Howard Shore

Throughout this project I have been intrigued by the marriage of sound effects and music merged together to create a sound scape. Recently I have been listening to the film compositions of Howard Shore. His scores are incredible powerful pieces of music and I think that it is obvious Jackson really cared about how his film sounded. This is something I admire as I think sometimes Directors think about it like an afterthought. I think that as well the music and the sound design are great partners and I think that how they would work together was a well thought out process.

 

I was intrigues how much music could tell a story. Listening to his score from Peter Jackson's 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Hobbit' I was struck by how different there moods were. there was a definite sense of great foreboding in 'The Lord of the Rings' it is obvious from the music if taken completely put of context that something big is coming.

 

One motif I find really effective is the theme for the fellowship, after they begin to split up, you never hear the full score again, I think this really reflects the theme of the film and creates the sense that Middle earth is fractures and dying.

 

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However the sense the audience gets from the Hobbit is different. There is a lighter tone over all, Bilbo is going on an adventure and I feel this again is reflected I the music. There is also the main theme of the Dwarves. This I feel really anchors the idea that they have lost their home, the tone reflects the sense of lament.

 

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I feel for both of the scores there is an inspiration from folk music. I like that because it reflects a real people. I think this is another factor which adds to the sound design in making this fantastical land seeming real to the audience.

 

The songs for example seem heavily influenced by ancient ballads of Love and War. This also helps to create a sense of the different race. The audience really does believe that there are these different cultures that have lived and developed over centuries.

 

 

I also enjoy the marriage of Sound design and music in the films. The Sound design which I have already talked about I feel creates the sense of reality and also help to build the tension. It creates a real sounding army which scares the audience and the music adds to this sense of Drama.

 

I think that these films are a great example of the use of Music, even though it is almost ever present in never feel s that is therefore the sake of it. I think that I can take several lessons from this.

In my project I want to use an element of music as I feel it is something I feel was missing from the last exercise. Obviously I can’t create a full score but the way music is woven into the script is something I think I can take a lesson from.