one experiment, go through sound booths and conduction, before they ever talk about basic composition. And even then, it's thin gruel. There is a semblance of structure in the fact that we end on sound mixing the score, but, again, it's thin. The third part is technique. Here we see composers talk about their collections of weird instruments and see some demonstrations of some of them. There's no talk about the thinking behind adding them to compositions other than they're different sounds. Again, thin. The last is the personalities, where the movie spends most of its time. There's a solid 35 minute or so block that's just composers talking about Jerry Goldsmith, John Williams, Danny Elfman, and Hans Zimmer. They don't dig into influences, techniques, or anything interesting. The movie just lets the composers talk about how awesome these guys are while we hear their music and watch clips from their most famous movies. It's pure hero worship. Overall, I like it better than the above implies. The overall package is inviting and enjoyable in a superficial way, but if the object of the documentary was to inform in any way, I think it failed. I would have loved to see 90 minutes that actually explored one composer's journey from blank sheet music to final screening with snippets of the composer's thoughts on the history of film music, his influences, and techniques. That would have a been a more interesting journey to take. Instead, we got this mishmash that was enjoyable enough, but shallow.

If you love movies and love the music of the movies, then this film is for you! First of all, a lot of great music here and there as examples, and the interviews with top composers are very informative. There is a little bit of film history woven in, and of course film music history, too. This film really hits all the bases. I'm an indie filmmaker/composer in development myself, and already knew many of these things in the film, but the film was still very informative and inspiring to me! If you have any interest in movies and music, this film may just "suck you in" and keep you watching! It covers also about the psychology of music in film, why and how the music does what it does - to create or enhance a mood and help guide the audience towards the intended purpose of the filmmakers. And then there is also a lot of info about specific films and how they decided what kind of style and sound they wanted. And some info about the technical processes also, how they work in the recording sessions, and during editing of the movies.

Score is the sort of documentary that anyone with more than a passing interest in film can enjoy - financed partially by 1,870 backers it explores in real depth the process, the creation, the orchestration, engineering and history of the past 30 years in film. Score starts ambitiously, looking at movie scoring in the 30s, 40s, and 50s, before turning to the great composers of the 70s Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams. It then turns to look at more recent favourites. There are plenty of interviews and plenty of scores. However, the film is restricted by studio choices to only being able to use certain scores, and some of the really great film scores that one would love to know more about just aren't there. In particular, with the tragic death of James Horner, having only a two minute piece (a very good piece though) in the end credits is a real shame. I sat through the whole film waiting for the section on James Horner that simply isn't there. Again, it is a well-made and interesting insight to the world of film scoring and deserves viewing, but for this viewer by not being able to get all the studios to release their soundtracks at a minimal cost the film ends up focusing on only some of the great scores.

I enjoyed the background and interviews, but wanted more. I can't believe John Carpenter was not included. I am not sure if he is being slighted by Hollywood for doing his own thing, but he deserved to be included. Another slight was the recently deceased Johann Johannsson. Johann was one of the most innovative modern film composers and will be deeply missed. I also wished they would have revisited the guy with the Piano in the valley to see what he did with that unique set up.

In 1989, I remember entering my local movie theater to watch Tim Burton's "Batman" -- a film I was eager to see due to my nerd-like obsession with this comic-book hero. What I didn't expect was to be consumed with the film's dark and edgy score, composed by Danny Elfman. While kids were lining up to get the Batman action figures, t-shirts, and other items stamped with the iconic Batman symbol, I was at my local music store purchasing the soundtrack on cassette. I was mesmerized by Elfman's score. It invigorated an intense sense of imagination and allowed me to think clearly; it calmed my insecurities as a awkward adolescent. Hell, I had to go back and purchase another cassette because I wore-out the first one I bought. From that point on, I didn't watch movies; I listened. I judged all films by their scores. If the music didn't give me the chills and move my imagination, then I wasn't interested. And I can easily name the films that left me with an urgency to buy the soundtrack on cassette, and later on CD. James Horner's "Glory," John Barry's "Dances With Wolves," Basil Poledouris' "The Hunt For Red October," Ennio Morricone's "The Mission," Randy Newman's "The Natural," Jerry Goldsmith's "Hoosiers," Elliot Goldenthal's "Interview with the Vampire" and anything produced by John Williams--all were scores I had playing on repeat throughout my younger years. And later in my adult years, I was heavily influenced by the scores composed by Hans Zimmer, John Debney, Ramin Djawadi, Marc Streitenfeld, Tom Holkenborg, Bear McCreary, and many others. I was obsessed. Still am. In fact, I'm listening to Hans Zimmer's "Gladiator" score while writing this review. And just yesterday, I couldn't hold back my excitement to listen to Zimmer's latest film score: "Blade Runner 2049." I haven't even seen this in the theaters yet, if that tells you anything. Why does all this matter? When watching "SCORE: A Film Music Documentary," I find myself enthused about movie-making again--the craft... the core of what it takes to be an artist. This documentary allows me to see inside the mind of the film score composer. And at the age when I first started listening to film scores, I was heavily influenced by guys like Danny Elfman, James Horner and John Williams--while my friends had Madonna, Bon Jovi, and other pop artists. But I could feel those emotions again, while watching this documentary. It made me feel young again. New. Creative. Watching SCORE was therapeutic for me. It was familiar but invigoratingly fresh. And I was able to once again appreciate what it meant to listen to a film, rather than just watch. Thanks to the film's director and writer, Matt Schrader, and his entire crew for making this work of art. It's allowed me to break through the mundane and wake my child-like imagination to be creative and true to myself.