Hearing a film more than seeing it.

[Mike]

Why Hollywood?

by Alan Williams

It has been said that in a motion picture, 70% of the information comes from the picture itself and 30% of the information comes from the elements of sound, which include sound effects and music. When it comes to emotion however, only 30% of the emotion comes from the visual images and 70% of the emotion comes from the sound and music.

When I was a young boy I always knew I wanted to be in the movies. Although what I really wanted was to be heard in the movies. Since deciding to become a film composer, I have always been asked the same question: “why do you want to write music for movies? The answer, though it has different facets, has remained the same.

Of all of the languages in the world, I believe music is the most universal and most influential. It is the only language that universally can move us to laugh, cry, rejoice, and cower in fear and even triumph in victory. Music has the power to stir emotions like no other.

Now think about motion pictures. Forget about the actual size of the screen, but film itself is one of the only events where all of reality is suspended for 2 hours as we sit in a darkened theater. The images move us to tears, characters cause us to cheer for joy and the celluloid stories thrill us beyond measure.

It has been said that in a motion picture, 70% of the information comes from the picture itself and 30% of the information comes from the elements of sound, which include sound effects and music. When it comes to emotion however, only 30% of the emotion comes from the visual images and 70% of the emotion comes from the sound and music.

If you ever have the chance to watch a movie without music, you will notice how much emotion is lacking. The images many times, seem flat even lifeless. Then as if new life is breathed into them, music lifts those same images to new emotional and dramatic heights.

If there is any doubt of the impact of music in the movies, try and imagine the terror of the movie “Jaws†without that famous 2-note motive in the low strings. How scary is “Psycho†without Bernard Herman’s shrieking violins? Would we cheer as loud without the trumpets of “Rocky� Would the beauty of the desert still feel the same without the epic score of “Laurence of Arabia�

Then there are the larger-than-life characters that are personified in their respective musical themes in “Star Wars†and “Indiana Jonesâ€. Would we actually believe that bicycles could fly without John Williams’ magical score to “E.T.â€?

Why Hollywood? Simple. There is no other forum for a composer today to write emotional, dramatic and influential music. That’s right I said influential. Movies are the operas of today. If Mozart were alive, I’m sure he would be writing for film.

All of the great composers have created their own visual images through music. First there was program music. Then there was music for the opera stage. Today, film is the composer’s canvas.

The concert hall is great but it’s no surprise that most of the Orchestras in the world have a better audience draw when they perform concerts of film music.

The music of cinema reaches the entire world. Not only the few who attend concerts are privy to this new music of our time. Now audiences of millions are reached through film music. Yes, influential!

I feel very lucky. Nearly every note of music I compose, is rehearsed, performed and recorded in state-of-the-art recording studios, by the world’s most renowned musicians.

I may only have a few weeks to compose the 50-65 minutes of music for a score, but all of those notes will actually be heard! I won’t have to imagine what the music sounds like. I will stand in front of a 90-piece orchestra and conduct my music. There is nothing more exhilarating. Only in Hollywood do you get that opportunity.

It is no wonder then, why I would choose Hollywood as my creative outlet for composing music. I love movies. I love the power of music. When the two are combined, the greatest emotional force is created. My passion for writing film music has become my reality. Sometimes I have to pinch myself and say, “I’m really in the movies!

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[Ombre Vivante]

Save my spot. Brb

[Floydaholic]

That's a very interesting read, thank you for composing it. I myself, would consider myself to be somewhat of a musical genious (not being arrogant here). I play the guitar, piano, and bass, and have written music on all of them. Less on the bass though.

But I find it alot more difficult to write orchestral music, because you are concentrating on and writing for many instruments, and you have to know what goes well with what. It is definately something that I would like to pursue in the future, if that is where I would still like to go.

[Ombre Vivante]

Ever since I watched Robert Bresson's Mouchette, I gained a significant appreciation for movie scores. I'm not gonna lie - I disliked the movie because it lacked the pacing that I think a music score would give it (it does have music, but it is very minimal), but, as usual, I remember things as being better than they are, so I ended up buying it One thing I hadn't realised is that sound in movies is more than just music that makes the pacing feel a little bit faster to the viewer, but also about the sound effects and spoken dialogue. I think the directors who did silent movies are vastly underrated nowadays because it's taken for granted that sound is in movies. It would be interesting to see a modern-day silent movie (that only has a music score).

[Tony Baloni]

Some movies have really great musical scores written for them. Like, I just watched the Hudsucker Proxy for the first time in a long time, and man, Carter Burwell is one hell of a composer! I do like movies that use songs as the score too, though, like Pulp Fiction. Cause if you know what you're doing when you pick the songs, they can go really perfectly with the film.

I think if I was ever going to do a Nautical film, I'd use a lot of Procol Harum songs..