Any movie buff can recognize that a movie is much more than just dialogue and moving images. Movies have several essential layers that help the audience feel present and immersed in the story such as graphics, cinematography, acting – the list goes on. An essential factor in all films (since practically the beginning of films) is the music that accompanies the story and the atmosphere of the film. This point is especially true in the case of certain genres that require a lot of detail to build the world they are set in, such as westerns, or horror, or science fiction.
That said, genres like westerns and horror movies have an easier time creating the right score because they exist in past, modern, or near future timelines. This means creators can be more confident in their music choices because they have an idea on what to base them on. However, in science fiction, the score is usually written to depict a world set in the distant future, adding an extra level of difficulty to the task.
Based on how much the sound of music has evolved over the past 50 years, we can assume that there is no surefire way of knowing what the music of the future will sound like. Nevertheless, successfully creating music that sounds futuristic or otherworldly is essential to the credibility of the world in science fiction. Of course, science fiction films made in different decades generally reflect in some way the music or technology of the period they belong to, but it is how they represent space or futuristic concepts by those means that set them apart.
Consider iconic science fiction films with effective scores, such as the Star Wars movies, Back to the futureand interstellar. Although the first films in the Star Wars franchise older and probably had less access to today’s standard of futuristic sounds, the score in these movies set the tone for the entire franchise and became a staple of the world. In Back to the future, the greatness of the score suggested both adventure and the involvement of something big, like time travel. In Interstellars score, Hans Zimmer achieves the exciting feeling of living in space through the building pace of an organ playing.
Of course, these are just a few examples of films that figured out how to reflect the concepts of science fiction through music, a craft that notable composers like Bernard Herrmann have mastered. Capturing the essence of excitement, expansiveness and mystery is clearly what matters to science fiction scores and when sci-fi soundtracks fail to do that, it can take viewers completely out of the story.
There are plenty of examples of science fiction movies failing to live up to audience expectations for music, such as the 1999 film deep blue sea, or the 2000 Mission to Mars movie. While the scores for these movies were certainly not bad, they didn’t reflect much of a sci-fi tone. Deep blue sea mixes sci-fi and horror genres, so while the score is fine, it mostly reflects the tension and terror in the movie, rather than the alien element – not to mention those LL Cool J originals in the movie . The Mission to Mars score was just too light and sounded like it would suit a Disney movie better. Neither film received very good reviews, and the music undoubtedly played a part in that.
The most complicated part of making a sci-fi movie isn’t just making sure the music reflects the tone and setting of the story, it’s creating a score that appropriately reflects what happens in the plot. . Sci-fi storylines often contain a range of emotions because of anything that would involve space exploration, time travel or advanced technology. In any story where the characters explore the unknown or a new development, there is a combination of excitement, fear and hope. All of these emotions waver and grow throughout the film, depending on the character’s experiences at each moment.
When a science fiction movie can properly create or select a music compilation that represents the movie’s world, characters, tone, and events, it becomes a common thread that holds the story together. Like a piece of fabric, films are several components strung together to make a bigger, better whole. Furthermore, just as different fabrics must be woven in certain patterns to achieve a certain style, the scores in certain film genres must be approached differently to capture the desired structure of that genre. When a single thread is loose, misplaced or torn in the whole, it can distort or unravel the desired shape of the whole. Music is an essential thread in any film, especially in complex genres such as science fiction.
The score of a science fiction film can help determine whether a film set can go down in history in the future, as it helps bring the world to life. It makes viewers feel like they can actually experience a glimpse of a world that should be unattainable for them, giving it a real magical effect when done successfully. Ultimately, when a score is played on a dark screen with nothing but stars and words and still evokes a sense of excitement or mystery in viewers, it speaks for itself about the ability of a strong science fiction score.
Source: Wikipedia – Science Fiction Film
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