Ahh, just reading that title probably evokes images of Julie Andrews spinning in circles in the Austrian Alps as she sings all about music in the hilltops. And while I enjoy The Sound of Music as a movie, that’s not really what this post is about. It’s about movie music in general. You see, I’ve always enjoyed movie music, yet many people don’t realize what a huge part of the soundscape movie music is. When it’s done right, you might not even notice it’s there, but it really influences how you experience a movie. It’s a part of the story telling devices we film makers have at our disposal, and it can help us cue the audience what they are supposed to be feeling during a particular scene. Be it some tense notes right before the killer pops out and scares you, to the theme for a hero as he comes flying to the rescue. It can make you feel sad, tugging on the heart strings, or make you feel happy as two characters finally realize that they’ve fallen in love.
Just think about it, would Psycho be the same without Bernhard Hermann’s screaming violins as Marion is stabbed to death during the shower scene? Or would the shark have been nearly as scary without John Williams iconic theme to Jaws? A simple alternating pattern of just two notes, E and F, played on the tuba, yet it’s a classic score of American cinema. And while I did come to discover those scores later, the first one to really grab me and make me a fan of film music was another John Williams score, his classic work for Star Wars: A New Hope (or just plain Star Wars back in the day). As a matter of fact, they played the Throne Room music from the end of Star Wars as we entered the reception at our wedding. Yeah, that’s right, I’m that much of a geek. 
and I haven’t even told you about the lightsabers…
Anyhow, I digress. The main point of this post is film music, and that doesn’t always mean just score. Sometimes it’s the producers trying to get a hot recording artist to write a song for their movie so they can sell more soundtracks (a process I’m not entirely fond of), and sometimes it’s some great songs that really pull the movie together and reflect it’s personality. And that’s what I think we’ve done with trippin’. I love the soundtrack to this movie. I mean, how can you not love a soundtrack that has songs such as “Holly’s Tits”, “Teenage Zombies” and “Heavy Medication”? It’s great, and they all help to capture the spirit of trippin’ and make this movie that much more entertaining.
So, to all of the artists who contributed work to this film (and I won’t try to list them all here, lest I forget one), a big hearty Thank You from trippin’s Sound Designer. Without you, our movie would be only a shadow of it’s current self. Great work and thanks again! Trippin’ rocks!
(Share with us below, what’s your favorite film score or soundtrack?)
I couldn’t possibly pick a fave tune, but what’s really cool is I thought I’d never be able to let go of our temp score that included Black, Flag, the Ramones, Dead Kennedys, The Clash and other faves, but now I can’t imagine anything but the great tunes we now have. I think they add so much and I can’t wait for the soundtrack to come out. To quote Joe as he sets out to meet his fate in the woods, “Rock ‘n roll!”