Great Soundtrack, Shame About the Film
About this episode
Mark and Jack explore the relationship between film music and the films themselves, discussing notable soundtracks and the challenges of a creative career.
Recorded in the mosquito-infested fields of Latitude Festival, Mark and Jack dig into film music to mark the paperback release of Mark's book Surround Sound: The Stories of Movie Music, co-written with Jenny Nelson. They talk composer-director shorthand including John Williams and the "shark" scene from Jaws , Hans Zimmer and Christopher Nolan's one-page brief for Interstellar; they discuss the "great soundtrack, shame about the film" phenomenon referencing S. Darko , Cannibal Holocaust , Exorcist II: The Heretic; and how Jack worked with composer Benjamin Squires on his own short film The Second Time Around . Mark also talks about Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells and the eerie 15/8 time signature that makes The Exorcist 's theme feel so wrong, and gives some hard-won advice on sticking with a creative career when nobody's paying you yet. Titles mentioned in this episode include: Spider-Man The Social Network Drive Interstellar Man of Steel Superman The Lord of the Rings Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy The Wolfman (2010) Jennifer 8 S. Darko Donnie Darko Cannibal Holocaust Exorcist II: The Heretic The Exorcist Don't Look Now E.T. Jaws Jurassic Park You Were Never Really Here There Will Be…
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