With six decades in the game and hundreds of credits to his name, there are few film composers as revered as Ennio Morricone. And there are probably just as few suited to comment on the changing nature of film composition, and the use of music in film. And while I think there’s still plenty to get excited about in the changing landscape (check out On The Rise: 12 Film Composers To Watch to get an idea of the talents that will be paving the way in the future), Morricone has some pointed criticism about the current state of film and music affairs.
"The standard of composition for film has deteriorated. I have suffered a lot in watching many films because of that," he told The Guardian. And he pointed toward filmmakers who are either afraid of being overshadowed by a strong score, or don’t know to employ it properly.
“There are some directors who actually fear the possible success of music. They fear that the audience or the critics will think the film has worked because there was a very good music score,” the composer said. He also added: “If you have a 20-second music piece, you cannot really express anything … It can just signal maybe a scene change … If you allow it to develop, the music can do its job in telling what is not said and showing what you cannot see.”
Morricone also blames "budgetary constraints" and sees the rise of electronically produced music in movies as indicative of cost-cutting affecting the musical outcome. “Electronic instruments flatten everything. Maybe you can do everything with [them], but the result is quite similar–a kind of standardized music," he said. “The fact that people today tend to use too many electronic instruments or amateur composers is because they want to spend less money.”
READ MORE: The Playlist’ Best 15 Music Scores Of 2014
These are real shots fired, and while Morricone perhaps has a point about that scores could perhaps be better utilized, he does a disservice to the next wave of talent by writing off their creative approaches in fiscally prudent times. But it’s definitely food for thought and should stir quite the conversation, so share your thoughts below.
Morricone\’s comments on electronic music\’s sfx flattening quality, like CG virtual reality\’s flattening didactic should e listened to: the real problem is the moderate talent(s) of major musicians, who aren\’t film-makers, and producer-directors who\’ve never studied music history: look to Sound — central prose theme with non-digital guitar: Edelweiss: the most sucessful one in movie history sums up the entire film\’s theme, romance & drama. It\’s still the most popular live-action 4-quad in history.
Ennio Morricone is the benchmark for movie scoring.
Not sure you could call it a score but the very basic piano music in Blood Simple has stuck with me all these years, very effective, perfect.
Also, most big-name score composers are supposedly extremely hands-off, subcontracting the lion\’s share of the work (heroic main themes aside) to underlings. No wonder it all sounds so flat and joyless.
I don\’t think he\’s doing the new generation a disservice by pointing out that there exists a certain laziness in composing purely via electronic means. At a certain point, hearing everything in 4/4 at a consistent forte does actually sound similar. Morricone\’s scores utilized things like key changes, tempo changes, and time changes as critical moments to elicit emotion through his cue points rather than rely on visual cues. Personally, I think it speaks to a trend of giving the visual aesthetic way too much emphasis in modern film while sound has become an afterthought to most filmmakers
Music is part of a film, and I agree that allowing music to develop with the story works better to develop the story than a 20sec piece. Also, Andrew – A good score doesn\’t have to be memorable. Are some of the best films memorable? A good score should integrate with the film, and some films are made around the score but I think most modern film scores are too melodic. This is probably why we remember them, but does not make them good. Much like Taylor Swift.
It seems to me that perhaps those composers making their living composing for American movies have become complacent as the film industry has gotten lazy.
Composers outside of the industry are doing some very interesting things. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis come to mind. The score composed for the films," The assignation of Jesse James by the Coward Bob Ford"," The Road" and " No Country for Old Men" are brilliant.
Mr. Morreconi sure does know what he is talking about, after more than 60 years of composing all types of film scores coming up to more than 300. What Mr. Morreconi is objecting about is what has been happening in the last 15 years regarding film scores. Right now we have few film composers working in film today who are the equivalent of such greats as John Barry, Jerry Goldsmith, Bernard Herrmann, Max Steiner, Henry Mancini, Elmer Bernstein, Miklos Rozsa, Dimitri Tiomkin and many others. The only recent film composer of the last 20 years whose film music I have enjoyed are Danny Elfman, David Arnold, James Horner, Bryan Tyler, Alan Silvestri but unfortunately that\’s a short list compared with 30 years ago. Now today\’s film music is not memorable and is time filler. It\’s not like the old days when we moviegoers liked the score from a film and bought the soundtrack of the score after leaving the theater.
DOWN WITH ZIMMER!
Mark — Jonny Greenwood seems to be the most intriguing scoresman at the moment. Clint Mansell also has what I\’d call "chops". In a synth-saturated John Carpenter ripoff audioscape, it\’s rather nice to hear real instruments being put to use.
He\’s not wrong. Where is today\’s equivalent of Miklós Rózsa, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Basil Poledouris?
He\’s right. Scores used to help define a movie (The Godfather, Jaws, The Third Man, Psycho, etc…). Now it all just sounds like moody filler music. Even Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, contemporaries known for their theme-y scores, have abandoned it for forgettable background mood music.
\’tis true, Andrew. Are filmmakers using overbearing scores to compensate for stodgy performances and lacklustre visuals?
Carter Burwell\’s work with the Coens is perfect — subtle, unobtrusive, adding a little hint of spice without becoming distracting.
My observation is that many modern movies are submerged in a never ending musical score that is ceaseless and unrelenting. The overuse of music began, I think, with "Star Wars" (1976). And much of what we hear is unmemorable, just loud and overdone.
motion pictures are in a sorry state, frankly.
"Declining standards… Budget constraints… Cost cutting…" There\’s an echo of Rick Baker\’s sentiments from last week.