Long ago, when this blog first stepped into the cesspool of Internet creations, there were many dreams and ideas in terms of content. I guess real life has delayed many recurring articles and editorials, but I've never lost sight of them. Stored away in a little folder, there sits idle a dossier of everything that never was. Poll ideas, lost features like Up Top, ones without a follow-through, such as Music Musings. Then ya got never seen thoughts, including posts detailing Commercial Jingles and Movie Musicals, and finally, the forgotten periodical- the most applicable of which last appeared a tad more than eight months ago: Soundtrack of a Script (SoaS).
Back then, we were still experimenting with the voice of the blog, but the message has remained stationary. Music, movies, and their intersection. What better crossroads could there be than SoaS, then? For those clueless, this set of articles intended to document those instances in film where the soundtrack exceptionally played into the emotions of the scene. Acrobatic expertise amplifying the impact of both song and screen. I shoot for the unconventional, but nothing says composed scores cannot peek their heads into my writings. In any case, I decided to send up a couple more examples into the mix, and hopefully we can drip some oil onto the gears of this blog for some long needed momentum.
Unlike the first in the series, this follow-up won't jump around your emotions so dramatically. Both scenes have a bittersweet twinge, but the soundtracks make 'em jump out of the movie and grab you. Starting off, this clip hails from the flick Love Actually. Those who've seen it know the large amount of characters and stories it details. With such a large cast, fleshing out the individuals seems like a daunting task, but due to scenes like this, motivations and personalities easily get spelled out despite the dense alphabet soup. This scene manages to push the storyline along as well as shine insight upon Liam Neeson's character. There's not much in the way of spoilers as this scene is near the beginning, but if you're sensitive to such things be cautious. Here's the link:
Scene from Love Actually
People often think about their so-called "funeral song", and happy or offbeat ones are no oddity. I could personally make a whole mixtape of tunes to blast at my death party, but "Bye Bye Baby" by the Bay City Rollers never would have crossed by mind. Because of Love Actually now, though, I'll probably always associate it with funerals. The ironic, uppity sound fuses with the pain on Neeson's character's face to create a.. real moment. That's the only way I can really put it.
The second selection I'll be sharing you've most likely seen. Sliced off of the big spring movie of 2009, you're about to watch (the title credits of) the Watchmen:
Title credits of Watchmen
As I've said, you've probably seen this before, but have you actually stopped to consider it? There's several notable things about it, beside the obvious stylistic flairs of slow motion and camera flashes. For one thing, Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" gets played in its entirety. How often does that happen in movies nowadays? Rightly so, considering the absolute perfect fitting between the lyrical content and what's going on in the film. In the three-and-a-quarter minutes Dylan takes to explain the changing era, the clip rapidly documents the a-changes with major plot points leading up to the main timeline. Over 40 years worth of plot points, mind you. The two elements blend up an atmosphere even a casual viewer like me can step into, for I hadn't read the comic until after seeing the film. Someone just introduced to the Watchmen can jump right into the story with all the information they really need to understand the alternate history. Hands down, just for this crafty use the popular Dylan piece, it scores a place on the "best movie intros" list. The unique take on the gilded superhero lifestyle only adds some afterburners.
I'll leave you with those for now. Hopefully it won't be another eight months until the next installment. But hey, maybe this surprise will lead to a nice flood of new and different postings from all of us (hinthint, other WTFbloggers)! No matter what, though, I'll be doing my best to put up things of interest. Just keep an eye out.
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