I heartily endorse watching movies wearing headphones.  Not only does it expand a movie like a big-screen TV does on the visual level, but some of the directors take the whole 'stereo' thing very seriously.  If some spaceship is screaming across the screen from left to right, the whole thing will feel like it's going right through the middle of your brain.  It wouldn't be embellishing to say it adds a whole new dimension to the movie.

On a more subliminal level, if you hear a knock on a door offscreen, in your head you'll hear it over to that side, so it's like you're a step ahead of the camera when it swings over to see who's there.

And because these particular clips are here for their audio tracks, you might grab the headphones so you'll hear what I'm hearing, and this is especially true for the 'Less Is More' clips.
 

---

First Steps

From 'What's Love Got To Do With It?', here's Angela Bassett playing Tina Turner singing her first song in public.  She does a great job of warming up to it (watch her shoulders), and I like the camera shot out in the crowd in the third verse, swaying along with the music.  The stunned look on her sister's face is just perfect.

---

If Ya Got It, Flaunt It

It's surprising how rare it is for singers acting in movies to actually sing in the movie.  It's one of those things that 'just isn't done'.  I suppose it's considered boastful and tacky, although I don't see it that way.  I think there are ways it could be cleverly written into the script.  How about the singer/actor/hero idling about in the kitchen when suddenly a karaoke version of his hit song comes over the radio and he starts singing along under his breath?  Or someone else's version of his original hit song plays on the car radio and he sings along in harmony?

Okay, so how do you do it tastefully? 

Just ask country star Randy Travis in Black Dog.

---

Majestic Moments

When it comes to a stirring music score, it would be hard to beat the end of 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail'.  I've used it two or three times over the years for some dramatic moment in a PowerPoint presentation or whatever.  I admit it's a little over the top — in true Pythonesque style — but that doesn't diminish the emotion it conveys.  Well, at least until the last few seconds.

---

In Truth, I Was Inspired

As much as it pains me to admit it, I, Mr. Rock 'n' Roller, actually bought a (gasp!) classical album after seeing 'Amadeus', I was so inspired.  Even to a ol' rock 'n' roller like me, the music was thrilling.  Here's a videolage of the finer moments.

---

Looking For Clues In All The Right Places

Not too many seconds into 'Ocean's Eleven', the music told me that none of the heroes would be killed. 

The music is already a little upbeat as it enters, so we might assume there'll be a happy ending, but what really gives it away is a tiny bit of funky guitar as he's walking into the larger room (right before he walks behind the pillar).  Then it plays again a few seconds later.  At that point, you know it's going to be a 'cool' movie, not some 'message movie' where one of the heroes has to die in order to prove that "life is real" or whatever.  I don't know how to explain it, but as a musician I can only say that you don't start off movies with 'funky-cute guitar' if one of the heroes eventually dies.  Watch the clip and I think you'll see what I mean.

---

Hot Licks, Inc.

Admittedly, most of Yanni's music is a little too sweet and gooey, but you have to hand him one thing:

How cool would it be to have your band backed up by the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra?

Playing in the Greek Acropolis?

At night?

Now that would be cool.

This clip starts off a little sugary — in typical Yanni fashion — but wow, does it heat up.  There's just something about a smokin' rock violin that's hot.

This next clip demonstrates in wonderful fashion the difference between two genres.  I note for the musically-challenged that there are two things that make for that 'nasty' rock sound, both of which she exhibits here:

• Playing the 'wrong' note for the scale the music is currently in
• Playing a note slightly out of tune, either sharp or flat, depending upon what type of emotion you want to convey

Listen carefully as she faces off against the conductor of the Royal Philharmonic, an obvious virtuoso of the violin, himself.  Listen to how she incorporates both of the above musical 'tricks' to give her sound that classic rock feel, and listen to how he simply can't emulate it.  All of his notes are 'precise' because, as a classical artist, he just doesn't have the musical feel for that 'nasty' rock edge that she does.

If you're interested, her name is Karen Briggs and her Wikipedia page is here.

And here's something a little more ethereal to help cool you back off.  It gets a bit repetitious during the middle, but stick around for the last few notes.

---

Draggin' The Dragon

When it comes to music sync'ing up to the action on the screen, I give top honors to the dragon chase in 'Shrek'.  The thrilling fanfare of trumpets, the moment when that one single trumpet blares forth, the way Shrek's yell drops down the scale in perfect harmony with the music, then the music 'snapping' just as the chain snaps taught and the day is saved.  If you ever want to learn how to write a music score and choreograph a chase scene, I present this as Lesson One.

And, while it didn't quite have the punch the previous scene did, the end of Shrek 2 had its moments.

---

All Of This Emotion…Over Toys?

I'm putting this clip from 'Toy Story 3' in this section because it's the music that really drives the emotion here, but what's just as interesting is that, after spending six hours of close, intimate movie time with these guys, how amazingly un-toylike they are to us at this moment.  For all of their simple toy-like features, the pathos and despair emanating from even Slinky and Rex is truly wrenching.

---

Closing Moments

From 'Smokin' Aces', this is one of my favorite ultra-depressing musical endings.  Granted, it means a lot more if you've just seen the movie, but it's still terrific.

---

Less Is More Dept

Here's a small collection of clips where the music purposefully understates the extreme action taking place on the screen.  I think it's a nice effect. 

The movie that really put the genre on display was the first 'Lord of the Rings'.  Where any other movie would have had a thundering music score to echo the horses' thundering hooves, here you have soft female choral voices arranged by the Irish singer, Enya.

And later, when they fight a deadly foe, rather than a huge crescendo of music filling the room, we have a lone cello and a choir.

And one more clip from 'LOTR'.  For how little is actually being played, I love how intense the music is that underscores this scene.

(Now you see why I wanted you to wear headphones)

They also used an understated music score in 'The Truman Show' during the horrific drowning scene. 

Here's a scene from 'Seabiscuit' that puts an acoustical guitar and humming vocalist behind a fast-paced horse race. 

And another soft Enya piece, underscoring a tumultuous thunderstorm in 'L.A. Story'.  The first scene is the prelude to the song, about halfway through the movie, then the finale.

And, where you'd least expect it, the climax of a championship baseball game.  Note how it's the usual rousing music we'd expect leading up to it, then how quiet and eerie it gets through the peak, which somehow really sets the tone for the completely different style of music that follows.  A very nice job of understatement in Major League.