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My friend and I were discussing whether or not movie directors treat music as a thematic element or even as a marker of authorial style.
- Or do they just treat music as something to farm out to composers.
It depends on the director. But I'd say the former is the norm, regardless of the style of music preferred by any given director.
John Williams' contribution to Steven Spielberg's or George Lucas' films is of enormous interest and importance to the directors, who believe in highly melodic scores that play a major, foreground role in the telling of the story.
On the other hand, while directors like Christopher Nolan or Denis Villeneuve seem also to value the role music plays, they clearly prefer music that is less melodic, more static and at times almost more of a "sound design".
Clint Eastwood is a musician himself, but prefers music to function in a very subtle way. Unlike those of Spielberg, rarely do Eastwood films contain scores that the casual viewer is likely to notice, regardless of who the composer is.
Th word is that Otto Preminger didn't care for music, and most composers disliked working with him. "He literally hates music" said Ernest Gold. ironically, many of Preminger's films had good (sometimes great) scores.
Alfred Hitchcock made sure his composers understood the tone of the film and what he was after aesthetically, and let them get on with it. But he was also willing to listen to Bernard Herrmann when Herrmann suggested an alternate approach to Hitchcock's initial idea's for Psycho's music. (However Hitchcock and Herrmann of course parted ways a few years later when Herrmann disregarded the director's instructions on Torn Curtain).
The process today is of course different than it was 30 or 40 years ago. Today, directors very much dictate the style of music they want from a composer -- right down to "temp tracking" the film with preexisting music. In decades past, the director was more willing to leave things up to the composer, and his directions were mostly limited to "spotting" (i.e. which scenes required music) and what the music should do, and how it should make the viewer feel, rather than what it should sound like.
Also, it is much easier for a composer to make changes to appease a director in today's age of "mock-ups" and keyboard demos, whereas in the "old days" a director didn't really know what the score was going to be like until the actual recording session.
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Posted: |
Mar 19, 2018 - 5:20 PM
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By: |
bobbengan
(Member)
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As a working director (okay, mostly paying the bills screenwriting, but whatever - do music videos count?) I can say emphatically that YES, music is integral, deeply thematic and of paramount importance to my films and my process as a storyteller. I often write scenes and set-pieces specifically with a mind toward allowing it to be a score-driven moment where the music can really sing, and in all of my early "look books" and pitch-decks I amass to share with my collaborators, there are always extensive notes about how the music will sound and function thematically in the film. This is as crucial as describing what the film will look like, what it's heart is, why I'm telling the story and so forth...
Hopefully in the next year or so my first feature will be getting off the ground (we're currently closing the deal on it and getting ready to go out for financing this summer) and if the fates are willing, the score sure as hell will be something for people to talk about around here... And will most likely be composed by John Scott.
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For some directors, music is extremely important. Some directors -- Tom Tykwer, the Wachowskis, Sergio Leone, for example -- even prefer to have the music written first. For other directors music is an afterthought, something thrown in to fix scenes here and there.
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Posted: |
Mar 20, 2018 - 11:37 AM
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By: |
SchiffyM
(Member)
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The problem with a question beginning with "do directors" is that there are many directors, and they do not think with a hive mind.
But yes, most directors spend a lot of time considering the music's thematic impact on their films, just as they do with lighting, costumes, lenses, performances, and on and on. Obviously, some directors are more expert at some of these elements than others.
As a member of the DGA (for directing exactly one thing ever!), I certainly treat music as a thematic element!
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The problem with a question beginning with "do directors" is that there are many directors, and they do not think with a hive mind.
"We are the DGA. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."
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