# Scoring: Spotting: What are the best movies/tv series to study?



## x-dfo (May 6, 2020)

I'm getting more curious about the art of scoring, and am figuring out the basics of good spotting - like when to use music and when not - what to accentuate etc.

I wanted to hear about which are the best movies/tv series to watch for this kind of art?

Cheers,


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## JohnG (May 6, 2020)

The worse the movie, the more music they want.

Also:

1. Want gritty reality? Avoid music.
2. Want 'another world of magic / outer space / dreamland?" Lots of music.

Apart from that spotting probably depends more on the director's taste than anything else. I could NOT BELIEVE for example that "1917," the WWI epic movie, didn't really feature a melody. It's not like T. Newman, the composer for that pic, can't write one, either -- he's written a million.


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## x-dfo (May 6, 2020)

JohnG said:


> The worse the movie, the more music they want.
> 
> Also:
> 
> ...


Yes I always thought that was obvious about shows that have constant music noodling around. 
I assumed spitting was a director/composer undertaking.


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## JohnG (May 6, 2020)

x-dfo said:


> I assumed spotting was a director/composer undertaking.



Spotting is, as you wrote, done typically by the director and composer on a film. On a TV show it's typically the composer in combination with a producer, though sometimes a director will weigh in. On a video game you don't exactly 'spot' as such, but a lot of people get input on video game music.

Sometimes you meet a hands-off director. Had one on a movie a long while back who came after I'd worked for a week, listened to the first 10-15 minutes of the music, said it was, "great" and then the next time I saw him or he heard any of the music was on the dub stage.

Other guys love music and want to camp out. It varies.

I don't think there's a good way to study spotting, though. It varies a lot by genre and by the budget and by predilections of everyone on the team.


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## Living Fossil (May 7, 2020)

JohnG said:


> The worse the movie, the more music they want.



While you can find countless examples that prove this point, it is also to mention that there are films that could be much better if the director had used more (or better suited) music.
Lots of directors are aware of your quote (in its meaning) and therefore try to avoid giving the music more prominent space.
There are great movies that could be unforgettable movies with the right amount and prominence of music.
I often asked myself, how succesful e.g. the movie "Stranger than fiction" would have been with a soundtrack similar in its appearance as the one for "As good as it gets". 
Of course, music can gild bad acting, but otoh music can also transform great acting into incredible acting.

That's one of the amazing aspects of music in films: 
There are just countless possible approaches.
I always liked the idea of film music that is similar to structure of the music in an Opera (Alban Berg's Wozzeck and Lulu both had an immense impact on my thinking about formal structures)
And there are amazing filmmakers who more or less completely abstain from music (like M. Haneke or some of the Dogma group).

And in between there are still so many different ways.
I once made a lecture about Tarantino's use of music in "Jackie Brown".
And while preparing the paper i was amazed how coherent Tarantino's semantical use of the specific songs was. You can discover Jackie Brown's decision at the end of the film in the choice of the song that is played. And it has – unconsciously – an immense emotional impact because the song underlines JB's strength.
Etc. etc. it's an endless topic


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