WEBVTT
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So I have a question for you.
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Off the top of your head could
you sing any music from Star Wars ?
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How about James Bond ?
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Harry Potter ?
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My last question : can you sing
anything from a Marvel movie ?
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I'm like the biggest Marvel fan
that I know and I just...
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I can't think of any of the songs.
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- No.
- No...
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I should know this, but I don't.
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Shit.
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I didn't know they have, like, theme songs.
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Why is this ?
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Because the Marvel cinematic universe is now the
highest-grossing franchise in film history.
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More than Star Wars,
more than James Bond,
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more than Harry Potter,
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so what is missing from their music ?
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The first problem is that most of the music
doesn't evoke an emotional response.
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Take a look at this scene from
the first Ironman :
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Day 11. Test 37. Configuration 2.0
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For lack of a better option
Dummy is still on fire safety.
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If you douse me again and I'm not on fire,
I'm donating you to a city college.
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All right, nice and easy.
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It's kind of hard to hear it.
So let's try that one more time,
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But this time with just the music isolated.
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Did you have an emotional
reaction to that music ?
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So what happens to the scene
if we just take it out ?
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Day 11. Test 37. Configuration 2.0
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For lack of a better option
Dummy is still on fire safety.
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If you douse me again and I'm not on fire,
I'm donating you to a city college.
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All right, nice and easy.
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The scene works just fine
and it doesn't need any other sound.
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And that's partially why you forget the music.
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it's like the air conditioner in the
background, after awhile you tune it out.
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Another problem is that the music is
used very predictably.
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So that what you see is what you get.
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If you see something funny
you hear funny music.
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If you see something sad,
you hear a high note on the strings.
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This is a really safe way to score a film,
because all of the emotions are expected.
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The music just tells you the same thing
as the picture.
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If someone looks scared, then you hear :
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And this is the second reason
the music is forgettable.
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It never challenges your expectations.
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But sometimes the Marvel films
do have memorable music,
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except the filmmakers don't let
us listen to it.
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Instead they cover it up with other
sounds like this :
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Denied enlistment due
to poor health,
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Steven Rogers was chosen for a program
unique in the annals of American warfare,
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one that would transform him into the
world's first super soldier.
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That narrator is just telling us things
we already know,
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And he distracts us from
the emotion of the scene.
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So how does this moment play
without that distraction ?
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Did you feel the difference ?
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Film music is incredibly subjective
and it goes through trends.
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And over the last 20 years
there has been a cultural shift.
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Nowadays a lot of filmmakers feel that
music should not be noticed,
NOTE Paragraph
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That's a contemporary thing that I've
heard very frequently,
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"not supposed to be noticed"
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Right but, why is it not supposed
to be noticed ?
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I grew up on Alfred Hitchcock's films,
Bernard Herrmann, and i noticed every note.
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And I find it a little bit baffling
why that seems to be the consciousness
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of music and film.
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But there is one thing we haven't
mentioned yet and it's very important.
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Today blockbuster movie scores
are composed to a particular process,
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And that process starts with one
controversial element :
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Danny you groaned earlier when someone mentioned
temp music, the pros and cons ?
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For me temp music is the bane
of my existence
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it's my job to make the director forget
everything he's heard in the temp,
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I won't listen to it but once,
I'll never listened to it twice,
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and if they're addicted to it it's just
going to make my job harder.
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Let's back up a second : temp music is
when you're editing a film,
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and you take music from another movie
and use it temporarily in your cut like this :
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Tenp music is always supposed to be
replaced by composers' original score.
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But sometimes directors or producers will
tell their composer to imitate the temp.
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To our knowledge, this is the only time a
studio has publicly apologized
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for imitating temp music.
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The far more pervasive effect
is that now
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most blockbusters are temped with
each other's scores.
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So they kind of sound like each other,
but just within legal limits.
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And as the Marvel franchise has become
more popular, now other films sound like
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they were tempt with Marvel music.
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We want to emphasize : we're not
blaming the composers.
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Things don't get this way
unless its systemic.
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Before temp music became popular,
directors would often reference other music
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as a way to talk to the composer.
But what changed everything was
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modern nonlinear editing which allowed
a director to put their favorite music
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in the movie and have the editor cut to it.
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Now, director points to the temp and says :
"Make it like that".
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And it's not because the music
is the right choice,
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but because they've listened to it.
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Again and again and again
for hours and hours
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making a DVD that match and they
go back with another idea another version the
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next day with the same music, and at some
point of the music stick to the picture.
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- They can spend a year before you arrive.
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By the way when you take that music
out often the cut isn't right
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because they're cutting to something that...
It's very frustrating.
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Part of the frustration is that
filmmakers just reuse things
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that worked in every other movie,
so you end up with the lowest common denominator.
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Remember this ?
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Let's try something different.
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So earlier in the film,
Thor convinced his friends to do
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something illegal and he was banished.
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Now they're doing something illegal
to find him.
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He's not asking for their help,
they're giving it willingly.
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What if we heard this feeling in the music ?
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We're not saying this is the right choice
here, but it's worth trying out.
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Because it makes the scene emotionally richer.
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And all of the choices you see in Marvel films :
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the background noise, hearing what
you see, adding a narrator, temp music.
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All of these stem from the same desire :
to keep things safe.
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This is not bad music, it's just bland
and inoffensive.
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And because Marvel sacrifices emotional
richness for these safe choices,
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the end result is this :
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Oh... Marvel ?
Na - oh...
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So what is missing from Marvel music ?
Risk.
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The kind of risk that creates an
emotional connection with the audience.
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So that they carry the music with them.
People do not remember safe choices.
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Only bold original music, and do this :
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But that being said, we did find one
Marvel theme that still got this reaction :
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Spiderman ! Spiderman ! Friendly
neighborhood Spiderman !
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Spins web any size, catch thieves, just like flies.
Look out ! Here comes Spider-man!
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Is he strong?
Listen bud, he's got radioactive blood.
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Can he swing from a thread
Take a look overhead.
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Hey there
There goes the Spiderman.
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In the chill of night
At the scene of a crime
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Like a streak of light
He arrives just in time.
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Spiderman, Spiderman, Friendly neighborhood Spiderman,
Wealth and fame, He's ignored, Action is his reward.
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To him, life is a great big bang up.
Wherever there's a hang up, You'll find the Spider man.
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-That was incredible ! Thank you so much !