As you all know I’m a huge fan of how music is used in movies. Not only do I care about the soundtrack of the film and the use of specific songs for specific scenes, but the score of the movie is equally if not more important. It’s easy to plunk in a billboard hit into any scene, but it’s a lot tougher to come up with sounds to invoke moods and carry scenes on the fly. This is why I have so much respect and admiration for the Hans Zimmers, John Williams, Thomas Newmans, and all the other great composers of the world. It’s because they’re brilliant at moving a film along through music and there’s little if any dialogue needed when they do so.
A great example of this excellence is John Williams’ music in the classic 80s Spielberg hit, Raiders of the Lost Ark. And it’s not just Raiders. Williams uses music effectively and appropriately throughout all of the Indiana Jones films (not to mention ever other movie he’s ever scored). But let’s get back to this particular scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. This is the “Cairo Scene.” It lasts around 4 minutes and when you watch it, really try and listen to the music and how much it matches each and every moment. It’s truly a site to see.
This is why John Williams is a genius.
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