Amazing melodies
A great film theme can stay with you long after the credits have rolled. Whether for a specific character, location or storyline – as in opera – themes play a crucial role in cinematic storytelling, says Michael Beek
What makes a film theme iconic? Last month we conducted an online poll in partnership with Radiotimes.com (see news, p14), selecting for our long-list, 40 of the very best examples from across the decades. The list needed to cover as wide a period as possible and be representative of both classic and contemporary cinema.
That the final, voted top ten would feature John Williams was inevitable, given the quality and popularity of his music, but the fact his themes took six of those ten places truly marks him out as the master of movie melodies. Williams’s music transcends the screen, the themes taking on a life of their own in the concert hall, on the radio and in our memories.
It’s likely that even if you haven’t seen
Star Wars (No. 1 in the poll), you would recognise the film’s main title theme. That in itself is a good indicator of its iconic quality, and it isn’t alone. Film and pop culture go hand in hand, so movies that get into public consciousness often bring their music with them. Jaws and Superman are fine examples, as children hummed the shark’s two-note motif in the pool to scare their friends, or the Man of Steel’s fanfare as they ‘flew’ around the playground.
The blockbuster boom of the 1970s and ’80s can take some of the credit, but not all. Films have been blessed with great themes for over 80 years. Max Steiner wrote ‘Tara’s Theme’ for Gone With The Wind in 1939, four years after Franz Waxman gave life to The Bride of Frankenstein in 1935. Some of the great composers who followed them created memorable tunes that remain indelible today. It came more naturally to some, and the likes of Miklós Rózsa, henry Mancini, Ron Goodwin, Elmer Bernstein, Jerry Goldsmith, Maurice Jarre, John Barry, Nino Rota and James horner were some of the most talented.
Patrick Doyle, one of the great film melodists, with 30 years’ experience, still places great importance on theme writing. ‘A good theme is what I automatically do as part of my arsenal,’ he says. ‘Your job is to take your piece of material and make it as melodic and as interesting as possible and then throw it in every direction; you also have to be a craftsman.’
John Williams, who is about to embark on his ninth and (he says) final Star Wars score, has likened the process to sculpting, chipping away until something is revealed. When he couldn’t choose between two thematic ideas he’d considered for Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, he simply joined them together. Coming up with the perfect theme isn’t always easy; Jerry Goldsmith agonised for days over his main theme for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which – coming in the wake of Star Wars – needed something on a similar level.
It’s a process that seemingly comes naturally to Patrick Doyle, though. ‘It’s
hard to say without sounding immodest, but I don’t find it difficult,’ he adds. ‘There are always exceptions, but generally speaking I don’t worry too much about it. If there’s a great narrative and characters, that in itself is a tremendous inspiration.’
But why do some themes stick in the memory? A theme’s ability to bend and shape along with the unfolding drama is important, but what about its musical make-up? Williams begins with a perfect fifth in Star Wars, Superman, E.T. and others, but Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley knows it isn’t that simple. ‘I don’t think there’s any formula at all,’ she says. ‘It’s just a marriage of images and music that, together, produce something more than the sum of its parts. If there was a formula we’d all use it!’ Dudley is another of the UK’S most prominent film and television tunesmiths, and she thinks themes are a must-have in screen stories. ‘I’m in favour of them because it gives you more to work with. I think if you don’t have themes, the music is in danger of being rather generic; it doesn’t have any individuality. When I did the film Elle, the producers liked the theme so much they added a title sequence just so it could be heard. I thought, “this never happens!”’
Such things are indeed rare today, and the lengthy opening title sequences that graced films like Gone With The Wind,
The Magnificent Seven and Superman: The Movie gave audiences maximum exposure to the music, allowing their title themes to become embedded. Many films eschew them now in order to get straight into the action; Jurassic Park ’s popular main theme isn’t actually revealed until 20 minutes into the film, when we first see a dinosaur in all its glory. Iconic moments like that inspire iconic music; or are they made so because of the music?
At the end of the day, great themes rely on a cracking melody, as Patrick Doyle agrees: ‘I think everyone loves a good tune; it doesn’t matter if you listen to a piece of Rachmaninov or to the music from The Godfather; there are certain themes that transport you.’