Music In Film
So I've had a song stuck in my head for a couple weeks now, more on that later. The source of this was a movie that Eden and I watched recently. It got me thinking today about how powerful the association can be between songs and the movies they're placed in. I don't mean orchestral scores but primarily popular music that is played over or incorporated into a scene in a film. For example, if I mention You've Lost the Loving Feeling or Take My Breath Away to any other child of the 80s, they'll probably know I'm talking about Top Gun. There are three song and film combinations that resonated the most with me. I've linked each scene below. I warn you, especially on the third link, spoilers abound.
1) Sister Christian by Night Ranger from Boogie Nights
I've always liked the song but the correlation between the build up of the drums and guitar and the subtle build up in tension during the scene is amazing. You can sense the scene building into something and you know things are going to get out of control fast. I always loved Mark Wahlberg in this movie but this scene truly shows off how great the acting was overall. John C Reilly, Thomas Jane and Alfred Molina all play their roles perfectly. It's great to watch Thomas Jane slowly become more and more unraveled while the other two become more and more uneasy. Granted, the action doesn't really go down until Jessie's Girl starts playing, but Sister Christian always resonated more strongly for me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVaX7hPacIU
2) Stuck In the Middle With You by Stealer's Wheel from Reservoir Dogs
This is a much less subtle scene to say the least. I can't even begin to explain how much this scene affected me. Anyone who has seen this movie knows this scene. I simply refer to it as the ear scene. I'm sure like me, anyone that's seen this can't possibly listen to the song without thinking about this sequence. Oddly enough, beyond the content I think it was the direction that stood out to me in this scene. At the pivotal moment, Tarantino cuts away and focuses on a doorway for about 12 seconds. Like a carwreck the viewer naturally wants to see what's going on but internally you're also happy you can't see anything. The screams over the music are quite enough. I also love the follow shot and natural fade in and out of the music as Michael Madsen goes out to his car and back. In regards to the content of the scene, despite appearances, Michael Madsen had great difficulty with the contents of the sequence and was reportedly very uncomfortable shooting the scene. On the other hand, Kirk Baltz, the cop, was so invested in his role that he asked Madsen to drive around for a while while he was locked in Madsen's trunk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awMQC0-6RTM
3) Three Little Birds by Bob Marley from I Am Legend
This is the song I mentioned earlier that was stuck in my head. I have to tread lightly here. The movie is current so a lot of people reading this haven't seen it. For those who have seen it, you know exactly what scene I'm talking about. They play the song a few times throughout the movie, but in this particular sequence, it's just Will Smith singing it. What follows shortly after, is a single shot for 42 seconds that is easily one of the most emotional sequences I've seen in any recent film. It's funny to think after watching such an amazing performance that we all laughed back when people first started to talk about Will Smith as a serious actor. What, the Fresh Prince act? Well act he does, arguably better than any other big name action star of the day.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rmNuVw3mTZI
1) Sister Christian by Night Ranger from Boogie Nights
I've always liked the song but the correlation between the build up of the drums and guitar and the subtle build up in tension during the scene is amazing. You can sense the scene building into something and you know things are going to get out of control fast. I always loved Mark Wahlberg in this movie but this scene truly shows off how great the acting was overall. John C Reilly, Thomas Jane and Alfred Molina all play their roles perfectly. It's great to watch Thomas Jane slowly become more and more unraveled while the other two become more and more uneasy. Granted, the action doesn't really go down until Jessie's Girl starts playing, but Sister Christian always resonated more strongly for me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVaX7hPacIU
2) Stuck In the Middle With You by Stealer's Wheel from Reservoir Dogs
This is a much less subtle scene to say the least. I can't even begin to explain how much this scene affected me. Anyone who has seen this movie knows this scene. I simply refer to it as the ear scene. I'm sure like me, anyone that's seen this can't possibly listen to the song without thinking about this sequence. Oddly enough, beyond the content I think it was the direction that stood out to me in this scene. At the pivotal moment, Tarantino cuts away and focuses on a doorway for about 12 seconds. Like a carwreck the viewer naturally wants to see what's going on but internally you're also happy you can't see anything. The screams over the music are quite enough. I also love the follow shot and natural fade in and out of the music as Michael Madsen goes out to his car and back. In regards to the content of the scene, despite appearances, Michael Madsen had great difficulty with the contents of the sequence and was reportedly very uncomfortable shooting the scene. On the other hand, Kirk Baltz, the cop, was so invested in his role that he asked Madsen to drive around for a while while he was locked in Madsen's trunk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awMQC0-6RTM
3) Three Little Birds by Bob Marley from I Am Legend
This is the song I mentioned earlier that was stuck in my head. I have to tread lightly here. The movie is current so a lot of people reading this haven't seen it. For those who have seen it, you know exactly what scene I'm talking about. They play the song a few times throughout the movie, but in this particular sequence, it's just Will Smith singing it. What follows shortly after, is a single shot for 42 seconds that is easily one of the most emotional sequences I've seen in any recent film. It's funny to think after watching such an amazing performance that we all laughed back when people first started to talk about Will Smith as a serious actor. What, the Fresh Prince act? Well act he does, arguably better than any other big name action star of the day.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rmNuVw3mTZI