I like this show but the music...
The music just kills every last bit of tension. Every time an intense scene is happening, on comes some sappy song that doesn't fit the mood, usually accompanied by choppy slo-mo and no sound from what's happening on screen. No Film School calls this flattening (http://nofilmschool.com/2015/10/5-ways-ruin-your-film-music). Here's what they have to say:
Just as music can help make a scene more dynamic and exciting by emphasizing key turning points and story beats, it can also have the opposite effect. If the music in a scene plays through a turning point without noticeable change (you may have the music in to simply establish a mood) then the effect is to reduce the intensity of that moment.and
We’re watching from a distance, pulled into the sweep of the sequence, but not into the beats of each scene.This is exactly how I felt. I want a blood pounding, heart racing, fists clenched, sitting on the edge of my seat type of response. Instead I feel nothing. The finale did a perfect job building tension throughout the episode, only to throw it away with what I just described. The final shootout lacks tension because it did all those things I listed.
Here's how to do it right:
The Sopranos (1999) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2ynjhOGp4w (from Season 2 Episode 8)
No music is used here.
Breaking Bad (2008) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I4Ked9ub98 (Season 3 Episode 7)
Music (simple and without vocals) is used sparingly to build tension. Once the action starts the music stops.
Blood Simple. (1984) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6XV7oYBMG4 (no spoilers)
The music makes this scene more intense. It has a creepy vibe. It adds to the scene without overpowering. Diagetic sound is present.
Now here's the ending from the pilot episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDu1krcT8ak. It would have been so much more effective if that song hadn't been used. I had been loving the pilot up until this point. The second the music kicked on, I couldn't wait for it to stop. It killed the mood completely. Then they made a grave mistake: it played through the shootout. What could have been an effective scene was instead wasted. It's a shame the pilot ended on such a weak note. I think every scene of violence was done this way. Killing Sal and Huey, Kevin and McElroy beating each other with a crowbar, beating the drug dealers with bats (not sappy but no diagetic sound), Jimmy and Whitey's knife fight, Dokie's beatdown, the final shootout with Dokie. McElroy and Dokie's beatdowns were the most effective scenes of those because they actually had diagetic sound. Better music could have been chosen, or even none at all; but they at least felt real and in the moment, something those other scenes lacked.
I think the reason this happened was because the show aired on NBC. Episode 3, which had the crowbar fight, wasn't aired because of the graphic violence. NBC probably wasn't comfortable with those other scenes being as intense as that one, so maybe they used the music and lack of diagetic sound as a form of censorship. Regardless, it hurt the show's impact. share