{"id":59022,"date":"2022-03-14T13:03:25","date_gmt":"2022-03-14T17:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/in-my-feelings-with-film-scores\/"},"modified":"2022-03-14T13:03:25","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T17:03:25","slug":"in-my-feelings-with-film-scores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/in-my-feelings-with-film-scores\/","title":{"rendered":"In my feelings with film scores"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Growing up, the rule in my house was that I couldn\u2019t listen to music while I did my homework. My parents\u2019 reasoning? That I would get distracted by the lyrics and make silly mistakes on my assignments. Looking back now they were probably right, but I found it harder to focus while working in complete silence. So I found a loophole \u2014 I could listen to instrumental music, since it didn\u2019t have any words. My simple Spotify playlist, titled \u201cscores for studying,\u201d consisted of a few instrumental tracks from my favorite movies and usually was played only right before a big test. But since then, my relationship with film scores has grown into an emotional experience that I never expected.<\/p>\n

Music and film have both always played a huge part in my life. I\u2019ve played piano since before I started kindergarten, guitar since the seventh grade and I did musical theatre all throughout high school. My family and I have seen just about every Disney movie enough times that we could quote entire scripts if we tried (and we have), and my friends and I have planned more movie nights than I could ever remember. Scores, then, are the best of both worlds for me. When I listen to the soundtrack of one of my favorite movies, it\u2019s easy for me to picture the corresponding scene in my mind. But scores also have the ability to capture complex ideas and emotions far better than words ever could. They can transport me into scenes I\u2019ve never experienced in real life, but they give me a clear understanding of those events as if I had. It\u2019s part of the reason I love them so much.<\/p>\n

Take \u201cMother\u201d from the 2016 biographical drama \u201cLion,\u201d composed by duo Dustin O\u2019Halloran and Hauschka (\u201cAmmonite\u201d). The song plays near the end of the film, when Saroo reunites with his mother in India after years of searching. The composers manage to capture each emotion that the characters feel in this scene. It starts out with slow, somber piano as Saroo is about ready to give up until he sees a woman walking towards him. As the recognition dawns on both of their faces, they walk with more urgency before meeting in the middle, crying and touching each other as though they can\u2019t believe this is really happening. The strings come in and build on top of each other, creating a more hopeful melody. When I listen to the song, I can always picture the scene in my head regardless of how long it\u2019s been since I last watched the film. I can hear the characters\u2019 reunion through the notes: the gratitude to have finally found each other, the grief of being separated for so long. While some of us would have a hard time imagining what it would be like to go without the people we love in this way, the music is there to guide our imaginations.\u00a0<\/p>\n