FILM SCORE: Membangun Nuansa Lewat Suara
Today’s modern music industry has always been easily linked and continued along with other creative industries. In other words; music has already been an important element in creative industry. One of creative industries is motion pictures industries. By music, a movie would be more alive and interesting to watch. Just imagine, how could it be if we watch a film without music? It would be obviously boring, wouldn’t it?
A real form of the close linkage of music with movie is in the matter of film score. Unlike those of common music we always listen to, film score is an original music which is made by purpose of accompanying pictures or visual in a film. Its form maybe appeared in soundtrack, dialogue, sound effects, or even in just a piece of instrumental sounds combination that may boost dramatic nuance of particular scene. The form of film score of instrumental combination (without lyrics included) has been mostly found to the date.
Film Score had been existed ever since 1940’s, which was initiated by the development of film industry. In the beginning, film score is presented in the performance of live orchestra, which adorned soundless movies. The combination of two elements; visual and audio, was an extraordinary innovation during the times. The composition had been assumed as one integrated entity. There was no schism between what we are watching and what we are listening to. Even more, it had been a kind of dogma that the composition could bring people into a higher level in appreciating the movies. They could feel and experience more insightful. Film Score then increasingly had been developed since 1950’s, when the trend of transformation was occurred from soundless movies to movies with sounds, up to the date.
Besides its function of accompanying certain scene in movie, film score also can make real the concept or nuance of the movie concerned, as well as involve the watchers’ emotion to be carried away into the nuance through sounds. Certain concept or nuance established from film score can portray circumstances, location, times and emotions of characters within particular scene. If you ever had watched “Amélie”, surely you will be memorized on how its film score made you as if being in a city, which is as beautiful as Paris, the setting / location of the story of the movie. Or, even you might be drawn in the emotion of the leading character of Amelie Poulain, which starred by Audrey Tautou. No wonder, the movie was nominated in Oscar (2002) in category of Best Sound and was awarded the ‘Best Original Soundtrack of the Year’ in the World Soundtrack Award (2001).
A person/ composer that is responsible for writing a song for film score is named as “Music Supervisor”. Unlike those common musicians, Music Supervisor has always been putting her/himself as a musician who his/her work is made especially to complete contents of visual media. However, he/she would create/ compose music only for film/ movie, but also for TV program, advertisement campaign, theatres’ play etc.
During his/her creation/working process, he/she shall be responsible of completing what the director and producer wanted in terms of sounds. Usually, the three parties would organize a brain storming session to determine what kind of music best for completing the visual of movie they produced. Sometimes, a Music Supervisor is challenged to compose song/ music based on his/her own impression upon just the movie script (without watching the movie). Up to the music she/he wrote would be performed by orchestra, band, an instrumental solo performance, choir or single vocalist which is recorded by Sound Engineer.
There were big names of Music Supervisors, who had been famed through their extraordinary works, such as Hans Zimmer (“The Holliday”, “Inception”, “Sherlock Holmes”), Yann Tiersen (“Amélie”, “The Piano”, “Goodbye Lennin!”), Mychael Danna (“Little Miss Sunshine”, “Money ball”), Mark Mothersbaugh (“Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist”, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”) and many more.
From local music scene, there are many composers who deal with movie business as Music Supervisor. Among those names are Zeke Khaseli (“Janji Joni”, “Kala”, “Rumah Dara”), Mondo Gascaro (“Pintu Terlarang”) and a young composer Arya Prayogi (“Merantau”). The musics they created are also as excellent as those created by foreign composers. Just one exception; there shall be no many people who already noticed on their existence and contributions in “enlivening” those movies. Whilst, it is possible that one of the movies, which had involved them, could be your favorite one.
Should we become movie aficionados or even music lovers to appreciate their existence? In what way should it be? Just enjoy and listen to the music they created. Since, in fact, we could enjoy the film score without required to watch the movie. Since, although by just the music, we might be carried away into the nuances they created through sounds.
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