Background Music in Films

I still remember the music from The Pink Panther series with Peter Sellers. (You can listen to it here from the later version. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhHwnrlZRus) The series was remade with Steve Martin playing Inspector Clouseau.

The James Bond theme also is distinctive (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ebAssCr990), and helps engage the viewer in the super spy's exploits at the start. In general, background music has the ability to enhance the appeal of the visuals in cinema. Sometimes, it becomes memorable, like the ones mentioned.

Among Hindi films, I liked the theme music of Sholay by RD Burman (listen to it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc1-5ftVHD4). This was also unique, and you may like to listen to it for its own sake.

But much of the Hindi film background music is cliched, and was even more so in the 70s and 80s. The sitar used to play in sad situations, or emotional ones tugging at the heart, and loud percussion was used in chases. Amateurish music kills the joy of watching an interesting segment.

Particularly, suspense films can benefit a lot from good background scores. Using sounds like a door creaking, or a utensil falling, etc. can create a very effective supplement to the action, increasing anticipation about what is coming next.

1 comment:

Diamond Head said...

People without background are creating noise.

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