Getting the Score

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In the DVD featurette about the music of Spider Man 1, Tobey McGuire says that Danny Elfman’s music is good because it is “not noticed” and that this is the best compliment you can give the composer of a film score.
I forget which great golden age composer it was who said something like “if music [...]

In last week’ s post, Scooby Doo showed us that melody is still an important asset to a production at any level.
One of the challenges is when to present your melodies and when not to. A common fear among directors is that melody will interfere with the dialogue.
Of course it is crucial for the dialogue [...]

A director friend sent me this video from The Battle of Britain. In this clip there are no sound effects, only music!

This got me wondering: what is more important, music or sound effects?
The decision is context-dependent, of course, but in an action scene like one, what would you say creates a more visceral gut reaction [...]