Film and Soundtrack Talk

On Her Majesty's Secret Service - James Bond 007

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On Her Majesty's Secret Service - James Bond 007 〰️

In this week's edition of Film and soundtrack talk we will be taken through a journey of one of the best films in the James Bond catalogue by me, Jacob Price. As a lifelong fan of the series, I have always had my top five Bond films in the back of my mind always knowing that they are subject to change and usually do. However, there's always been that one film that I could not get my head around why everyone in the Bond community held this film to such a high authority. Until one Sunday evening while I was on one of my weekly Bond marathons, I decided to watch On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I thought to myself “Why not give it one more go? This must be the one where I finally fall in love with this film?” And I don’t know whether it was the fatigue of having been watching films all day or the vodka martini I was drinking but I watched the entire film in one sitting and as the credits rolled...the penny finally dropped. I could now see that this was one of the best films in the entire series. I had always respected the film due to its impact and fantastic soundtrack it possessed but there were certain elements I had never fully connected with until now.

I am a strong believer that films should be watched with little to no interruptions. Of course, there are benefits to being able to stop a film halfway through to get a drink or a snack however, there's a reason that films being played in the cinema do not come with a pause button. To fully engage with the story, characters, music and outcomes of a film it must be watched and enjoyed as a 2-and-a-half-hour journey where one allows themselves to become lost in the story. James Bond films do this perfectly as we are transported to different locations often exotic and magical which makes it easier to become lost in the world of a film. However, it is not just the locations, the story or characters journeys that we must lose ourselves in. It is the soundtrack. In many films (especially the Bond films) the main score will be sprinkled throughout the film at various moments often highlighting a significant moment within the story. A film that does this perfectly is On Her Majesty's Secret Service. 

I was always aware of the impact that On Her Majesty's Secret Service had to the franchise as we must only turn to the most recent film in the series ‘No time To Die’ and notice the influence that On Her Majesty's Secret Service has on the film. From the score itself borrowing Louis Armstrong’s ‘We Have All the Time in The World’, the On Her Majesty's Secret Service theme tune and even seeing one of the film’s main characters meet a similar end to one of the characters in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. 

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

John Barry is one of the most influential and most notable figures in the James Bond franchise. Providing the music to countless Bond movies, he has left his mark on the film's legacy through his legendary soundtracks and scores including On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I have a few favourite bond soundtracks with Casino Royale being No.1 (scored by David Arnold). However, On Her Majesty's Secret Service has always been in my top 3. The film is essentially a love story between James Bond (George Lazenby) and Tracy (Diana Rigg). The score that accompanies it is an absolute triumph. For example, the love scenes between Bond and Tracy are paired with a very soft and melancholic score that follows the two falling in love. From riding horses together through the forest and taking long walks through beautiful gardens while the score (We have all the time in the world) plays over the top of the scene. However, it must be said that the romantic elements to the score are not just what makes this soundtrack great. The skiing scenes in Austria where Bond is being chased by our infamous main villain (Ernst Stavro Blofeld) and his henchmen from the top of Piz Gloria all the way to the bottom of the mountain has intense bellowing baritone horns, trumpets and saxophones which adds a real suspense to the scene. 

At the climax of the film Bond and Tracy are finally wedded. Now, if you’ve seen the film, you will know that Tracy meets a tragic demise by the hands of Blofeld and his henchwoman Irma Bunt an assassination carried out on the happiest days of Bond’s and Tracy’s lives. When it is revealed that Tracy has been shot and killed an instrumental theme of, We Have All the Time in The World plays in the background which makes this gut retching tragedy all the more devastating and without this we (as an audience) wouldn’t feel the pain for these characters as much as we already do.

A good soundtrack can really make a movie. When I watch a film, I often listen out for how good the soundtrack is and I attribute this to watching the James Bond films as a boy and now a young man, teaching me what good cinema soundtracks should sound like. On Her Majesty's Secret Service is one of the best Bond scores in the entire franchise and is still relevant today as it was 50 years ago.

Jacob Price 

Film & Soundtrack Talk

In the house – in a heartbeat. 28 days later and its seminal score.

28 days later is one of the most well-regarded and well-rounded zombie horror films ever made. With Danny Boyle at the helm as director and a stellar cast to boot with stars such as Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, and Christopher Eccleston.

28 days later has gone on to be a cultural hit and most people may find the song to be synonymous with an outbreak of a zombie apocalypse if one was to ever break out with its dreary tones and a tip toe style of piano playing makes you truly wonder what could be lurking around the corner. 

‘In the house – In a heartbeat’ is a song that can only be described as a brooding beast waiting to be unleashed upon the crowd. The song starts with the piano and the bass, with the guitar being brought in at around the thirty second mark while drums being played softly in the background with very slight hits of the ride cymbal and the banging on the floor tom to keep the song moving.

It’s not until the use of crashing cymbals do you realise that what we’re hearing is echoing the action that’s taking place on screen. We see our main protagonist of Jim (Cillian Murphy) fighting desperately to get back to his group as he mows down various enemies including zombies and most notably his group’s captors. The soundtrack bellows through the screen and like all (good) movies have you rooting for the character even more. 

At the climax of the action, the song comes to a surprising conclusion. The song wraps itself up with a very mellow almost dream like end utilising soft guitar playing and the rest of the instruments being put to one side. This dream like end echoes how the film feels towards the conclusion of the story.

The film is shot in a very grainy way that adds to the grit and style that the film portrays. The streets are empty, everything has been shut down and humanity as we know it has gone. Although, at the very end when our group escapes the clutches of evil and appears to have made it to a safe place the film is being shown in a much less grainy and grittier look and style and is much more vibrant, colourful, and inviting which mirrors the end of the song.

 In the house – in a heartbeat truly encapsulates the sense of despair that an apocalypse would make you feel and for a song to do that is a mark of a true classic.

Jacob Price 

Film & Soundtrack Talk

The use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound in The Exorcist

Exorcist is one of the most influential films of all time.

Someone may watch The Exorcist today and not realise that at the time of its release in 1973 it was the scariest, most horrifying and controversial film ever made. By today's standards, the exorcist is considered not as scary due to images and videos people see every day on their phones which we can attribute to social media, the rise of YouTube, the internet and Images of real-life crime and tabooed and more niche horror movies and genres.

However, the fact still remains that the use of sound and the soundtrack itself is still as haunting and fear-inducing as it was 49 years ago. From my own experience I had heard and was listening to tubular bells from the age of 10. I couldn’t quite put into words the feeling and the emotion that would take hold, but I just knew that from listening to the music on YouTube and the image that accompanies it was something made of nightmares.

The dark shadowy figure of a man in a hat, holding a briefcase, staring up at the room with the possessed Regan. Illuminated by nothing but a streetlamp and the title of the film hanging over the poster, ‘THE EXORCIST’ is shaded in dark purple. 

If anyone reading this has seen the exorcist, you will be able to recall a particular scene in which the possessed girls head spins around 360 degrees. The sound of her bones cracking, the ease in what should be the impossible way her head spins right around as if it’s about to pop off, the head you are met with once the head finally spins round is a maniacal, evil being that has taken hold of this once sweet and innocent girl.

This sound was made with an old leather wallet being scrunched up while being held up to a microphone. You see, what fascinates me about foley and the use of sound in films is the way that the simplest of everyday items and objects can be used in such a way that it invokes fear and pulls out an emotion in you that you didn’t even know existed. An old leather wallet (if used correctly) can invoke fear into you.

I often wonder if foley artists are ever able to watch a film in the same way that the general public can. Do foley artists ever sit down to watch a film and lose themselves in a great horror movie or is it the case that they can’t because they know how certain sounds are produced?

If there’s is a noise say, for example, a faint whisper or a screech coming from a dark corridor that invokes fear into the audience and on-screen protagonists we know that something is about to jump out at us, is a foley artist able to separate themselves from the impending doom that’s about to take place or is it the fact that they know that the sound is coming from someone breathing down a microphone in a back studio at Warner Brothers and not a defenceless character too much to escape from?

The exorcist is one of my favourite films. Not just horror films but one of my favourite films in general. Whenever I watch it the soundtrack and the use of non-diegetic sound are some of my favourite in all of cinema. I would implore anyone who hasn’t seen it to watch it for the soundtrack and sound effects alone.

Jacob Price