Comments on: Ennio Morricone Says “The Standard Of Composition For Film Has Deteriorated”

By: Ann

Ann — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

Morricone\’s comments on electronic music\’s sfx flattening quality, like CG virtual reality\’s flattening didactic should e listened to: the real problem is the moderate talent(s) of major musicians, who aren\’t film-makers, and producer-directors who\’ve never studied music history: look to Sound — central prose theme with non-digital guitar: Edelweiss: the most sucessful one in movie history sums up the entire film\’s theme, romance & drama. It\’s still the most popular live-action 4-quad in history.

By: Christopher Howard

Christopher Howard — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

Ennio Morricone is the benchmark for movie scoring.

By: Ken

Ken — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

Not sure you could call it a score but the very basic piano music in Blood Simple has stuck with me all these years, very effective, perfect.

By: doris

doris — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

Also, most big-name score composers are supposedly extremely hands-off, subcontracting the lion\’s share of the work (heroic main themes aside) to underlings. No wonder it all sounds so flat and joyless.

By: Jack

Jack — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

I don\’t think he\’s doing the new generation a disservice by pointing out that there exists a certain laziness in composing purely via electronic means. At a certain point, hearing everything in 4/4 at a consistent forte does actually sound similar. Morricone\’s scores utilized things like key changes, tempo changes, and time changes as critical moments to elicit emotion through his cue points rather than rely on visual cues. Personally, I think it speaks to a trend of giving the visual aesthetic way too much emphasis in modern film while sound has become an afterthought to most filmmakers

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

Music is part of a film, and I agree that allowing music to develop with the story works better to develop the story than a 20sec piece. Also, Andrew – A good score doesn\’t have to be memorable. Are some of the best films memorable? A good score should integrate with the film, and some films are made around the score but I think most modern film scores are too melodic. This is probably why we remember them, but does not make them good. Much like Taylor Swift.

By: gollasteve

gollasteve — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

It seems to me that perhaps those composers making their living composing for American movies have become complacent as the film industry has gotten lazy.
Composers outside of the industry are doing some very interesting things. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis come to mind. The score composed for the films," The assignation of Jesse James by the Coward Bob Ford"," The Road" and " No Country for Old Men" are brilliant.

By: Alan

Alan — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

Mr. Morreconi sure does know what he is talking about, after more than 60 years of composing all types of film scores coming up to more than 300. What Mr. Morreconi is objecting about is what has been happening in the last 15 years regarding film scores. Right now we have few film composers working in film today who are the equivalent of such greats as John Barry, Jerry Goldsmith, Bernard Herrmann, Max Steiner, Henry Mancini, Elmer Bernstein, Miklos Rozsa, Dimitri Tiomkin and many others. The only recent film composer of the last 20 years whose film music I have enjoyed are Danny Elfman, David Arnold, James Horner, Bryan Tyler, Alan Silvestri but unfortunately that\’s a short list compared with 30 years ago. Now today\’s film music is not memorable and is time filler. It\’s not like the old days when we moviegoers liked the score from a film and bought the soundtrack of the score after leaving the theater.

By: ZIMMER DOWN

ZIMMER DOWN — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

DOWN WITH ZIMMER!

By: doris

doris — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

Mark — Jonny Greenwood seems to be the most intriguing scoresman at the moment. Clint Mansell also has what I\’d call "chops". In a synth-saturated John Carpenter ripoff audioscape, it\’s rather nice to hear real instruments being put to use.

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

He\’s not wrong. Where is today\’s equivalent of Miklós Rózsa, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Basil Poledouris?

By: Quiet Wyatt

Quiet Wyatt — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

He\’s right. Scores used to help define a movie (The Godfather, Jaws, The Third Man, Psycho, etc…). Now it all just sounds like moody filler music. Even Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, contemporaries known for their theme-y scores, have abandoned it for forgettable background mood music.

By: doris

doris — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

\’tis true, Andrew. Are filmmakers using overbearing scores to compensate for stodgy performances and lacklustre visuals?
Carter Burwell\’s work with the Coens is perfect — subtle, unobtrusive, adding a little hint of spice without becoming distracting.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

My observation is that many modern movies are submerged in a never ending musical score that is ceaseless and unrelenting. The overuse of music began, I think, with "Star Wars" (1976). And much of what we hear is unmemorable, just loud and overdone.

By: doris

doris — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

motion pictures are in a sorry state, frankly.

By: Felip

Felip — Sun, 22 May 2016 04:52:31 +0000

"Declining standards… Budget constraints… Cost cutting…" There\’s an echo of Rick Baker\’s sentiments from last week.