Here we go again. That's right dear readers, for 24 hours only, The October Country will be acting as your gateway to the expanded soundtracks of the trendsetting Scream film scores. Why are we doing this you ask? Well, for starters we can't think of a better occasion that in celebration of the return of the legendary franchise next week with the release of Scream 4 (April 15th). Secondly, do we need a reason to ceremonialize composer (Academy Award nominated at that) Marco Beltrami's stunning, memorable, moving and frightening work within this film series (incidentally not only is he extremely talented but he is also a very handsome man, how many good looking composers are there, like 5?)? No, I thought not. Much like everything else associated with the Scream namesake, Beltrami's modernized scores brought the film music of the slasher genre screeching into the 20th century (seeing as how it languished for nearly a decade in cheap, throwaway synth compositions and generally made due by ripping off everything that became stale during it's height in the 80's). In fact, so influential and effective were Beltrami's scores for the Scream films, that select pieces from them went on to be featured not only partially in other horror films (NC-17 in Robert Rodriguez's and Kevin Williamson's The Faculty, which Beltrami also scored) but also almost entirely, as was the case with Steve Miner's Halloween: H20 (sharing responsibilities with John Ottman's and John Carpenter's relegated to the side lines contributions, a move both effective and terribly annoying for fans of the classic Halloween themes, reworked or traditional). Even though its been ten long years since all that business, Marco Beltrami's exciting compositions to this day remain some of the most memorable and recognizable horror film tracks ever committed to film. But before we get to the music itself, shall we dig a little deeper to further put things in context?
Scream's Music*
The score for the Scream series was provided by Marco Beltrami, starting with Scream in what was his feature film debut. Beltrami was brought onto the production of Scream after director Wes Craven's assistant Julie Pleck requested input on the now defunct site Hollywood Cafe asking for opinions on what was "new", "fresh" and "wonderful" and was provided with Beltrami's name by several people. Craven sent for samples of Beltrami's work and was impressed by what he heard, bringing him to the set to view the first thirteen minutes of the film featuring the introduction and murder of the character Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore). Craven had Beltrami produce music based on this scene and then demonstrate it, impressing Craven enough to hire him. For Scream (1996), the decision was made to intentionally use music to raise the tension in scenes where it was unnecessary when the characters were entering a situation where the audience may expect a killer to suddenly appear, only to not deliver on that expectation, part of the film's theme of playing with horror conventions. Craven and editor Patrick Lussier provided Beltrami with advice on how best to deliver the music during scary and tense scenes as Beltrami had no prior experience in developing a horror score. Beltrami intentionally avoided conventional horror score styles and approached the film as a western, taking influence from Ennio Morricone, prolific composer of many western films, in the creation of Scream's music. When scoring a theme for the character of Dewey, Beltrami approached him as a Sheriff but also as a "quirky" character, using a Morricone-style guitar accompaniment to maintain the Western approach. An acoustic cover of Blue Öyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper plays softly in the background to Sidney and Billy's discussion of their relationship, which analyst Jeff Smith describes as:
“An ironic comment on the brutality we have just seen in the opening sequence. More importantly, however, the allusion to the Blue Öyster Cult classic recasts the song's title by literalizing its meaning. While the title itself invokes the Reaper as a popular symbol for death, the film presents us with an actual person, who not only dresses as the Grim Reaper but also unleashes homicidal vengeance on the other characters of the film. The irony here, of course, is that Billy himself proves to be one of the film's dual slashers and is, in fact, the "Reaper" to be feared.”
The theme tune of Sidney Prescott, entitled Sidney's Lament became a signature track for the series, variations of the tune appearing across the score of Scream, Scream 2 , Scream 3 and Scream 4. The track features a female choral arrangement expressing "sorrow" concerning the fate of the character. In Scream, Beltrami stated that the voice "spoke" for the character, "lamenting" the loss of her mother. In future films it went on to represent the murders and ensuing trauma inflicted on her. Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks called the "haunting" vocals of the track the "voice of the franchise". The track Sid Wears a Dress features in the finale of Scream 3 where the sorrowful chorus of Lament gradually shifts key to represent "hope" for the character's future following the resolution of her storyline in what was then the final film in the series. The female voice would be accompanied by a male addition for the first time in Pied a Terror from Scream 3 to represent the brother (Roman played by Scott Foley) of the character.
Beltrami returned for Scream 2 (1997) leading the score, though there would be a late inclusion by Danny Elfman in the form of the choral track Cassandra Aria. In addition, excerpts from the score of Broken Arrow by Hans Zimmer appeared in the film, in particular guitar work by Duane Eddy, for the character Dewey, replacing many of the character's related tracks from the original Scream score. Beltrami later explained that the Zimmer piece was used as a scratch track for test screening purposes before the score was finalized. The test audience reaction to it influenced the studio keep the Zimmer piece, reducing Dewey's Theme, which Beltrami had composed to fill it's place, to minor use during more serious scenes involving the character. The Zimmer-piece would continue to be used in Scream 3 during scenes concerning the evolving relationship between the characters of Dewey and Gale with Beltrami appropriating and adding his own influence to the piece to blend it into the thematic Scream 3 score.
For Scream 3, Beltrami employed seven orchestrators to aid in scoring the extensive orchestral accompaniment featured in the films score. Additionally, he experimented with new styles of sound production by recording instruments in abnormal circumstances such as inserting objects into a piano and recording at various velocities to create a distorted, unnatural sound and modifying the results electronically.
So there you have it, a brief historical reference point which hopefully has aided you dear readers, in appreciating Marco Beltrami's chilling music even more. Here's also hoping that these albums will provide you a soundtrack for the coming week as you prepare for the premiere of Scream 4. Included below are Beltrami's complete, expanded scores for the first three Scream films (as far as we are aware, never before commercially released or available though they have been plentifully available elsewhere online for ages) in addition to a small preview of his work on Scream 4 (which can be pre-ordered and purchased here and here, but beware, it's track listing could be considered very spoilery) that also contains two tracks from 4's teaser and theatrical trailers. Our suggestion? Turn off all the lights and crank the volume. Just don't answer the phone.
Scream
01. Opening Logo
02. The Game Begins
03. Sid´s Window
04. Trouble In Woodsboro
05. Gut Someone
06. Sidney´s Lament
07. Red Herring
08. Killer Calls Sid
09. Chasing Sidney
10. Sid Looks
11. Billy Looks
12. Interrogation
13. Billy To Cell
14. Backdoor Gail
15. Killer Calls Again
16. Back To School
17. In The Hallway
18. Bang Into Billy
19. Bathroom Attack
20. Himbrey´s Last Stand
21. Girl Talk
22. Video Store
23. Sheriff & Dewey
24. Why She´s Here
25. Tatum´s Torture
26. Billy Sting
27. NC-17
28. Late Night with Dewey
29. Off To See Himbrey
30. Prescott´s Car
31. Altered Ego
32. Hairbrush
33. Running For Help
34. Gail Crashes The Van
35. "We All Go A Little Mad"
36. A Cruel World
37. A Killer Confrontation
38. Billy´s Back
39. Red Right Hand
Total Running Time: 1.2 hours
Link:
Someone has taken their love of scary movies one step too far.
Scream 2
01. Opening Logo
02. Maureen & Phil
03. Phil Gets The Point
04. Stage Fright Requiem
05. Cotton On TV
06. Reporters Galore
07. It's Happening Again
08. Trouble At Winsler College
09. News Conference
10. Deputy For A Friend
11. Dewpoint
12. Omega Beta Zeta
13. Cici's Creepies
14. Phone Games
15. Cici Checks Out
16. Gale Gets Scooped
17. Sid's In Trouble
18. Sidney Mourns
19. Copycat Killer
20. Outside The Station
21. Cassandra Aria
22. A Ghostly Image
23. The Breakup
24. Killer Calls The Gang
25. Instant Messenger Of Death
26. Cotton Confronts Sidney
27. At The Station
28. Sundown Search
29. Love Turns Sour
30. Hollow Parting
31. Sid's Wild Ride
32. Running Into Cotton
33. Cassandra Aria Reprise
34. Mickey's Madness
35. A Surprising Partner
36. Hair Trigger Lunatic
37. Cotton To The Rescue
38. They Always Come Back
39. Back In The Saddle
40. It's Over, Sid
41. Gestures
42. Red Right Hand (Scream 2 Version)
Total Running Time: 1.5 hours
Link:
Someone has taken their love of sequels one step too far.
Scream 3
CD 1
01. Here We Go Again
02. Cotton Car
03. 100% Scared
04. Cotton Gets Picked
05. Home Sweet Home
06. Gale Meets Kincade
07. Sunset Pictures
08. Dewey & The Gales
09. At Home With Dad
10. Mother's Watching
11. Boo Balicious
12. Candy Phone
13. Candy Ain't So Sweet
14. The Fall Of Roman
15. Killer Calls Sidney
16. Gale Force
17. Comparing Photos
18. Stone Cold
19. Roll With It
20. Sid Arrives
21. On The Set
22. Randy Returns
23. Searching
24. Leia & The Stormtroopers
25. Sid In The Can
26. Pied A Terror
27. Killer In The Closet
CD 2
01. Crime Scene
02. The Fall Girl
03. Milton Takes Meetings
04. At The Station
05. Dewey Mobile
06. Dewey Mobile (Alternate)
07. Roman Around
08. The Killer's Phone
09. Ghostface Attacks
10. Jennifer's Final Act
11. Dewey Falls For Gale
12. Last Call
13. Sid Joins The Party
14. Unused
15. Sibling Rivalry
16. Sid Gets Shot
17. All In The Family
18. Sid Wears A Dress
19. Sid's Theme
20. Red Right Hand (Scream 3 Version)
Total Running Time: 1.7 hours
Link:
Someone has taken their love of trilogies one step too far.
Scream 4 (Preview)
1. Final Oman 2.0
2. Don't Mess With The Original
3. Hannibal Rising
4. Jill's Amercia
Total Running Time: 11 minutes
Link:
Someone has taken their love of reboots one step too far.
For more on Marco Beltrami, you can visit his official site here.
Scream 4, opening April 15th in theaters nationwide, is released by Dimension Films and stars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Lucy Hale, Shenae Grimes, Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell, Aimee Teegarden, Brittany Robertson, Alison Brie, Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts, Marielle Jaffe, Marley Shelton, Erik Knudsen, Rory Culkin, Nico Tortorella, Anthony Anderson, Adam Brody and Mary McDonnell.
* Content from Wikipedia
**Editor's Note:
All the downloads on here are for evaluation/preview purposes and if you download something that you like, then you should buy the DVD, CD, tape, or vinyl it comes from. Thanks
No comments:
Post a Comment