February 21, 2011

  • Oscar 2011: Score nominees

    When it comes to scores nominated by AMPAS one sometimes shakes the head in wonderment.  This year though at least most of the scores nominated seem to have received a fairly broad critical recognition.  In the past, I've tended to list five reasons why each score should receive an Oscar but I am going to part ways this year with that criteria.  The five scores nominated this year are:

    127 Hours, A.R. Rahman
    How To Train Your Dragon, John Powell
    Inception, Hans Zimmer
    The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat
    The Social Network, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

    Each has its unique points but two of them have something in common.  Both Inception and The Social Network feature scores composed away from the film and then edited into the final product by their respective directors.  The procedure is similar to what directors do when they license songs or other classical material for a film and edit it into the final product.  Depending on your point of view, this is either an interesting technical achievement or runs counter to how film music should be written.  Traditionally, composers would sit through a film ("spot") and then determine where music could go--it is what essentially separated a film composer from any other composer because it takes a real special skill to figure this out.  Details get worked out on the scoring stage so that the music can be adjusted to fit the finished (sometimes not completely finished) film.  In both of these current scores that did not happen.  The process might best be likened to that often used by television composers in the 1950s and on where library cues were written to depict certain types of scenes or emotions and then were tracked in as needed, sometimes as recorded, or more often, edited to fit.  So the question would be for the Oscar voter whether or not they liked this approach.  Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross already have a Golden Globe to show for their effort so it is possible that they might pick up an Oscar here--but one wonders if the film has lost some momentum.

    Rahman's film underscores a strong performance and a film that seems to be getting more legs.  I can't honestly comment much on it having not had a chance to catch the film or hear much from the score at this time.  It is not like Rahman has not scored a dramatic film, but this one gives him the chance to do that apart from engaging song material.

    Desplat's score for The King's Speech is the sort of music one expects for a drama about a disability.  It sounds a lot like The Accidental Tourist (a 1988 nominated score by John Williams).  Two things going for this film have nothing to do with the craft of its composition.  The first is that a pivotal scene uses music by Beethoven for its emotional punch.  On a technical level, the score was recorded with microphones from the period lending it a different sound than contemporary scores.  So it is an example of the technology having an impact on the final product--the way Zimmer's recording approach to Sherlock Holmes garnered a nod last year.

    John Powell's first Oscar nomination for How to Train Your Dragon is well-deserved as it is one of his finest scores.  It boasts a more traditional big orchestral sound and technique where music follows the action on screen.  It works unbelievably well in the film and on its own. 

    Powell's score deserves an Oscar if you subscribe to that recognition of classic film scoring with big orchestral sound.  However, if you don't, and there are many who will be voting for these scores that don't, this will not be a selling feature and most likely your vote will go to The Social Network.  It is the score most likely to win and drive film music enthusiasts nuts.  But there is a slight chance that Desplat's score will nudge forward and claim him his first Oscar.  Of the four nominees, only Rahman and Zimmer have won and if name recognition has something to do with this Zimmer may pick up his first Oscar since The Lion King (1994). 

    The music category may not have many waiting to hear the winner, but regardless of who wins, the choice will be historic.  I'm pulling for Powell and Desplat personally but wish all the nominees the best!  There's always next year!