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I'm sick of Epic Music and Trailer Music nonsense

redninja said:
Actually, I'm talking about both, merged into the same thread because they both have a common thing as being overly-used.

I know how trailer music differs from the actual soundtracks used in the movies but maybe this is the question. Why?

Any soundtrack, leitmotif can be modified into that 3 act structure to tease the movie or series. Why do they require another completely different piece for trailers which indeed does not serve the purpose that it's meant for?
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Agree, I loathe them as much as you. But I do know why it happens... Its about $$$$. A trailer is a sales tool & funding for it comes from a different source than the original film. It's an entirely different team of people that make trailers than made the original film. The picture editor for the film does not edit the trailer. The composer from the film does not compose (or even music edit) for the trailer. The sound designer for the film does not sound design the trailer.

They (funding body/studio/etc) see the trailer as an entirely different vessel, requiring an entirely different approach to the film. Why it is this way is a whole other discussion, but a few times as sound designer on a film I also got to sound design the trailer (eg I conformed the stems from the film, rather than as is often done, unrelated stings & cliche sound effects are added, which may well be completely inappropriate to the tone & intent of the film) and I observed a few things. In my experience the trailer editor acted like the director, except with none of the depth or knowledge of intent or back story of the films director. It is a different art, to cut a 90-180 minute film down to mere minutes... But in one case the situation was so bad I tipped off the actual director, she came in & went ballistic at them! She made them change the cut, the music & the grade eg they had converted beautifully graded sepia archival footage to black & white... But many directors either don't have that power, or they dont even know until much later.

I'm old enough to remember when trailers had variety & suited the film they were promoting. Now it seems regardless of genre, if it doesn't have trailer booms and other generic risers & braams etc then its like they worry it wont compete with other trailers, or something... I think the core issue is that it's a captured market. Specialist companies are quite happy making a fortune for providing these generic services.
 
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I vaguely remember trailers back to the mid-1970's. They used to be stranger, much more talky, and relaxed. And that allowed for some measure of variety. I've seen one of the trailers for Psycho from 1960, with Hitchcock wandering around the sets and talking about horrible things that fictionally happened there.

I have to admit that I've never liked trailers. Sometimes the music is nice in an of itself. Booms, creaks and screeches not-withstanding. But my response is to the trailer as a whole. I've tended to find that the worse the trailer, the more I liked the film; since the kinds of films I tended to like didn't make for great or representative trailers. Not always.

I admire the art and dislike it at the same time. Much as I do with James Joyce's novels, for rather different reasons! The music has to fit the form; and where trailers get more homogenised and with less variety, there is less scope to vary the music. But limitations can also spur on creativity.

As for supply and demand... I think that may be a trifle facile. Surely it's way more complicated. The creators (of trailers) aren't omniscient; and the audience can't easily communicate what they want or would be affected by, outside of what they consume. Still less do they know what they might respond to that they haven't experienced before; since most folks aren't thinking about it in depth as they have other things to do.
 
Aurelius said:
My problem with trailer music, more than anything, is that it is "pop song for orchestra".

If they did the "epic" style: Pounding drums, panicking choir, big brass themes, and unemployed wind players but with actual part writing/counterpoint and not just the "keyboard pad and arpeggiator (but for strings)" approach it would be more musical and thus, tolerable.
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Something like this?

 
Yared took over a year to write this score which embodies characteristics of Shostakovich and Ravel. Though it underscores a movie subject that could be considered “epic” it shares nothing in common with modern epic trailer music. Not a single thing.

I interviewed him about his Troy score in 2004 and became friends with Yared. One of the most underrated composers of our time.
 
I avoid watching trailers if possible cause the "music" and sound effects often put me off the movie entirely. I'm sure a lot of the time the actual soundtrack is nothing like the trailer, but often it is. The same distorted brass bramms, ostinato strings, the ultra recognizable Damage drum booms and bams etc... I speaking mostly of anything action, sci fi or comic book related, although those sounds show up in the most inappropriate places. I love sci fi and sometimes a good action flic, but I avoid comic book rehash from 70 years ago (can't they finance someone with an actual new idea?)

A lot of trailer music is like clip art. There is very little interest in originality or variety. It just needs to be there following the latest trend. It's not a creative arena for the most part. Very formulaic sound design. AI created or assisted trailers are right around the corner.

On a brighter note this trailer was a breath of fresh air. Still some generic sound effects, but the source music is of the highest quality. Very appropriate to the movie as well. Now that's some great music!

 
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One recent example that I suppose takes some tenets from epic music is this. And it works incredibly well in the film. Now, once again, it also transcends the genre with John Adams styled brass figures and a richer harmonic base. But the thunderous percussion and choir would suggest a certain epic quality.
 
dcoscina said:
One recent example that I suppose takes some tenets from epic music is this. And it works incredibly well in the film. Now, once again, it also transcends the genre with John Adams styled brass figures and a richer harmonic base. But the thunderous percussion and choir would suggest a certain epic quality.
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I loved this score. I watched the movie in the theater and remember being bery impressed by the music sometimes. Very good example of something modern that embodies a lot of the old school spirit without sounding dated. They did a great job.
 
I went to London to watch Dune Part 2 at a large screen IMAX cinema when it came out.
I remember how samey all the trailers were - the same deep booms, build ups, percussions.
They were literally interchangeable, and predictable. AND INCREDIBLY LOUD, making the seats rumble.
They might have worked in isolation, but not here.
And no mean to lower the volume ;)
It was such a relief when the film and its soundtrack started, and a real delight.
 
Actually "Epic Music" or "Trailer music" (I'm not using them interchangeably, I'm referring to either of them separately) are just some glimpses that remind me to stand against what is currently "in" or trendy. I've always been like this about every other thing in my entire life. Be it music, fashion, technology or social media.

Indeed the problem is bigger than just the music itself as some others have already mentioned. I think, if I got to rephrase my rant, I just don't get why so-called creative minds love to exaggerate each and every aspect of a production in the industry. What I'm trying to say is, I think I have a problem with trailers in overall as some others have also pointed out, or overall scripting in the movies and etc. So the trailer music just falls victim to these.

For example, take Batman 1989 and Michael Keaton, Danny Elfman, and eventually Tim Burton's contributions for that masterpiece. What made it special was the way it was written/scripted, so the acting fit to that and the costumes, setting etc etc... They were all in harmony. Especially that scene when Batman drives back to his manor together with Vicki passing through the forest and there comes a very short yet powerful cue from Danny Elfman (Descent into Mystery). I wouldn't really ask for more from a movie despite its trailer wasn't one of the best around in that age.

Then, I'm looking at Acolyte. The sith, the jedi, the force, everything which should have been a part of an esoteric or mysterious world/lore goes like a lowly rated action movie with lots of unnecessary(more than Jar Jar) dialogue compressed in a trailer and the music follows that overall aura and in the end, it becomes something else which does not attract me one little bit. So how can we say that trailers and their music are there for marketing purposes if they're executed this bad? I was instinctively criticizing the way the trailers are made and cut. But since these forums are mostly about music and I'm a guy more interested in music than the picture itself, I wrote my first post that way.

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As about the other half, "epic music", another example is "epic remakes or takes" of well known compositions like "Duel of the Fates". I have heard lots of so called epic takes/versions of it on Youtube and man, those really kill me. Of course people are free to cover or make their own interpretations on these things/songs but naming them "epic" is really a bold and unnecessary naming convention which just ruins the legacy of those iconic masterpieces.

I know that the title and my first post were a bit harsh so I just wanted to clarify my thoughts on this and why I felt so pissed of with these in the first place.
 
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