h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What makes a movie great?

Good script? Sure. Good acting? Certainly. Good direction, cinematography, photography, casting, production and editing? Indubitably. But there's something more. For my money at least - and maybe there are people who disagree - the final element is a good score.

A movie is dead in the water without a soundtrack; it seems stale and bland. Moreover, a good score - like fancy special effects - may cover a multitude of sins, and unlike the special effects, a good score can be removed from its context and enjoyed as a well-composed and evocative piece of music in its own right (or in many cases, stuck on the trailer for a completely different film).

A bad score on the other hand is a terrible thing. The one that immediately springs to mind is the incomprehensible choice of The Alan Parson's Project (now more famous for being the name of Dr Evil's plan to build a Death Star) to score the medieval fantasy adventure, Ladyhawke. Rutger Hauer snarls, Matthew Broderick goons and a young Michelle Pfeiffer is just plain radiant. The leads are well cast: Broderick is a convincing charming scoundrel, while Hauer and Pfeiffer as a man who becomes a wolf by night and Pfeiffer as a woman who is a hawk by day are superbly lupine and aquiline respectively. And then there's the score.

When I think dark medieval fantasy adventure, twinkly, electronic prog-rock is not what springs to mind. Worse yet, it intrudes on the film at large, in a way that a good score shouldn't.

Anyway, the point of all this is that I'm going to write a series of articles - if I can be bothered - on the great composers of celluloid music, beginning with Joseph LoDuca (not because he's the best, but because he's fairly quick to do; I envisage Ennio Morriconne taking longer to research).

The Prophet

I think you're absolutely right! The music makes a thriller eurm... thrill (?), for example.
If you put off the sound when watching a scary movie, it has no effect any more...

Say, what about Badelamenti (you know, the Lynch-composer) or this guy who wrote the music for the Trois Couleurs - movies of Kieslowsky?
That might be interesting to do too..
(just a thought)

Well, if you're interested, I've turned this into an official University of Life Project. The home page is at http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A579008

I don't suppose you know much about music? I need someone who can more adequately than I describe particular sections of scores for the project, in addition to people willing to research and write about the composers.

The Prophet.

I read it (more or less), although I have no idea what a 'University of Life Project' might be... I am fairly new to the h2g2 "community", so...

About my knowledge of mysic : it depends entirely on what kind of music you're talking about. I've spent 14 years of my life so far playing the classical guitar, also about 7 years of piano lessons, I've played the recorder for years in a quartet (is this the correct word in English?), I've had lessons in history of classical music for a couple of years (but it's a long time ago) and I know some things about jazz... But if you are looking for someone who can give lyrical descriptions of a specific kind of music, I don't know if you're at the right address... English is only my third language and it is not easy for me to write fluently. Another problem is the possibility that I simply don't know the music you are referring to. Of course I could go get it in the record library, but I don't know if that would be sufficient for you.

by the way : isn't John williams also the composer of the music for the Deer Hunter? Or am I totally wrong?..

He may well be; he's a very busy man. I think I need - if I haven't done so - to link to each composer's full filmography on the imdb, which is more complete than I could ever manage, or would be allowed on the guide anyway. Huge lists do not make for interesting entries.

The University of Life is a means for cooperative writing on h2g2. Having proposed mt project, and had it accepted, it should - at some stage - make its way onto the current projects page. There, anyone can see it, and hopefully it will attractthe attention of other people interested in this area.

As for music, anything is better than me. I learned recorder, clarinet and piano for some years, and then forgot them again. And quartet sounds fine, so long as you do mean a musical group of four players.

My biggest current problem is that there's already an entry on Danny Elfman ion the edited guide, but one which does not cover the points I think are most important for the project, in particular his lack of formal compositional and orchestral training. He's one of the only big composers of the day who started out from rock music, and has little or no concert and conducting experience, but the entry doesn't really express that.

The Prophet.