Intrada Soundtrack Forum

Besides those I know on this site, I've found that there isn't a single person out there that have an appreciation for film scores. Do any of you ever feel a tad irritated that so few out there seem to recognize the power and pure enjoyment film scores bring?
Yeah, I know... a lame post but really.
Thanks all

Well, I was listening to film music and a lot of other interesting, unusual stuff before the internet, there was more of an isolation then. Have never really felt like an outcast as I've never had any interest in trying to fit in. I've always felt best and most comfortable when I'm alone. I'm my own best company.

<----- Although I do enjoy stimulating conversation with Frankie The Cat, whom my brother and I care for as if we're her own personal servants.

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"I used to worry about losing my mind. Now that I've lost it I don't worry about it anymore." -Wavy Gravy

As a great man once said "I never want to belong to a club that would want me to be a member"..

Ford A. Thaxton

Absolutely.

I've always felt that if only more people appreciated film music, it wouldn't feel like a dying breed - or, put another way, less composers/producers would settle for the pasty, colorless noise that's so woefully common in TV nowadays, if not so much in film. You know what I'm talking about, the big musical "meh" that's just too easy to tune out and forget it's there.

Nor would there be any nail-biting whenever I buy that soundtrack CD, hoping my favorite cue from the score made the cut, because instrumental soundtracks would be in enough demand that production companies and their labels would finally get a clue and pack the discs as full as they could get. No more of this "selections from the score" crap. People who prefer vocal soundtracks don't realize just how spoiled they are,* because it's almost a given that every song from the movie, and then some, is going to be on the CD. No nail-biting for them.

It's pretty bad. I think it hit me just how bad it is when I was speaking to a friend some months back, and I brought up the Back to the Future score. And I kid you not - he said he couldn't remember any of the music from BTTF at all. Not even the main theme. And he's seen the movie probably as many times as I have (which is enough to have the whole flick absorbed into my consciousness and become one with my being). That completely horrified me: of course there are plenty of instances in cinema where the composer just phoned it in or was afraid to make a statement, resulting in the music passing beneath the audience's notice, but BTTF's score is the type that jumps out and grabs you and says, "Hey! I'm here! Pay attention to me!"

Mind you, I'm well aware of the basic claim that: Good score = pushing an audience's emotion without being noticed; Bad score = gets noticed and sticks out like a sore thumb... but it's really not as simple as just that. Would the scene in Return of the King where the Rohirrim charge the orcs at Pelennor Fields be considered badly scored, just because the violin rendition of the Rohan theme was shattering my heart to pieces, and I happened to know right from the very moment I first saw that in the theater that it was the music doing that to me? Of course not.

Huh. I kind of went off-topic there. But yes - appreciating film, and especially TV, scores has seemed to prove the way of the outcast to me. It's an awful, lonely feeling when you try to convey this sort of stuff to an everyday consumer, only to have them go into "smile and nod" mode - and that's if they have the courtesy to pretend they're listening to you.

*I don't say they're "spoiled" to be mean-spirited - I mean it all in good humor.

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My Holy Grails: 1. DuckTales (Ron Jones/Tom Chase & Steve Rucker)
2. DragonBall Z (Shunsuke Kikuchi), 3. DragonBall GT (Akito Tokunaga), 4. Pocket Monsters (Shinji Miyazaki), 5. A Goofy Movie (Carter Burwell, reworked by Don Davis)

I've never known any fans of film music personally. Sure there are those who recognize a theme here, a theme there from this movie or that but that's pretty much common for any type of music.

I used to lament that I don't know anyone personally but time has taught me that ultimately, I'm glad I've never met any fans. I think I would regret that far more, if online personas are anything to go by. If they aren't, then I really wouldn't want to because if behaving a certain way online is just for the sake of it while behaving in the 'real' world is different, why would anyone want to meet liars and phony people, right?

If they are indeed the same online and off, then there are a great deal of people online that I would never want to come across offline.

In my experience, it is the hardcore American football fans that you should generally stay away from in person. The show "The League" is true in many ways.

Well that lifted my spirits a bit. I get a lot of "You've NEVER heard of..." (insert mainstream musician/band), resulting in a sinking feeling as if I have three heads. Then again, if I turn it around, nobody ever knows the name of a single composer other than perhaps John Williams. So many don't even know what a score is. I grin and mentally shutter when asked "You mean you can listen to the music without watching the movie?". Yes people, in many cases you can! Good grief

Hm... as I listen to a score I regret that just because I thoroughly enjoy them doesn't mean I have a clue about anything other than bass/guitar. Do any of you have moments when you wonder what kind of instrument(s) created a sound/s?

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"I used to worry about losing my mind. Now that I've lost it I don't worry about it anymore." -Wavy Gravy

No, not socially. I just happen to have an interest in something that is very "niche".

When that is said, I do think there's a curious paradox here:

Most of us are kinda "proud" to have found this little niche for our own, going against the mainstream and identifying with something that is special. Being part of an exclusive group, in a way. On the other hand, we also want more respect and knowledge about the artform in the population at large. I've always found that a fascinating aspect of film score fan culture.

I'm reminded of how much I despised the football players and cheerleaders in high school. Supposedly the football players were role models for the younger kids, to me they were just a bunch of punks. I remember seeing three of them sniffing glue together in the locker room. The cheerleaders were a bunch of teenaged whores. Googled the name of the most popular one, still lives about four blocks from the school, probably drinks like a fish and pops more pills than Rush Limbaugh, depressing. Googled the name of the schoolyard bully a few days ago, same deal. Just for the hell of it I called him from California and woke him up at 3:30 am east coast time. There ya go prick, a little payback 40 years later.

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"I used to worry about losing my mind. Now that I've lost it I don't worry about it anymore." -Wavy Gravy

Well.... I'm lucky to have TWO friends who are both die-hard film score fans! My best friend I met in a local record store(In the soundtrack section, of course) nearly 30 years ago. My other friend, as it turns out, lived about three blocks away from me for 15 years before I ever knew he existed! One day, I happened to pick up a copy of our local "arts" magazine, and saw that they had a classical music CD review column. I started reading it and was SHOCKED that he was reviewing one of the latest Goldsmith scores(Naturally giving it a very positive review)! I said, "I have to meet this guy!", and 14 years later, we're still great friends.
Unfortunately, I don't see either as often as I wish(Which would be every day, if I had MY way), but my best friend lives 50 miles away, and my other friend, while he moved only 7 miles away, has things he has to do... and both are married and have successful careers.... have I strayed from the subject?

Addressing the point about feeling like an "outcast".... Yes, I DO feel like an outcast, but not because of my love of film scores.
Actually, I'm lucky that I love nearly ALL kinds of music, especially rock. And while my CD collection IS about 95% film scores, the other 5% is rock, classical, heavy metal, World, big band and a lot of New Age music.... I'm no snob when it comes to music, so when I talk to other friends about music, I can always relate to THEIR tastes in music.
As I once said to an ex-girlfriend... "Is that long enough for ya?".

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I-love-Goldsmith, yes-I-do...
I-love-Ber-nard-Herr-mann-too! EVERYBODY SING!!!

Considering a lot of today's popular music is garbage, The fact that I love to listen to film scores makes me feel more enlightened than like an outcast. Besides with a good number of scores being sold in limited quantities, I like the idea of being a member of this minority group.