Music In Film.

Last night I watched a film called Panic Room with Jodie Foster and a very good film it is to. For the most part it's all set in one house and it has a B-Movie vibe going on. Check it out if you haven't already. My one complaint is that the film could have done with a little, just a little, less music.

Directors or Producers or Studios or whoever makes the decisions have been putting music in film for years and years and it works, but I find too much music to be off-putting. It has turned into something that adds texture to a film to something that tells you how to feel. There are loads of examples of this; the one that pops into my mind is Independence Day. An ok film which over-used music. The scene with the jets chasing the little spaceships (it might be the other way round, it's been a while since I've seen it) is very exciting and the music mirrors that by being very bombastic. Then the scene where someone dies gets all big and mushy (both technical terms) and it almost feels like someone is next to you, jabbing your arm and repeating "Feel Emotion!" over and over again. For a lame comparison look at Cloverfield. You could argue that it's broadly similar to Independence Day but in other ways it's really not. Anyway: No music in Cloverfield. And you feel so much part of the film.

It's not just scores, actual songs can be great if used correctly but bad if used inappropriately. Lets look at the Bond film Die Another Day and *sigh*... Twilight. Die Another Day is a weak Bond film, probably the weakest, but to use London Calling by The Clash is stupid beyond measure. You don't do that in a Bond film! Don't get me wrong London Calling is a great song, but it would have been better if they just showed the plane landing. We all know Bond lives works in London!
Conversely there's a scene in Twilight where they use Supermassive Black Hole by Muse. Great sequence, great music for it. And great lighting for that matter. It just worked. I find it odd to type that as I thought Twilight was a film with far too much music. The sequence I'm talking about is also one of the few sequences in Twilight were very little is said.

Music in a film is like pepper in soup. You want to put enough in to make it interesting, but not enough to completely drown it. But, again like pepper in soup, music in film is a completely personal thing.

One last thought. I think that using loads of music in movies is the sign of a poor script. I'm serious. If you spot the music then you aren't being drawn in. I couldn't tell you where the music is in The Terminator or The Dark Knight, but I know there is some.

If you want to watch a really good example of minimalist music in a film then get hold of No Country For Old Men. Watch it in a quiet room and I guarantee you will be on the edge of your seats.