The Marvel Symphonic Universe

0:04 So I have a question for you.

0:06 Off the top of your head could you sing any music from Star Wars?

0:29 How about James Bond?

0:40 Harry Potter?

0:56 My last question: can you sing anything from a Marvel movie?

1:04 I'm like the biggest Marvel fan that I know and I just...

1:07 I can't think of any of the songs.

1:17 No.

1:17 No...

1:19 I should know this, but I don't.

1:22 Shit.

1:27 I didn't know they have, like, theme songs.

1:31 Why is this?

1:33 Because the Marvel cinematic universe is

1:35 now the highest-grossing franchise in film history.

1:38 More than Star Wars, more than James Bond,

1:40 more than Harry Potter, so what is missing from their music?

1:57 The first problem is that most of the music doesn't evoke an emotional response.

2:00 Take a look at this scene from the first Ironman: Day 11.

2:05 Test 37.

2:07 Configuration 2.0 For lack of a better option Dummy is still on fire safety.

2:10 If you douse me again and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college.

2:15 All right, nice and easy.

2:17 It's kind of hard to hear it.

2:18 So let's try that one more time, But this time with just the music isolated.

2:37 Did you have an emotional reaction to that music?

2:40 So what happens to the scene if we just take it out?

2:43 Day 11.

2:45 Test 37.

2:46 Configuration 2.0 For lack of a better option Dummy is still on fire safety.

2:51 If you douse me again and I'm not on fire, I'm donating you to a city college.

2:54 All right, nice and easy.

2:57 The scene works just fine and it doesn't need any other sound.

3:00 And that's partially why you forget the music.

3:02 it's like the air conditioner in the background, after awhile you tune it out.

3:07 Another problem is that the music is used very predictably.

3:10 So that what you see is what you get.

3:13 If you see something funny you hear funny music.

3:29 If you see something sad, you hear a high note on the strings.

3:44 This is a really safe way to score a film,

3:47 because all of the emotions are expected.

3:49 The music just tells you the same thing as the picture.

3:52 If someone looks scared, then you hear:

4:01 And this is the second reason the music is forgettable.

4:04 It never challenges your expectations.

4:07 But sometimes the Marvel films do have memorable music,

4:10 except the filmmakers don't let us listen to it.

4:13 Instead they cover it up with other sounds

4:15 like this: Denied enlistment due to poor health,

4:24 Steven Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the annals of American warfare,

4:29 one that would transform him into the world's first super soldier.

4:37 That narrator is just telling us things we already know,

4:40 And he distracts us from the emotion of the scene.

4:43 So how does this moment play without that distraction?

5:14 Did you feel the difference?

5:17 Film music is incredibly subjective and it goes through trends.

5:21 And over the last 20 years there has been a cultural shift.

5:25 Nowadays a lot of filmmakers feel that music should not be noticed,

5:29 That's a contemporary thing that I've heard very frequently,

5:32 "not supposed to be noticed" Right but, why is it not supposed to be noticed?

5:36 I grew up on Alfred Hitchcock's films,

5:39 Bernard Herrmann, and i noticed every note.

5:42 And I find it a little bit baffling why

5:44 that seems to be the consciousness of music and film.

5:49 But there is one thing we haven't mentioned yet and it's very important.

5:53 Today blockbuster movie scores are composed to a particular process,

5:57 And that process starts with one controversial element:

6:02 Danny you groaned earlier when someone mentioned temp music, the pros and cons?

6:08 For me temp music is the bane of my existence it's

6:13 my job to make the director forget everything he's heard in the temp,

6:17 I won't listen to it but once, I'll never listened to it twice,

6:20 and if they're addicted to it it's just going to make my job harder.

6:24 Let's back up a second: temp music is when you're editing a film,

6:27 and you take music from another movie and use it temporarily in your cut

6:31 like this: Tenp music is always supposed

6:58 to be replaced by composers' original score.

7:00 But sometimes directors or producers will

7:03 tell their composer to imitate the temp.

7:35 To our knowledge, this is the only time

7:37 a studio has publicly apologized for imitating temp music.

7:41 The far more pervasive effect is that now

7:44 most blockbusters are temped with each other's scores.

7:47 So they kind of sound like each other, but just within legal limits.

8:34 And as the Marvel franchise has become more popular,

8:36 now other films sound like they were tempt with Marvel music.

9:08 We want to emphasize: we're not blaming the composers.

9:12 Things don't get this way unless its systemic.

9:43 Before temp music became popular,

9:45 directors would often reference other music as a way to talk to the composer.

9:50 But what changed everything was modern nonlinear

9:52 editing which allowed a director to put

9:54 their favorite music in the movie and have the editor cut to it.

10:02 Now, director points to the temp and says: "Make it like that".

10:05 And it's not because the music is the right choice,

10:08 but because they've listened to it.

10:10 Again and again and again for hours and hours making a DVD that match

10:13 and they go back with another idea another

10:15 version the next day with the same music,

10:17 and at some point of the music stick to the picture.

10:20 They can spend a year before you arrive.

10:24 By the way when you take that music out often

10:28 the cut isn't right because they're cutting to something that...

10:33 It's very frustrating.

10:35 Part of the frustration is that filmmakers just

10:37 reuse things that worked in every other movie,

10:40 so you end up with the lowest common denominator.

10:42 Remember this?

10:47 Let's try something different.

10:49 So earlier in the film,

10:51 Thor convinced his friends to do something illegal and he was banished.

10:55 Now they're doing something illegal to find him.

10:58 He's not asking for their help, they're giving it willingly.

11:02 What if we heard this feeling in the music?

11:20 We're not saying this is the right choice here, but it's worth trying out.

11:25 Because it makes the scene emotionally richer.

11:28 And all of the choices you see in Marvel films:

11:31 the background noise, hearing what you see, adding a narrator, temp music.

11:37 All of these stem from the same desire: to keep things safe.

11:43 This is not bad music, it's just bland and inoffensive.

11:49 And because Marvel sacrifices emotional richness for these safe choices,

11:53 the end result is this: Oh...

12:04 Marvel?

12:06 Na- oh...

12:10 So what is missing from Marvel music?

12:14 Risk.

12:15 The kind of risk that creates an emotional connection with the audience.

12:18 So that they carry the music with them.

12:22 People do not remember safe choices.

12:24 Only bold original music, and do this: But that being said,

12:33 we did find one Marvel theme that still got this reaction: Spiderman!

12:42 Spiderman!

12:43 Friendly neighborhood Spiderman!

12:45 Spins web any size, catch thieves, just like flies.

12:49 Look out!

12:51 Here comes Spider-man!

12:53 Is he strong?

12:55 Listen bud, he's got radioactive blood.

12:57 Can he swing from a thread Take a look overhead.

13:01 Hey there There goes the Spiderman.

13:05 In the chill of night At the scene of a crime

13:08 Like a streak of light He arrives just in time.

13:14 Spiderman, Spiderman, Friendly neighborhood Spiderman, Wealth and fame,

13:18 He's ignored, Action is his reward.

13:21 To him, life is a great big bang up.

13:25 Wherever there's a hang up, You'll find the Spider man.

13:29 -That was incredible!

13:31 Thank you so much!

13:33 Subtitles by the Amara.org community