Sunday, April 17, 2016
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Post #"These go to eleven"- When Fiction and Nonfiction Collide, or The Very Real, yet Made Up Band, Spinal Tap
Many times works of fiction resemble real life situations. This is true in books and music. It is especially true in film however. One key example of this is the film This Is Spinal Tap.
Made in 1984 by director Rob Reiner, This Is Spinal Tap is what is described as a mockumentary film. This is a genre that dates back to the 1930s with shows such as Orson Welles' radio broadcast, The War of the Worlds and continues today with TV shows such as The Office and Parks and Recreation. This film is what really brought the mockumentary to the forefront as a legitimate genre. This film was made purely as a parody and satire of the life of rock bands living on the road and touring together and the lifestyles and situations that that brings with it. What makes this mockumentary even more unique is that many real life bands have commented how accurate the film portrays the rock music scene, especially in terms of touring.
The music in the film is just as real. The whole film centers around the band touring to promote their latest album Smell the Glove, which in turn serves as the film's retitled soundtrack, is as much as real as the band is. It is full of songs that parody the rock scene, such as "Gimme Some Money," a reference to the Grateful Dead's cover of The Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "Big Bottom," a reference to Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls." The whole soundtrack is full of these types of parodied titles and references to rock bands of the '60s and '70s. These songs are very well done and written too.
Overall, the film This is Spinal Tap is an important one in terms of music in film. It ushered in the mockumentary as a legitimate way to tell a story. It also used original music in a way that was not utilized before and has since been used in films such as School of Rock.
Made in 1984 by director Rob Reiner, This Is Spinal Tap is what is described as a mockumentary film. This is a genre that dates back to the 1930s with shows such as Orson Welles' radio broadcast, The War of the Worlds and continues today with TV shows such as The Office and Parks and Recreation. This film is what really brought the mockumentary to the forefront as a legitimate genre. This film was made purely as a parody and satire of the life of rock bands living on the road and touring together and the lifestyles and situations that that brings with it. What makes this mockumentary even more unique is that many real life bands have commented how accurate the film portrays the rock music scene, especially in terms of touring.
The music in the film is just as real. The whole film centers around the band touring to promote their latest album Smell the Glove, which in turn serves as the film's retitled soundtrack, is as much as real as the band is. It is full of songs that parody the rock scene, such as "Gimme Some Money," a reference to the Grateful Dead's cover of The Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "Big Bottom," a reference to Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls." The whole soundtrack is full of these types of parodied titles and references to rock bands of the '60s and '70s. These songs are very well done and written too.
Overall, the film This is Spinal Tap is an important one in terms of music in film. It ushered in the mockumentary as a legitimate way to tell a story. It also used original music in a way that was not utilized before and has since been used in films such as School of Rock.
Post #10- Woody Allen and Awkward Silence, or Films Without a Musical Score
This blog is all about music in film. But there is another dynamic in the film world in which to look at: movies with very little to no music.
Usually this tool of using no music is used for dramatic films and thrillers. Hitchcock's The Birds is one example of this as it employs mechanical bird sounds instead of a traditional musical score. More recently and famously was the Coen brothers film No Country for Old Men which does have music, but that music is only ever used for 16 minutes of the entire 122 minute long film.
One very different use of this tool is in the classic, Academy Award for Best Picture winner Annie Hall. This 1977 Woody Allen film is one of the very few comedies to not employ the use of a musical score. Many of Allen's films feature a lot of older music such as George Gershwin and also, very frequently, jazz music, as Allen is a very big fan of jazz. This film however has very little music outside of a few diegetic songs. This gives the film the realism and cerebralism it has. Many view the film as a psychoanalysis as Allen's character Alvy seems to narrate much of the film like a therapy session. The quiet moments of the film make it awkward for the protagonist and the audience alike.
Here is an example of one such awkward scenes with a lot of silence:
Usually this tool of using no music is used for dramatic films and thrillers. Hitchcock's The Birds is one example of this as it employs mechanical bird sounds instead of a traditional musical score. More recently and famously was the Coen brothers film No Country for Old Men which does have music, but that music is only ever used for 16 minutes of the entire 122 minute long film.
One very different use of this tool is in the classic, Academy Award for Best Picture winner Annie Hall. This 1977 Woody Allen film is one of the very few comedies to not employ the use of a musical score. Many of Allen's films feature a lot of older music such as George Gershwin and also, very frequently, jazz music, as Allen is a very big fan of jazz. This film however has very little music outside of a few diegetic songs. This gives the film the realism and cerebralism it has. Many view the film as a psychoanalysis as Allen's character Alvy seems to narrate much of the film like a therapy session. The quiet moments of the film make it awkward for the protagonist and the audience alike.
Here is an example of one such awkward scenes with a lot of silence:
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Post #9- "Once" a Singer Always a Singer, or Using Professional Singers in Films Centered Around Music
Whether to use professional singers or actors who can sing is a very interesting dynamic in the film industry. Some film actors, especially those that come from a theatre background, are very accomplished singers. However, there are many actors in the film industry that are not that great at singing. This issue has come up many times in the history of film. One notable example is that of the 1964 film My Fair Lady. Audrey Hepburn's singing voice was considered not good enough for the movie so the producers had Marni Nixon dub over the songs in the film.
There is a terrific example of the flip side of this dynamic from a little independent Irish film that came out in 2007. In an earlier post I gave my favorite winners for the Best Original Song Oscar. My number one choice was the song "Falling Slowly" from the film Once. The film is unique in the fact that the two leads were not professional actors, but instead professional musicians instead.
Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová play the unnamed characters of "Guy" and "Girl," respectively. Irglová, is a Czech singer and pianist. She joined the film when the director and writer, John Carney, was looking for a Czech singer for the role, as the original idea had Irish and Czech leads in mind. Hansard, an Irish musician and lead singer of The Frames, had worked with Irglová previously and brought her to the director, who immediately asked her to join onto the project as both a songwriter and lead actress. Hansard himself was actually not originally going to be in the film. He had worked with the director on the music for the film when the original star, Cillian Murphy, decided to pull out of the film. This departure led Carney to ask Hansard to step into the role, which he agreed to do.
Because they had worked together previously, the dynamic and chemistry of the Hansard and Irglová was incredible. This is something that is not always found with onscreen relationships and this helped make the film that much more realistic and musically good.
Here is a scene from the film that shows just how natural it is to use professional musicians as actors:
When Your Mind's Made Up - Once (2006) from spedkey on Vimeo.
There is a terrific example of the flip side of this dynamic from a little independent Irish film that came out in 2007. In an earlier post I gave my favorite winners for the Best Original Song Oscar. My number one choice was the song "Falling Slowly" from the film Once. The film is unique in the fact that the two leads were not professional actors, but instead professional musicians instead.
Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová play the unnamed characters of "Guy" and "Girl," respectively. Irglová, is a Czech singer and pianist. She joined the film when the director and writer, John Carney, was looking for a Czech singer for the role, as the original idea had Irish and Czech leads in mind. Hansard, an Irish musician and lead singer of The Frames, had worked with Irglová previously and brought her to the director, who immediately asked her to join onto the project as both a songwriter and lead actress. Hansard himself was actually not originally going to be in the film. He had worked with the director on the music for the film when the original star, Cillian Murphy, decided to pull out of the film. This departure led Carney to ask Hansard to step into the role, which he agreed to do.
Because they had worked together previously, the dynamic and chemistry of the Hansard and Irglová was incredible. This is something that is not always found with onscreen relationships and this helped make the film that much more realistic and musically good.
Here is a scene from the film that shows just how natural it is to use professional musicians as actors:
When Your Mind's Made Up - Once (2006) from spedkey on Vimeo.
Post #8- New Music in an Old Film, or Jay-Z's Hip Hop Soundtrack of The Great Gatsby
There have been a few different films based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. The most recent was in 2013 directed by Baz Luhrmann. As many know, the story of The Great Gatsby takes place in the the Roaring Twenties. It was a time full of flappers, speakeasies, bootleggers and so much culture.
What's different about this interpretation of the time period is that instead of the usual big band and swing, the music has been replaced with modern, yet re-imagined hip-hop and R&B.
While the use of modern music might seem out of place for a period film such as this, it actually works very well. Since a lot of modern hip-hip music and culture is about growing wealth, this particular film works well with it as it depicts the Twenties as a culture of prosperity and wealth itself. Songs such as Jay-Z's "100$ Bill," and Fergie, Q-Tip and GoonRock's "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)" have lyrics that depict the lavish lifestyle of Gatsby and his party patrons and the much of the modern hip-hop culture.
In contrast to some of the modern music, there are also covers of older songs that have been re-imagined to sound like older big band and swing classics. One such example is the Roxy Music song "Love is The Drug," performed by The Bryan Ferry Orchestra.
The film's soundtrack was in fact produced by Jay-Z. As a true mogul and figure in the hip-hop industry he was able to gather a group of musicians that is a great representation of the times. Artists such as Kanye West, Beyonce, Jack White, Lana Del Rey and Florence + The Machine.
Overall this Roaring Twenties period film works extremely well in its use of much more modern hip-hop and R&B in its soundtrack. Jay-Z compiled a line up of artists and songs that complement the characters and settings in the film.
Here's a playlist of the songs featured in the soundtrack:
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