Background Score - The intensity in Cinema.

                                                        The entire process of filmmaking is an astounding path to understand and interpret our ideas on a larger scale. The making of the entire film is on one hand and choosing the appropriate score for your film for the appropriate scene at the exact second is on the other hand. Such is the power of the background score in a film.

                                                       For example, in ‘The Social Network’, the intensity of the job that the score did to the film is what makes the film what it is now, Fincher’s finest! From the very opening scene where we see the logo of ‘Columbia Pictures’, we hear an interesting score followed by an amazing conversation between Mark and his girlfriend. Let’s break down this scene – suppose, if there was no background score and the movie starts directly, the thoughts in the minds of the audiences would go like this – ‘a regular talk’, ‘boring stuff’ etc., before they even concentrate on what the dialogue is going to be. But when we have the score, the audiences are pulled towards the visuals and the audio that very second making them alert and attentive on what is about to follow.

                                                       Through this simple interpretation, we can understand what score can add to a film. When we look at the montage sequences in this film, the impact and the importance to those sequences is added because of the score in the background. For example, the scenes where students of the Harvard are shown visiting the website ‘Facemash’ and the scene where Mark and Eduardo meet Sean Parker at the restaurant – the importance of those scenes in the film is huge, and the same impact is built making use of the background score.

                                                        Let’s look at Coppola’s greatest contribution to cinema ‘The Godfather’. The movie starts with a background score which’ll make you want to watch it twice. The interesting theme in this film is that the background score is used to merge the scenes – to exemplify, to merge the scenes between the wedding of Connie in the first half an hour of the film’s runtime and the scene where Tom Hagen meets Woltz, an entertaining score is played while a little amount of montage of the aeroplane forms the visual. Another example would be – the scene where Michael kills Sollozzo and McClusky. In this scene, right after Michael kills them, he flees, moments later, a score is heard which’ll make us think how horrible the consequences are going to be. The audiences imagine the power of that scene and the intensity of the scenes that follow based on the score played. Yet another example would be – the scene where Vito Corleone returns home from the hospital. In this scene, Fredo enters Vito’s room where he is resting, moments later, a dissolve is seen and at the same time we hear the score which takes us to Michael who is taking refuge in Sicily. The dissolve wouldn’t have been convincing without the score as it would be with the score.

                                                      Another great job that the background score can do is letting know the audiences the power of a person or a job conducted by him. Sometimes, the silence between the scenes is considered as background score where it conveys the meaning more convincingly than with the score. Example would be – The horrific scene where the horse’s head is found in Woltz’s bed and the scene that follows is the close up of Vito Corleone sitting in a chair with no background score. This scene is more convincing this way than with the score, ‘cause the power of silence should never be underestimated and it establishes the meaning in a simple yet astounding manner and Coppola knows the fact well and hence we see what we see. Another simple example is – when Vito Corleone lies dead in the garden, the scene dissolves to the cemetery and during the merging of these two scenes, the church bells heard acts as the score which conveys more meaning in a simple way. Thus, background score did a great job in making the film a perfect one.

                                                 Let’s look at Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. The amount of pity that we feel towards the Jews being massacred has something to do with the background score. To exemplify, the scene where Amon Goeth and his team incinerate the bodies of Jews killed at the massacre, Schindler sees all the people reduced to ashes. The score that plays during this scene melts the hearts of the audiences especially when Schindler sees the girl in the red coat dead. The amount of pain that Schindler and we feel towards that girl is enormous. One other interesting observation in this film is the liquidation of the ghetto. During this sequence, when the Germans massacre the Jews, we see a German soldier playing piano passionately which becomes the score. The contrast between the audio and the visuals is huge – Jews are being ruthlessly and the score is entertaining. Perhaps, this can explained this way – the massacre of the Jews is shown in Germans’ perspective, meaning, that Germans feel no pity towards Jews or humans for that matter. Hence, the score is entertaining giving us a clue that Germans enjoy it.

                                                   Let’s have a look at Ram Gopal Varma’s Satya, a film is about a person who enters Bombay in search of a job and gets stuck in the mire of the Bombay mafia. In this film, the intense background score all over the movie plays a huge role in deciding the fate of the characters and the film. The major scene to discuss in the film would be the interval scene where after killing Guru Narayan, Mule visits Bhikhu and Satya asking them the reason for the murder – later, when Mule says ‘ Ek gaya apun ke dhande mei, toh sab jayega!’  which is followed by a score that takes the movie to peaks of excitement and the anticipation of the consequences that Bhikhu and Satya are going to face. All ‘cause of the score, the depth in the score.  Similarly, in ‘Sarkar’, during the interval scene, when Sarkar gets to know that he is going to be arrested, a strong score is played creating a sense of fear of what’s going to happen further.

                                                  The meaning the score gives to the scene and the entire film makes Filmmakers choose scores wisely and use them accordingly at the exact moment!

The Cloud Spoke To Me.

When it rains, I smile.
When it doesn't, I cry.
When you're there, I'm alive.
Listen to my heart, listen to my mind
Listen to the music it plays, for, I listen to it all the time.
That look in your eye that shows contentment,
That touch of yours on my heart which is cold enough,
Sky is there, and so are you, for me when I weep!
Your enlightened vision gives me chills, for, there are no such eyes as yours.
I walk through the mist and I think of the possibilities of making a better choice,
to reach you, to touch you, to be with you by your side, for, I'm yours!

And then one day, I laughed.
I laughed at you.
you're the one to weep.
I wept many a times, but it was worth it 'cause I opened my eyes.
I'm enlightened by that very vision of yours
This second, I'm smiling.
I realized that I can be it.
I can be anything as long as I don't weep.
I don't weep anymore, for,
I'm enlightened!

The Road.

I’m bored.

I walk every time I get bored.

I’d walk with a hatful of thoughts in my mind. I get a solution when I think. When I don’t, I don’t.

Well, I am something ain’t I? I am not just another random person you’d see everyday on the bus or at malls. A thousand dreams run down my brain and another thousand thoughts find their way into my brain.

I click sometimes. I click to forget. To forget about the negative ideas in my mind. To remember those days of happiness. To remind myself what I’m capable of.

I’m alone. I follow no one to reach my destiny. I follow the road. I just walk and reach where ever this road takes me. I believe in roads, not in people. And I believe in cigarettes too, yeah, and vodka.

This is my stop. I ended up here today. Tomorrow, someplace else. I travel. Not that it is my passion, but I end up traveling everyday when I walk down this road.

I have someone for me. A girl. Not that she is my girlfriend, but I kind of shared almost everything with her, I din’t know why, I just did.

Then one day suddenly she left me. She left me as if I din’t matter enough to say goodbye. God, I hated her for that. Then I realised, this isn’t permanent.

In life nothing is permanent.

Money – not permanent.

People around you who act as if they care for you – not permanent.

The smell of money – not permanent.

My passion for this camera – not permanent.

I was rich one day and I’m poor some days – also not permanent.

But I choose to be rich every time – I’m sure it’s not what’s gonna happen, but from my side I’m pretty sure that that is what I want to be.

My dreams to achieve the sky – not permanent.

My tattoo - this is a permanent one which says everything in life is not.

I’m walking again, to reach the limits of sky and my dreams, except that there are no limits.

Maybe I’m good.

Maybe I’m evil.

Maybe I’m just another random person you see everyday, or may be I’m famous.

Maybe I don’t exist.

Is this the road to perdition?
Nah, this is my way to heaven.

Nolanalysis - A simple Observation.

The young man : I din’t kill her. I din’t kill anyone. He killed them all. (Following)

Leonard Shelby : John G raped and murdered my wife. Find him and kill him.(Memento)

Will Dormer : I din’t kill my partner by knowledge. There was fog, I couldn’t see.(Insomnia)

Bruce wayne/Batman : someone killed my parents.(The Dark Knight Trilogy)

Alfred Borden : I don’t know which knot I tied. I din’t kill her.(The Prestige)

Dom Cobb : My wife committed suicide. I din’t kill her.(Inception)

The Good and the Bad.

When we speak of Christopher Nolan, we observe his characters symbolizing something in a human being's nature especially of the protagonists as the symbol of good ultimately or at least belonging to that ballpark.

A retrospection - Nolan made 'Following' in the year 1998, his first directional feature, a neo-noir thriller about a guy who takes interest in random people and follows them hoping to find intriguing stuff about their lives. When we look at the protagonist, he's just a random guy we see everyday on roads who apparently represents good for at least some part of the film and ultimately he falls into the category of the good at the end even after he goes out of the line in between. In Following, we have another character who is as important and as genius as the hero but we give him 'the bad guy' credit, 'cause we know of the job he does. See now, this is the point in all of Nolan's films - Nolan creates a character which dignifies 'the good' nature and then creates another character in contrast to 'the good' who obviously is tagged as 'the bad' or at least not good.

In Memento, even though we know that Leonard is going to kill someone, we pity him because we know his condition and his past. we identify him as the guy who is out for justice and not vengeance of any kind. Opposite to him we see Teddy, the corrupt police officer, who at the very first sight comes off as a negative shade. Even when Leonard conducts mistakes or crimes of any kind sometimes, we don't see the negativity in his deeds 'cause that negative impact is buried deep inside covered by his general character.

In The Prestige, we observe that Alfred Borden is out on a mission to win and we see Robert Angier on a mission to defeat his opponent - here lies the whole point of winning and losing, the core philosophy in this interpretation of two magicians is revealed in the climax - Borden wins because he never thought of defeating his opponent, he only thought of winning whereas Angier always strives to shoot down Borden with his ill activities. Though, Borden jeopardises Angier's efforts sometimes, the audiences are given a feel that it is being done for justice or rather the reflection of justice in his acts.

In Insomnia, the brilliant performance by Al Pacino steals the show. Same as other films, Pacino is the idol for truth and good and guilt too whereas Robin Williams being the opponent. At the end of the game, the good half of the character wins and the other half dies trying.

In the Batman trilogy by Nolan, the Batman is always the symbol of hope and trust whereas characters like Joker, Ra's Al Ghul, Bane etc represent the Chaos and as the people who want to see the world burn. The interesting theme in the Dark Knight trilogy is that even few unethical aspects like lying, hiding the truth, exploiting people or technology doesn't sound so bad because ultimately everything is done to save something valuable. For example, when Harvey Dent is dead, Gordon thinks of letting people know of what Harvey did, but Batman doesn't want the people of Gotham to lose hope in Harvey, so he takes the entire blame onto himself - hiding the truth/lying to save the reputation and maintain justice. The Joker represents the evil that is present in everybody's mind and apparently Joker knows this fact well, so, he does something out of the box to prove his point. But ultimately the good wins showing that truth and hope prevail. There are many other points in this film where 'lying' becomes the important part of the film and the characters in identifying themselves among others - one other such situation is Harvey Dent turning himself in to the police as Batman to save the true identity of Batman and obviously to get to the Joker. And yet one other such situation that includes is when Wayne saves Coleman Reese from being killed using his lamborghini which makes the police appreciate his effort but then Wayne acts simply strange that he din't know who he just saved making a serious situation humorous yet taking the film forward. They say that 'lying only makes it worse', well, not in a Nolan movie.
Alongside Batman, people who represent the good are Gordon. Though Harvey Dent is also on the same side, he decides to switch sides once he faces his two-face structure literally.

Inception which deals with the dreams also contains the good guy, bad guy routine where Dom Cobb takes the side of guilt and pain gaining pity and Mal being the evil structure that jeopardizes his job and life. The pity towards the character of Cobb is added when we meet Arthur and Ariadne who show their perception on Cobb when they get to know his past.

The depth of the ideas that Nolan incorporates into his films will make him stand out of the crowd. All the recurring themes are part of the ideology of Nolan where the characters are either good or in the feel of guilt or experiencing a mental disturbance.

When we discuss about the philosophy that Nolan drops in his films, the philosophy of the negative characters are as intriguing and intense as the heroic characters. Joker believes that people show who they really are in their last moments, meaning, that they are not living their life the way people have been thinking all along. There is no change in people's characters but only there is a mask on their original character which they get rid of before they die according to joker. In depth, this philosophy and idea by Joker sounds right when we look at the society we live in. But then we'll want to accept the statement of Batman and his optimism when he proves that Joker is wrong.

The hero will be only as great as the villain. This statement by Nolan makes him build negative characters as great as heroes. That is why we've got great villains like Joker, Walter Finch, Bane, Ra's al Ghul and Cobb.

Martin - The Master.

Wiseguy.

From the violent realism of MEAN STREETS, TAXI DRIVER, and RAGING BULL to the romance of ALICE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANY MORE, the black comedy of AFTER HOURS, and the burning controversy of THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST, Martin Scorsese’s uniquely versatile vision has made him one of the cinema’s most acclaimed directors. Martin Scorsese, the person who rebooted the gangster genre with his movies like MEAN STREETS, TAXI DRIVER, GOODFELLAS, THE DEPARTED, CASINO.

                            If there is any 'BEST BLOODSHED AWARD', Martin Scorsese deserves it. This need not to be a fact, but one will accept this after seeing his movies. Over realistic blood and hardcore blood have become a part of his movies.

                            He is the one who stood as a ladder for the peak success of actors like Robert De Niro, Leonardo Di Caprio.

                            The collaboration of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro started in 1973 with "MEAN STREETS" and from then De Niro is known to the world as an ultimate actor who does not allow anybody to lose concentration from him when he is on screen.

                             Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver remains a landmark work of cinema. An iconic depiction of loneliness, violence and urban alienation, Scorsese’s film stands out within that period of American cinema during the late 1960s and 1970s often referred to as its last Golden Age. Beyond Taxi Driver’s cultural significance, the film is also important in the context of Scorsese’s career through the creative relationships that it helped forge, and which would shape the director’s work in the years that followed.

                            The phrase " YOU TALKIN' TO ME ? "  in TAXI DRIVER is often considered as one of the best and most influential scenes in the history of cinema.

                             Goodfellas, is different from Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, in that it portrays violence in a slightly different way. Scorsese has said that Goodfellas is about the "attraction to that world. That is what I grew up with and I understood. As you become older you begin to understand this is negative, this is not right, but there is still an attraction. "

                             His stories of machismo, guilt and violence in American society are unforgettable, one of the greatest film of all time "MEAN STREETS". A tale about urban sin and pressure from the streets. Charlie, Johnny Boy, Tony and Michael are the characters in the film who represent different people that common people might have faced in their life, Charlie being the one that gets by, Johnny Boy -the playboy, it’s a very deep story and it has shot in such an incredible way. Backed up with an extraordinary soundtrack from great artists. His  films inspires many  to become  filmmakers because of its originality.

                              Interviewing Martin Scorsese is like taking a master class in film. Entertainment is what all it matters to scorsese and that is the reason why entertaining background score is played in some fight scenes of his films and "MEAN STREETS" for instance. In an interview Scorsese was asked " why is it that the background score is entertaining in your movies during fight scenes?" " Because I'm not the one who is being beaten up , I find it interesting" laughs Scorsese.

                              One will be definitely surprised on seeing the sadistic and animalistic character of Jake La Motta played by De Niro in "RAGING BULL" and the " BEST SADISTIC ACTOR " goes to ROBERT DE NIRO. Thanks to MARTIN SCORSESE !!

                              HUGO is  another film directed by Scorsese which completely deviated the audiences from his previous films and it is critically acclaimed for its breath taking screenplay.

                              You couldn’t help but get chills as you looked into Martin Scorsese’s eyes.  After more than 35 years of film making, Martin Scorsese finally won his Academy Award for " THE DEPARTED ".To understand Martin Scorsese one must keep in mind his roots. Mr. Scrosese grew up in a neighborhood where violence was simply a way of life. Since the birth of narrative film violence has been a strong presence. The violence in The Great Train Robbery has little resemblance to reality, but violence is, none the less, present. The final shot of "GOODFELLAS" in which a character [JOE PESCI] shoots a gun directly at the audience is a direct homage to this history.

                              As we examine his films, let us keep in mind that it is not simply about the presence of violence, but the glorification of violence. The mere fact that a film contains violence does not mean that it glorifies it. I would further argue that a film that the amount of violence in a film does not always play into whether a film glorifies violence. In each of these films Mr. Scorsese shows us three violent subjects. A war film would not be criticized for containing a substantial amount of violence.Why then, should we apply a different standard to films about the violent world of the mafia, or the mind of a disturbed killer?

To be Or Not To be (A Gangster)

GOODFELLAS - the one movie that rebooted the whole gangster genre in the 1990s.
As Henry Hill [Ray Liotta] says in the movie "to me being a gangster is better than being the president of the united states " - the attraction is simple and convincing to the world of crime.

When you watch the movie you better be paying attention to the current situation of crime world or else you will be attracted to that world inspired from Henry Hill , Jimmy Conway and Tommy De Vito who are played by Ray Liotta , Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci respectively. Directed in highly stylish manner by Martin Scorsese who is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers living today, among his friends Steven Spielberg , George Lucas , Francis Ford Coppola.

More or less it doesn't matter you'll get attracted to being a gangster after watching breathtaking performances from the three main characters in the film.

A movie that is ahead of people and filmmaking techniques made it one of the best crime dramas.
The Copacabana scene in the movie where Henry Hill takes his girl friend, Karen into the restaurant from the back entrance is a famous steady cam shot without a cut. The importance of steady cam is known to filmmakers of this generation on watching the scene where it is considered as one of the best shots in the history of cinema and also being taught in film schools about the importance of the shot and the movie.

The guns and bullets including the girls in the movie influence your mind to that extent where even a gun in your hand would make you feel proud because of it’s power taking you to new heights in the world.

Joe Pesci - you'll never forget him after watching him in the movie as a short- tempered gangster, Tommy De Vito, and that the sadism in his character would just give you chills.

Never mind the abusive words in the film for, without them a gangster movie would look dumb.

FYI , the word "FUCK " has been used about 296 times in the movie about being more than half used by Tommy [Joe Pesci].

This flick after you watch will make you Wiseguy or a Good guy...!

The last one thing that could be learned from the movie is what Jimmy says to Henry when he is out of a case
" Never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut ".