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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,
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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 !
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