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The power of music
Oct. 27th, 2009 12:06 pmWe watched Space Rangers at the weekend too.
This series came out on CBS at about the same time as DS9 and B5, and suffered accordingly; it was cancelled after only six episodes. Shame, because it had a lot to recommend it. It uses a lot of the clichés, but in a knowing way which suggests that it was quite deliberate, and the characters were likeable and interesting.
What struck me most, though, was the theme music, which turned out to be by Hans Zimmer (now, of course, a big name, known for the second and third Pirates movies among others). Watching and listening to the opening credits, one fact struck me: the theme music has enormous power when it comes to shaping the way you will perceive the characters. Linda Hunt, who is a fine actress, plays the base commander in the series. So you have the images of the main leads, engaged in various strenuous and violent activities while the music surges and flows towards the climax, and then almost at the end you have crashing chords over held tremolando strings, and the image of this tiny woman in grey, standing perfectly still, speaking to the people around her and making little, precise gestures that match the crashing chords exactly. This, to me, does more than any amount of stirring speeches or flamboyant costuming to invest the character with an aura of power and charisma, so that when you see her in the episode you immediately flash back to that image and think "here is someone to be reckoned with."
I can't think of any other series that used the theme music this way. Thoughts?
This series came out on CBS at about the same time as DS9 and B5, and suffered accordingly; it was cancelled after only six episodes. Shame, because it had a lot to recommend it. It uses a lot of the clichés, but in a knowing way which suggests that it was quite deliberate, and the characters were likeable and interesting.
What struck me most, though, was the theme music, which turned out to be by Hans Zimmer (now, of course, a big name, known for the second and third Pirates movies among others). Watching and listening to the opening credits, one fact struck me: the theme music has enormous power when it comes to shaping the way you will perceive the characters. Linda Hunt, who is a fine actress, plays the base commander in the series. So you have the images of the main leads, engaged in various strenuous and violent activities while the music surges and flows towards the climax, and then almost at the end you have crashing chords over held tremolando strings, and the image of this tiny woman in grey, standing perfectly still, speaking to the people around her and making little, precise gestures that match the crashing chords exactly. This, to me, does more than any amount of stirring speeches or flamboyant costuming to invest the character with an aura of power and charisma, so that when you see her in the episode you immediately flash back to that image and think "here is someone to be reckoned with."
I can't think of any other series that used the theme music this way. Thoughts?