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There's no one answer for me.
Some scores are so ingrained with the film, I can't hear the music without seeing the scene (the JW classics like SW, Indy, Jaws etc, ditto the classic Goldsmith, Horner, Barry Morricone films) while others, like the John Scott scores I'm hearing for the first time and falling in love with now (Scarlet Tunic, Mill On The Floss) are all music-only experiences with an imagined scene or feeling in my head. Likewise, there are many Pino Donaggio scores to Italian films that I've never seen, so the music is the soundtrack to MY life (sorry for the cliche).
So (once again) Yeah but No 
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I tend to play 'psychic' on this topic, since I love film & music almost equally.
If I think its a film I won't care for, and the music will possibly be strong enough to
work on its own (Goldsmith!) I'll run the album and probably never even see the film.
If it looks like something that will be more integral, or a big FX tentpole type picture
where the score will be tied into things more (the Harry Potter films were perfect examples), I'll go the extra mile to see the film first. Godzilla is also a recent example for me - I read some of the comments that confirmed my fear - the album is just thrashing, big chord violence. After seeing the film and being able to connect images to it - cd is on the way to me soon.
Of course all that doesn't matter now, since most current scores are wallpaper, so when
I need a new ambient sound design record, buy current! lol
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Posted: |
Aug 6, 2014 - 8:57 AM
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By: |
Solium
(Member)
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There's no one answer for me.
Some scores are so ingrained with the film, I can't hear the music without seeing the scene (the JW classics like SW, Indy, Jaws etc, ditto the classic Goldsmith, Horner, Barry Morricone films) while others, like the John Scott scores I'm hearing for the first time and falling in love with now (Scarlet Tunic, Mill On The Floss) are all music-only experiences with an imagined scene or feeling in my head. Likewise, there are many Pino Donaggio scores to Italian films that I've never seen, so the music is the soundtrack to MY life (sorry for the cliche).
So (once again) Yeah but No
This pretty much sums it up for me!
One thing that always annoys me is when a track title insinuates an action sequence and it's not an action cue. That's always a let down.
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Well, it greatly depends on the music as well as the movie. There are soundtracks, where I don't have all that much interest in the movie, so I may not see the movie at all. There are also those where I listen to the score first, and see the movie later.
It also depends at the type of film score it is. Most film music is easily identifiable as film music when listening to it, and if it is unusual, I find it sometimes interesting to seek out the context when it was written and what it was written for.
It's the same with any other type of music,... finding out about when and why a particular composer chose to write a particular music at a certain moment in time can be very interesting and illuminating, though it is of course no prerequisite to enjoying the music in the first place.
I basically agree with Thor that when I listen to a soundtrack album, it has to stand on its own as a composition, but knowing about the movie it was written for certainly has an influence on my reception of the music.
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Posted: |
Aug 6, 2014 - 5:04 PM
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By: |
OnyaBirri
(Member)
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I would venture to guess that AT LEAST half of the scores that I have were acquired and listened to prior to seeing the movie. Sometimes I seek out the film right away; sometimes I eventually see it.
I love certain scores that were done for truly awful films. I will never see "Green Mansions." I don't want the film to ruin the album.
I was told to avoid seeing one particular film at all costs. I loved the score, and eventually broke down and couldn't help myself. It wrecked the score for me. I haven't played it in ages. Maybe some day.
I grew up in the LP era, so those giant colorful sleeves made an impression at a young age. If "Norwegian Wood" comes on the radio, I see the cover of "Rubber Soul" instantly. That's how I am wired. So of course film images will creep into the listening experience, whether I want them to or not.
My wife and I share similar taste in both films and music. When we see a film together, and we like both the film and the music, having the soundtrack is a way to relive that experience while I'm driving or at the computer.
Similarly, when I was growing up, I saw a lot of films with my family, most of whom are sadly gone now. The album is a way of bringing them back.
There are some films with iconic images that I wouldn't want to forget. "The Day The Earth Stood Still" is easily in my top 50 scores. I love the image of Gort walking out of the flying saucer. Why would I want to or need to forget that image when listening to the music?
I think that the best soundtrack/score albums work on their own terms plus convey something of the film. Others may disagree; this is my opinion. Of course, if I never see the film, it doesn't affect my perception of the music if I like the music.
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This happened to me with the main title of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA...I still find the Main Title music engrossing and even inspiring.
Same here. That retard with the stacatto horns just before the final statement of the Lawrence theme is one of the best movie music moments ever.
But it had even more punch after I saw the '89 restoration in 6-track Dolby SR. I had been playing the "Bell" label pressing of the LAWRENCE soundtrack, and the soon-to-come Varese re-release of that program really wasn't much of an improvement.
So, to this day, to really get that moment right I have to play the LaserDisc (since replaced by Blu-Ray) to get what I want out of that superb retard-and-theme (with cymbal crash, no less).
I did, however, ruin my first viewing of E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL by playing the LP for a month before I saw the movie. With John Williams putting some great custom arrangements together for the album, some of the musical moments in the movie didn't measure up for me. A hard-learned lesson.
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Posted: |
Aug 11, 2014 - 8:38 PM
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By: |
alexp
(Member)
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My first score that I listened to before watching the movie was Star Trek The Motion Picture. I saw the TV ads for the film and the theme was catchy. I was 9 years old at the time the movie came out in 1979. I asked my mother, who was the only parent raising me, if we could go and see it. She said maybe. We never did go, although, we did see The Black Hole sometime later (go figure).
By 1980, after getting my first record player, I was at a record store and I saw the LP of ST-TMP. The artwork looked irresistible, so, I bought it, not knowing who the composer was. I played the album and I enjoyed the majestic main theme--the first track on side 1 and the last track on side 2 got the most playing time. (This was how I discovered the music of Jerry Goldsmith, folks). There were a few more tracks on the album that I found interesting—Spock Walk and Leaving Drydock—and they were enough to give me an obsession on what the scope of this movie would be like. Looking at the photos of the film from the album’s disc sleeve would only intensify the obsession.
By 1983, my need would be fulfilled when I finally saw the movie, on my 12-inch TV, courtesy of an ABC-TV broadcast. The movie was entertaining in a visual kind of way and it was interesting to see how the music that I listened over the years was used in the film.
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