Movie Soundtracks: A soundtrack for life.

I think almost anyone might agree that the sound and music in a movie is key to it's value/impact to the viewer.   Sound mixers, foley artists, composers, songwriters, and so on can really shape your emotion and how you feel about a scene or movie as a whole.  And isn't that what the movie-going experience is as a whole?  An escape? An evaluation? A mirror?

I am a huge fan of movie scores/soundtracks, not just because they remind me of a movie, but usually because I will typically like the music from the movie I like.  (Insert chicken or the egg argument here about which is the reason I like one or the other.)    At this year's Oscars, I was torn as to whether to root for Hans Zimmer, whose mind-blowing score was integral to my love for the movie Inception, or for Trent Reznor, who scored for David Fincher's The Social Network.   I thoroughly enjoyed The Social Network as a movie, but I am also partial to Mr. Reznor as I grew up a rabid Nine Inch Nails fan.  In fact when I saw TSN, I almost dropped my popcorn when I heard the music in one scene and realized that it had to be Trent who scored it.  I really wish they could have given out 2 Oscars for Score.

Growing up I not only listened to every conceivable type of music with lyrics, but I danced ballet from age 5 up through college.   That experience gave me an appreciation for classical music, the movement of music, and particularly how music makes one FEEL.   These days, as I take the subway or bus around town, or drive in my car, I listen to music whenever I can.   I can't help but notice how my mood is so affected by what I have listened to.    The music doesn't necessarily correlate with what you might think either.  If I am listening to NIN or Metallica, it certainly puts me in a good mood, sometimes even relaxed.  On the other hand,  Marc Cohn's "Walking in Memphis" or Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water" might make me angry.  This is for reasons of personal experience which I will not divulge.   But it goes to show that music and our own experience shape how we feel about the music.

How we feel about music, in turn, shapes how we feel about a movie.   Even the absence of sound makes a powerful impact.  Take the Coen brothers' No Country for Old Men.  If you haven't, do it now and take notes.  I guess the best way for us to create our own life score or soundtrack is via iPod, or by listening to the radio.   It would be awesome to be able to do that whenever we wanted (especially at a job you don't necessarily like).   Just as important would be taking time for NO music or sound, the time to contemplate, think, be.

So here's to the folks that shape how we listen to movies..........or should I say, HEARS to you?