Soundtrack Appreciation

I've always enjoyed making my studies more dramatic through the use of instrumental soundtracks from various action movies. They tend to create an arc that keeps me focused and provides natural study breaks--often timed well to my reading selections as well, surprisingly enough. Theology usually feels dramatic to me, but when it has Hans Zimmer movement behind it, there's a different aura altogether in following a line of reasoning.

But as Steve and I work late into the night on a soundtrack for a 3 minute short, I have a newfound appreciation for original scores. The complexity and movement that makes movie music good almost feels unnatural -- things shouldn't move that fast, it can't build too quickly, there's not enough tension for this scene, etc. Creating music for something other than the music is no easy task. Rather, the music here plays an illustrative role; it has to enhance and support what's happening on screen but not distract from it. Assembling music that fits the mood is difficult because fittingly representing the some aspect of the complexity of humanity in the space of 3 minutes--or 120 for that matter--is just hard.

Previous to working on the soundtrack this evening, I was completing an ethical position paper for a class I took this January. I found myself very wary of how I was wording things and cautiously choosing my terms. I could tell that, on this particular topic, it seems that the words Christians use ought to be more like the soundtrack to our ethos and pathos. Our speech has to be fitting and supportive--even enhance at times--but can never distract from the life being lived. In reality, it seems that we try to make up for the lack of good action on screen by pumping out high energy or overly emotive descriptions of how things are; we make our speech primary when it should play a supporting role. This is odd in the same way that dropping the Gladiator soundtrack under the first Lord of the Rings would be odd. It's not entirely inappropriate, it's just a bit heavy-handed for the kind of epic movie that Lord of the Rings is. And it's not designed for that. Rather, our words must be tailored to our lives, representative of our lives and bringing new light and nuance to our own complexities.