Could you imagine Fight Club ending with a song other than Pixies’”Where is my Mind?” The Wayne’s World car sequence without Queen’s legendary “Bohemian Rhapsody?” Titanic wouldn’t be the same without the Celine Dion classic “My Heart Will Go On.” Great flicks rarely lack remarkable songs, scores, or soundtracks. They simply go hand in hand.
Take Hans Zimmer, for example. A renowned film composer and music producer, some movies he has scored include The Lion King, The Dark Knight, Inception, and 12 Years a Slave. John Williams, known as one of the greatest film composers of all time, has enhanced the silver screen with his works like the original Jaws, Superman, Star Wars, and Harry Potter themes.
It’s impossible to forget the chilling pitches and sounds leading up to the most intense scenes in horror films. Although I am not a huge fan of submitting my mind to the trepidation of scary movies, the creative aspects of such pictures captivate me. The melodies identified with The Exorcist, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday The 13th will never fail to be haunting.
On a more pleasant note, I recently watched Palo Alto, which was director Gia Copolla’s first feature length film and shown at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. It received generally positive reviews from critics on websites such as Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. I’ve seen many people express their dislike for the movie, but I personally felt Palo Alto to be quite praiseworthy.
Featuring a diverse cast of both young and old talent, it brings you into the world of tumultuous adolescent life – parties, lust, love, rebelling, and decision-making. There are some occasional lighthearted moments, but the thematic elements are mostly dark. What is April (Emma Roberts) to do when Mr. B (James Franco), her soccer coach, makes sly advances amidst her search for male attention? How can Fred (Nat Wolff) handle his destructiveness and insensitive womanizing? Will impressionable Teddy (Jack Kilmer) allow his friend’s impulsiveness to influence his own actions?
In addition to how I enjoyed the acting and cinematography, I fell in love with the music that accompanied different scenes. The drama was scored by Devonté Hynes (also known as Dev Hynes and/or Blood Orange), a British singer, songwriter, composer, and producer who has worked with artists such as Florence The Machine, Solange Knowles, and Sky Ferreira. I felt that his compositions helped to highlight the changing tides of various feelings that arose throughout the teenagers’ experiences. In juxtaposition with the visuals, the score did a significant job of bringing forth necessary emotion.
Note that a score and a soundtrack are similar, but there is a key distinction. A score is original and exclusively written for a movie. A soundtrack can consist of music that was in the score and also pre-existing music that wasn’t specifically made for the movie. On the Palo Alto soundtrack, there are songs by Robert Schwartzman, Jason Schwartzman’s solo project Coconut Records (Gia Copolla’s cousins – talk about a talented family!), Blood Orange, and more. My absolute favorite track was the movie’s version of “Rock Star”, performed by Nat Wolff. It plays after the final gripping scene as the credits roll and adds the perfect finishing touch.
In conclusion, music is widespread outside of just your favorite radio station or iPod. There are a multitude of career opportunities, film composing being just one. Practically any scene can gain additional complexity from the right piece, composition, or song. Who knows? The end result could be something as unforgettable as “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” at the end of The Breakfast Club.
Written by: Caitlin Usui