Research: Composers

Murray Gold:

Murray Gold served as writer and composer of music for Doctor Who from 2005 to 2017. This meant a departure from the earlier incarnation's synthesizer heavy themes. Instead, this was dropped in favour for more orchestral scores. This change in direction arguably made the modern show feel like it had more presence as the scores could very easily have been made and included in high budget films. This helps to elevate the show and keep consistent to the more grand scale that the writing of the show has catered to during this time (with arguable success).

A significant composition from Murray Gold is called 'I Am The Doctor'. This first appeared in 2010 for the episode 'The Eleventh Hour' which introduced viewers to the Eleventh Doctor. The composition was utilised as a heroic theme for this incarnation of the Doctor. The piece starts with a quiet string section which steadily builds into a crescendo which usually signifies that the character is doing something heroic. The theme also utilises several rock instruments such as an electric guitar as well as utilising a choir which gives an almost fairytale-like feel to the music.

I feel this type of music can be utilised in order to create the illusion of the project having a somewhat grander scale than what was originally intended. Particularly, I feel that including sections using a choir might help to achieve this. However, I feel that I would need to restrict this aspect somewhat as there is a danger of the music becoming unsuitable for the existing footage.

Other media Murray Gold has worked on are as follows:
-Kiss of Life
-Death at a Funeral
-Mischief Night
-Casanova
-The Muskateers


Jerry Goldsmith:

For this I will be focusing on Jerry Goldsmith's work on the 1979 sci-fi/horror film 'Alien' (Scott, 1979). This film heavily emphasises the aesthetics of a horror film and thus needed a score to help further realise this. Jerry Goldsmith's score is unconventionally quiet, especially at the time. Where certain other horror films at the time would have chosen to use a more bombastic score to heighten the effect of what is being shown on screen, the score for alien instead chooses to be restrained, slow and often methodical. This allows for the creation of tension.

The opening theme starts with a low rumbling howl which introduces the viewer to the cold emptiness of outer space. Very quite string and wind sections then fade in as we move through space and the titles slowly forms. We are then taken inside the 'Nostromo', a spaceship that acts as the film's setting, and given a brief tour of the dark corridors. The score throughout these scenes create tension the it's almost relaxed nature. There is this feeling of being unprepared if something was to suddenly appear from the shadows and prey on the characters in the film. The music perfectly encapsulates the emptiness that is being portrayed on screen.

This is something I would want to utilise within my own music. I feel that the music itself should be a reflection and exploration of what is being shown to the viewer on shown. I hope to emulate this style several times during my project, particularly during the opening sequence which opens in a very similar way to that of 'Alien'.

Other notable scores Jerry Goldsmith is known for are as follows:
-Planet of The Apes
-The Omen
-Star Trek: The Motion Picture
-First Blood
-Total Recall