…And now back into the tonal realm…Right? Well, we do have to put some kind of a spin on this whole cliché thing. I have to keep telling myself that we’re not just writing an example of a cliché, but taking a cliché and adding to it just to change it enough so that it’s still recognizable, though different at the same time. I’ve decided to write a medley of movie themes based on different genres. I’ve decided to toy around with taking a few scenes from actual movies and composing a clip of music to go along with it, just to get a taste of what film composing might be like. If you’re reading this, Clark, and don’t want me to do this, feel free to say so. The pieces I compose will have no traces of the film’s actual score in it, so everything will be original. The film clips will be purely to work out a bit of timing and inspiration.
As for genres…I’ve put together a bit of a list, just to get started.
- Horror/slasher/thriller ***
- Mystery *
- Romance ***
- Action **
- Comedy *
- Western ***
- Cartoon *
- Cult film ***
- Martial arts **
- Musical *
- Science fiction **
- Comic hero *
- War ***
- Drama ***
The stars indicate the likelihood of each genre being in my composition, though I’ll probably think of other genres to add to this list and change my list of preferences a few times before/during the composition process. So far, it looks as though I’ll be doing a medley composed of horror, romance, western, cult film, war and drama based themes.
I’ve put a bit of thought into the instrumentation, but haven’t come to any conclusions yet. Since there will be three performers, and since most movie music is fairly dense in texture, I’ve decided that no matter what, the use of piano in this composition will be a constant. A good idea would be to put a bass instrument and a treble instrument in there as well, so I’m leaning toward bass (possibly electric bass, though I’m not sure yet) or cello and some type of a wind instrument for the upper voice. I’d like to compose for violin, but I’d really rather have only one stringed instrument for this one. Flute might be neat, since it, in my opinion, sounds good in both its high and low registers and is fairly versatile. My only worries would be if it would be drowned out by the cello and piano…(Yes, I just decided that I’m using cello) Maybe trumpet would be a better idea, though (please don’t kill me, Heidi!) I’m not very partial to that particular instrument. I might go for trombone, because it can be both loud and ominous and soft and haunting.
Piano, cello and trombone it is, then. A slightly strange combination, but I think it might work out. I’ll toy around with this a bit before I make any commitments.
Films! I almost forgot- I’ve come up with a few ideas for which films to use for each genre. Well, not each genre, just the ones I’m more likely to use. Thanks to the book “501 Must-See Movies,” I’ve got LOTS of options.
Horror:
- Psycho *
- The Birds *
- Night of the Living Dead **
- Carrie ***
- The Shining ***
Romance:
- Gone with the Wind *
- Casablanca *
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s ***
- Love Story **
- Pretty Woman *
Action:
- Spartacus *
- Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark ***
- Die Hard *
- Braveheart ***
- Gladiator **
Western:
- Dances with Wolves **
- The Good, The Bad and the Ugly *
- The Postman *
- Davy Crockett *
Cult/independant Films:
- Scarface *
- Clockwork Orange *
- Donnie Darko ***
- Reservoir Dogs ***
- Pulp Fiction *
- Elephant **
- Requiem for a Dream ***
- Fight Club ***
- Boondock Saints *
-
Drama:
- American History X ***
- 25th Hour ***
- The Graduate *
- One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest **
- Fatal Attraction *
- The Shawshank redemption *
- American Beauty ***
War:
- The Great Escape *
- M*A*S*H *
- Apocalypse Now ***
- Schindler’s List *
- Saving Private Ryan *
After going through the list of movies I made up, I’ve decided to use the following genres and if I’ve got too many, then maybe cut from them…But they’ll be the foundation for this piece: horror, romance, cult/indie, drama and possibly action. There’s a pretty good selection there, though I’ll definitely have to separate drama and cult/indie and put western, romance and horror in between them, because those first three genres could have similar sounding sections. Horror, romance and action are very disctinctive too, so they shouldn’t prove to be too much of a problem. I’ve narrowed down my movie choices too.
Horror: Carrie or Shining (Go Stephen King!)
Drama: American History X, 25th Hour (Yes, Edward Norton is my favourite actor) or American Beauty
Romance: Definitely Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Cult/Indie: Requiem for a Dream, Fight Club, Reservoir Dogs or Donnie Darko. Probably one of the first three.
Action: Spartacus, Gladiator, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers or Braveheart.
As for movie scenes…
Carrie: The ending scene as she burns everything down.
The Shining: When Jack Nicholson cracks and does the “Heeeeeere’s Johnny!” thing.
American History X: Ending scene. If I can watch it without crying.
25th Hour: Final scene
American Beauty: final scene as well…I’m noticing a trend here
Breakfast at Tiffany’s: Once again…The ending.
Requiem for a Dream: …The ending…
Fight Club: Undecided. Either the ending, or the realization.
Reservoir Dogs: I’m tempted to do the gasoline and ear scene, though I think I like “Stuck in the Middle with You” in that scene too much to want to change it…Maybe the showdown between Mr. Pink and Mr. White, or one of the action scenes.
Donnie Darko: Not too sure…Though it’d be cool if it involved Frank the bunny.
Spartacus: Not sure…It’s been a while since I’ve seen it.
Gladiator: One of the arena scenes
Lord of the Rings: The battle at Helm’s Deep
Braveheart: battle scene
I’ve looked into finding some of the scenes on youtube too…For those of you who haven’t seen these movies and don’t want the endings spoiled, I’d suggest you not watch these videos, because they’re kind of a giveaway of the endings and such.
Carrie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i342kN_gNlw&feature=related
The Shining: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMoEWx9w2ag&feature=related
American History X: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPjJtdqK7UM&feature=related
25th Hour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlBBixM2umw
American Beauty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH_CfkNUC_g&feature=related
Breakfast at Tiffany’s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTJu9VY1d6M
Requiem for a Dream: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuzNohk5cYw
Fight Club: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHLYdqihlkA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbTIvu34uz0&feature=related
Reservoir Dogs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTf2En-7LhY
Lord of the Rings: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSucQvMTo-M
So this is how I brainstorm…And end up with 4 pages of stuff for a blog entry. At least I’ve got the basics planned out!
Jess
No comments:
Post a Comment