Background scores form an important part of a film. Be it the soul stirring compositions of Hans Zimmer on Christopher Nolan‘s countless films (Interstellar, Inception, The Dark Knight trilogy) or Alexandre Desplat‘s heart warming and goosebumps inducing arrangements that have won him countless plaudits, background scores have always formed an essential crux in a film. They bring a sense of completeness and bring forward an enhanced emotional quotient to a scene.
While traditionally, filmmakers and music composers still rely on classical orchestral arrangements for background scores, changing times have seen a shift towards electronic sounds seep into background scores, either entirely on their own, or in an amalgamation with orchestral arrangements.
Here we bring you 5 films that featured fantastic electronic music background scores.
1. The Social Network
Based on the founding of Facebook, The Social Network was a critical and commercial success, and part of that lay with its background score, scored by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Reznor, of Nine Inch Nails, drew inspiration from the industrial and dark sound that had made NIN one of the most influential bands of the 90s, and his collaboration with Atticus Ross gave the film a brooding dark ambient, post industrial soundtrack, which went on to win an Academy Award for the Best Original Score at the 83rd Academy Awards, and a Golden Globe for Best Original Score for a Motion Picture.
2. TRON: Legacy
Talking about films with electronic music soundtracks, how can we not mention the acclaimed Daft Punk soundtrack for Disney’s TRON: Legacy. Set inside a virtual environment, the film required an intriguing yet futuristic score that would stay afoot with the thematics of the film, and who better to do that than Daft Punk? The French duo were joined by American composer Joseph Trapanese, who arranged an 85 piece orchestra, with the soundtrack a blend of orchestral and electronic music! The soundtrack was nominated for Best Score Soundtrack Album for Visual Media at the 54th Grammy Awards, and also had a remix album released, TRON Legacy Reconfigured, with artists such as Avicii, Kaskade, Paul Okanefold, The Glitch Mob, Pretty Lights amongst many others remixing tracks from the original score. Daft Punk even appeared in one scene of the film, playing the track ‘Derezzed‘ at a club in the film!
3. Hanna
Next up is the 2011 action thriller Hanna, which featured a score composed by British duo The Chemical Brothers. Dwelling from their own arsenal of sounds, The Chemical Brothers scored a soundtrack comprising of varying soundscapes, echoing the violence and the innocence in the film near perfectly!
4. Midnight Express
Midnight Express, the highly acclaimed film from 1978, saw the Italian synth pioneer Giorgio Moroder score the soundtrack, and go on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Score in 1979. The soundtrack is known for its wide range of exploratory synthesizer pieces, including ‘Chase‘, one of his biggest hits, that features the iconic disco vibes Moroder is know for.
5. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Another pairing of David Fincher and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo had quite the stellar soundtrack, with its lush soundscape, featuring post industrial, ambient and experimental sounds, and went on to win a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media in 2012, and a nomination for the Best Original Score – Motion Picture at the 2011 Golden Globes.
Do let us know your list of films with fantastic electronic music scores.
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