Post #007- Charlie's Top Seven Bond Songs

The James Bond series has been around since 1962's Dr. No. Each of its 24 films has a unique theme song. Collectively these songs, as mentioned in the previous Oscars post, have created almost their own genre of music. I have decided to rank my top "007" of these themes.

1. On Her Majesty's Secret Service, John Barry- This is one of two, the other being the original James Bond Theme from Dr. No, to be completely orchestral. It is absolutely classic sounding Bond too. Part of this theme was even used in the first trailer for the 24th installment, Spectre
2. Skyfall, Adele- The first Bond theme to win an Oscar, it brought the series' themes back to the style they once were
3. Live and Let Die, Paul McCartney and Wings- This theme brought a new trend of bringing rock and roll into the series which brought a lot of commercial success to the films themes.
4. The Living Daylights, A-ha- This theme is perhaps the most upbeat of the series and very catchy 
5. A View to a Kill, Duran Duran- The first, and currently only Bond theme to hit number one in the US, this theme revitalized the rock and roll nature of the series themes
6. Goldfinger, Shirley Bassey- A staple of the Bond Themes, this is quintessential Bond and one of the most recognizable of the series
7. Nobody Does it Better, Carly Simon- Like Goldfinger, this is another fan favorite. It too was a top ten hit in both the UK and US.

There you have it, the top 007 Bond themes. To hear these, and the rest of the 24 themes (with the exception of one because apparently For Your Eyes Only has some crazy copyrighting) to the Bond franchise, take a gander at this week's Spotify playlist.

Post #6- An Analysis of Casablanca's famous La Marsillaise scene, or Diegetic vs non-diegetic music

Diegesis is a Greek word meaning the interior of a narrative fiction. In other words, the part of a story that is within the story and known to the characters of the story. 

When it comes to film music, diegetic music is music that comes from a source seen on the screen, such as a song playing on a radio or a character singing. Non-diegetic music on the other hand would be a score or a song played over a scene that is from an outside the scene source.

A terrific example of the two is in the film Casablanca. In the following, extremely famous, scene both diagetic and non-diegetic music is present:




At around the 20 second mark  we hear German soldiers begin to sing the song Die Wacth am Rhein while Rick and Laszlo are talking upstairs. Clearly disgusted by this, Laszlo comes downstairs and has the band play La Marsillaise, which the rest of the club join in and begin to sing and drown out the Germans. All of this music is diegetic as it is coming from a source directly shown on screen, the instruments playing and the people singing. At about the 2:12 mark we hear the orchestra playing part of the score. Starting here we are hearing non-diegetic music, as the orchestra is off the screen and not a part of the space of the story.

Hopefully this post has helped you understand the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic music.

Post #5- The Steven Spielberg/John Williams Dynamic, or Frequent Director/Composer Collaborations

Many people are aware of the very frequent, and very famous, collaboration of director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams. In fact, since 1974 Williams has composed all but two of Spielberg's films. This director/composer dynamic goes far beyond just Spielberg and Williams however. This is found all throughout cinema.

Hans Zimmer has composed many a number of films. He is well known in the film industry for his scores to many epic films including The Lion King, Gladiator, and Interstellar. He is also however, one of the most frequently used composer for a number of directors today. He has worked with Christopher Nolan on many films, including partial or total composing credit for all three films of The Dark Knight trilogy. Zimmer has also worked with Ron Howard on a number of films including those of the Robert Langdon series, The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. The Scott brothers, Ridley and the late Tony, have also employed Zimmer for a number of their separate films.

Another very famous collaboration of director and composer is that of director Tim Burton and Danny Elfman. Elfman has composed all but two of Burton's films. His unique and somewhat quirky sound lends itself well to Burton's unique and quirky visions. Their work together includes such classics as Batman, Beetlejuice, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.

These collaborations are nothing new either. Alfred Hitchcock employed composer Bernard Herrmann for a number of his films. Many of Hitchcock's classic horror and thriller moments have very distinct music that was done by Herrmann. In fact, possibly the most famous sound in cinema history, the violin screeches during the shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho was composed by Herrmann:


The list of director/composer collaboration goes on and on. I could make a completely separate post (which I might do later) with even more. Collaborations such as Michael Bay/Steve Jablonsky, the Swedish collaboration of Ingmar Berman/Erik Nordgren, or even the many collaborations with newest Oscar winner Ennio Morricone. This topic is an old one and something I'm sure will continue as long as friendships are made and movies with music are produced.

Post #4- Bringing History to the Silver Screen, or The Music of Wes Anderson Films

Wes Anderson is probably my favorite director. His films truly feel like works of art with very symmetrical framing for nearly every shot.

He also has a very distinctive type of sound for the music he uses, most of which comes from the 60s and 70s. Each film he makes also typically features one artist multiple times throughout the film.

Here's a look at just three of the films Anderson has directed and the way music plays into the experience of them all.

Rushmore

Rushmore features a lot of music from the British Invasion of the 1960s and 70s. Bands such as The Kinks, The Who, and famously ends with the Faces song "Ooh La La". This choice of genre appears to be a deliberate choice as the main protagonist, Max, exemplifies the rebellious nature that was perceived by many with the British Invasion.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

In The Life Aquatic, Seu Jorge, a Brazilian singer/songwriter, plays the role of a Brazilian singer who acts as the safety officer aboard Belafonte, Steve Zissou's research ship. Because of this, a lot of the music in the film is sung by Jorge himself, mostly David Bowie covers including "Life on Mars," "Five Years," and "Space Oddity." Other bands such as Sigur Rós, and The Stooges are also featured.

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Finally, in The Grand Budapest Hotel, Anderson departs from his typical musical style of using 60s and 70s genres. He instead utilizes music mostly scored by French film composer Alexandre Desplat. The film itself takes place mostly in a fictionalized 1930s Europe. Thus, Desplat's music consists of various traditional Eastern and Central European folk sounds. Desplat was awarded many accolades for his original score including the Academy Award and Grammy Award.

Here's a comprehensive playlist of the music featured in Anderson's films (SPOILERS possible):