Exam Post 2

(https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/chasing-coral-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/id1287199205

Please watch the following trailer before reading:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6fHA9R2cKI

Playlist of Songs Mentioned:

https://open.spotify.com/user/mg_wanna_be/playlist/6owokr5Lr9NWhpY1wj4tnP

Kristen Bell dMusic Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7vOQ3M_FJY

Originally I was going to write about the music from the hit series “Stranger Things” and talk about how the composers used elements of 80s music to tailor the period piece to its characters and keep it young. However, 2 days ago I watched a documentary called “Chasing Coral” and I have decided to change my topic to the music from it. This is a Netflix documentary about coral bleaching and the importance of our oceans to the health of out planet directed by Jeff Orlowski with music by Dan Romer and Saul Simon MacWilliams. You might be thinking that music and art and film are not the main focus of a topic such as climate change, but it is actually the exact opposite. Since there are no “characters” per say, but scientists and marine life instead, this score is not a part of the movie in a traditional sense, which makes it that much more interesting to me.

The role of music in this film is to pull people in. Science is not typically a subject that people want to watch movies about unless forced to by a teacher or grandparent, so when making this film about such a pressing and important issue, the directors, scientists, and composers all had to work together to make this a compelling and aesthetically interesting movie as opposed to a science project. People do not pay attention to things that they are not interested in and in order to captivate an audience, a good soundtrack is key because music guides your emotions in a movie. If you think about it, some of your favorite movies would probably be quite confusing and certainly less interesting without music in them. The music that makes you feel as if you were the diver filming and swimming next to a Galapagos green turtle in a beautiful reef is the music that pulls you in and makes you listen.

In the opening scene, the song “An Alien World” is playing behind the voice of Richard Vevers, the man behind this idea, talking about the ocean and its beauty and wonder. The music starts off very deep and sort of rumbling, as if to mimic the deep dark blue abyss that is the ocean. As it goes on, the notes get higher and it turns the mood to a sense of wonder. The deep bass behind the front line melody is steadily moving upward, increasing a feeling of curiosity and movement. The echo effect put on the main melody holds it back as if to echo in the style of the waves themselves. The song picks up and the back beat speeds a little and at the end of each phrase, another component or instrument is added, building strength. Eventually it all builds up to a breaking point where it pauses, and then like a crashing wave all of the instruments join in and a leading wind instrument plays a beautiful melody with a large range and an indescribable feeling that could be nothing but the ocean put into song.

The next song that plays is a softer and sadder piece as they show the results of years of irresponsible pollution on a now abandoned coral reef. Starting off dark, deep and a little scary, the music slowly adds in a quiet and hidden line of upbeat continuous notes hidden within the rest of the instruments. In line with the reef theme, the same instrument and the same set of notes are used to create a more somber high melody on top of a low and slow piano for depth. This piece ends each phrase in a downward cadence, one that makes you feel sad even if you don’t know why. It is amazing how just a set of notes paired differently can change your perception of a situation or thing. The contour of this piece is definitely downward, unlike the first which started off questionable as to what direction it would take, but shot upward to exhibit the joy and beauty of the alien world of the ocean.

The composers really did an amazing job of getting the music to make you feel the message conveyed. They even brought in Kristen Bell to perform a song in a more pop style about the ignorance surrounding the issue. Without music, this film would just be some scientists being interviewed about polyps and ocean acidity and no one would watch it but because of the cinematography and score, it is a fantastic movie to watch that takes you on a journey just like a fictional film would.