Well, it has to be consistent, it has to be short, and it has to be repeated. The "Incredible Hulk" television series is a good example. Hulk shows up on screen? Some tuba/bassoon/upright bass will go "Bum-bum-BAAAAAHM-bum." Banner goes hiking down a highway? Cue the piano "bah-daah-da-daaaaah" etc. One of the songs on the Star Wars soundtrack is called "Princess Leia's theme" for a reason.
The theme should be obvious. There will be times where the theme goes solo, front and center, and is obvious in its obviousness. (Close Encounters of the Third Kind). It could be the initial hit (Harry Potter), it could be at the end of a prominent buildup that screams, "Here comes the theme!" (Superman the movie). It could be the only slow-moving line over an otherwise busy background (Terminator). They could make it "the hook" (Beverly Hills Cop). Whatever they do with it is gonna set it apart from the rest of the piece, call attention to it, and somehow make it the focal point.
EDIT: wow a lot happened in the 2hrs it took to surreptitiously cobble this together at work.
--Patrick
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Sorry, not me.[DOUBLEPOST=1473798373,1473798332][/DOUBLEPOST]Who did Police Academy?
GasBandit
Staff member
A very prolific gentleman named Robert Folk.Sorry, not me.[DOUBLEPOST=1473798373,1473798332][/DOUBLEPOST]Who did Police Academy?
http://m.imdb.com/name/nm0006077/
"Da dada da DA, da da daaa; da dada da DA, DAT-da-dah!"
(waits for @ThatNickGuy to start singing along...)
(waits for @ThatNickGuy to start singing along...)
GasBandit
Staff member
No, no, no, it goes "Dah dada da dah, DAH DAH dah. Dah dada da dah, DAT dadah!
I have no idea what tune you're "singing" here.
...
Okay, that's it, turn in the cape.
Chris Reeve is rolling in his grave right now.
Your response immediately followed a video from Civil War, so I thought it was some kind of a Marvel tune. And I don't understand the context in the first place.
You might want to work on your hum-writing, it made no sense to me either and I love that theme.
I still wouldn't recognize it. Guess I'm not good at reading music written out like this.
Without meter (or context), it's still difficult to figure out, so don't feel bad.
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
I'm surprised there's only one fortissimo on the "DAT Da daaaah!"My attempt at making it recognizable:
There is the crescendo up from mezzo-piano (and the accented fall), but it only goes up to forte, not fortissimo (fortissimo is "ff"). Gotta save some for later, you know.
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
That's what fortississimo is for.
FTFY
(yeah, I know. I didn't make the rules.)
But of course then you get some guy who's like:
<drama voice>"I want it to sound like THE BIG BANG!"</drama voice>
source
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
You know, I thought it was forte-fortissimo too, but I figured after getting fortissimo mixed up with forte, I better double check, and wikipedia says what I put.
Anyway, here's a trailer for Monty Python and the Holy Grail recut to look like a gritty epic action drama.
And for those who want to hear about more temp music shenanigans, they've got you covered over here.
--Patrick
--Patrick
Y'know, when I watch MCU movies, I notice that they do use leitmotif a bit. For example, Captain America's theme plays when he does something particularly impressive or heroic:
I will acknowledge that if you asked me to hum Captain America's theme right off the bat, though, I wouldn't be able to do it.
I will acknowledge that if you asked me to hum Captain America's theme right off the bat, though, I wouldn't be able to do it.
GasBandit
Staff member
See, I couldn't even pick out which part was the Cap theme in that. The music they use is that forgettable.
It's the brass fanfare when he's jumping from the car to the truck.
Though I do take your point. The MCU definitely tries to hide their background music rather than building memorable themes.