Film and Gaming Music: 1990s to Present

Film and Gaming Music: 1990s to Present

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• While music in film has always been popular, music in computer games is a genre that has grown rapidly over the last two decades.
• New technologies in recording and consuming entertainment means that there is more room for musical innovation in new projects.
• The following slides show examples of film and gaming music soundtracks, listen to the songs and try to pick out features like dynamics, articulation, instrumentation, and style.

Film Music Since the 1990's

• Film music is extremely important in developing the atmosphere of scenes, accompanying scene changes, adding to the dramatic impact, and providing continuity across edits. The background music in a film is often referred to as underscoring. It adds to the mood of the scene, reinforcing dramatic developments and aspects of character.
• When the music is precisely synchronised with events on screen this is known as Mickey-Mousing (e.g. someone falling could use a descending scale followed by a cymbal crash), this is common in comedy films.
• Horror films often use atonal music, this music is not related to a tonic note and has no sense of key.
• Film music composers often use motifs to help build a sense of continuity. A motif is a recurring musical idea which is associated with a particular character or place. These can be manipulated to fit what's happening in the film.

John Williams - Harry Potter

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• John Williams' score for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is highly successful at capturing a sense of magic and wonder.
• Hedwig's Theme is the most famous piece from the soundtrack and is used as a motif throughout the film.
• Nimbus 2000 does an amazing job of capturing the fast pace and action in the film by using a fast tempo and moving quavers.

John Williams - Star Wars

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• The Star Wars films span over 25 years and are famous for their soundtracks.
• One of the most famous pieces of film music is the Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back, representing Darth Vader, the villain of the original trilogy of films. To represent this character, Williams uses minor harmonies and dissonance, and march rhythms to convey a sense of authority.
• This completely contrasts pieces such as Hedwig's Theme.

Hans Zimmer - Pirates of the Caribbean

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• Hans Zimmer is famous for composing many film soundtracks.
• He's a Pirate from Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean conveys a sense of adventure and drama. Harsh cymbal crashes, fast tempo and loud dynamics are used to represent the sea and life of a pirate.
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• This soundtrack contains a lot of pieces with sinister tones that are created using low notes and dynamics. These pieces help to demonstrate a sense of foreboding and evil.

Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight

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• Hans Zimmer also composed the soundtrack for the 2008 film, The Dark Knight.
• The Batman theme creates what Zimmer described as a "red herring", a kind of musical foreshadowing, which was played by a cello.
• Throughout Why So Serious, Zimmer uses razor blades on the instruments to create a demonic and twisted sound, reflecting the character of the Joker.
• Scenes featuring Batman often have a heroic brass theme being played.

Computer Gaming Music

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• Game consoles in the 1990's had only simple sound technologies. Because of this, the soundtracks needed to be simple and were often repetitive to save space on the disks and cartridges.
• Consoles and televisions are now more capable of giving a rich sound, leading to a growth in the computer gaming music genre.
• Video game music has diversified to the point where scores for games can be presented with a full orchestra or simple 8/16-bit chiptunes.

Winifred Phillips - Little Big Planet

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• Winifred Phillips is responsible for composing the soundtracks of the Little Big Planet games.
• Ziggurat Theme from Little Big Planet 3 conveys a sense of wonder and exploration, which fits well with the game.
• The piece is described as a complex classical fugue, incorporating an organic, world-music arrangement in support of an 18-voice women’s choir.

Harry Gregson-Williams - Metal Gear Solid

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• Metal Gear Solid 4 was released in 2008 with a soundtrack by Harry Gregson-Williams.
• There are two vocal themes on the soundtrack: Love Theme and Here's to You.
• The piece Old Snake is framed around the main character of the game. The piano-like style and range of dynamics create a reminiscent tone. Most, if not all, of the notes being used are within the range of notes available on older Nintendo consoles, acting as a nod to those who played the original Metal Gear Solid games.