Directions Unit: Music

The choice of music within Scorsese's films are such an important aspect, it has taken me a long time just to get a list of 5 songs that may be included within my film. Scorsese's choice of music is so well thought out and perfect in helping to set the scene or describe to the audience where they are and or what is happening. A variety of music genres from Classical to Rock 'n' Roll, but all the same in being perfect for the shot.

The First of which is featured within 'Goodfellas' the song; 'Sunshine of Your Love' by Cream.

Below is the clip in which it is used and the full song:

The song itself is very brilliant but what makes this scene work is the combination of the slow tracking shot toward De Niro, the 'De Niro look' and the song itself. the scene is so brilliant because sharp notes of the guitar within the song take us into De Niro's mind as he contemplates killing the man he is looking at, taking the audience into this dark world in his mind and being caught on the wrong side of that stare.

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The Second is featured at the start of 'Raging Bull' with the song; 'Intermezzo' by Pietro Mascagni.

Below is the clip in which it is used:

This beautiful piece of music almost tells the story of the entire character before the story has even begun. This is in my opinion one of the best films ever made and the start alone I could write pages on however in short hand what makes this so good is once again the music and the visuals on screen put together and how they work together so well. The way in which the contrapuntal music shows De Niro shadow boxing as if he is dancing. The opening to this film is so brilliant as this instrument of devastation to all who come into its ring is paired with such beautiful music as it connotes this idea of beauty and the beast.

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The third is featured within 'Goodfellas' once again with the song 'Rags to Riches' by Tony Bennett.

Below is the clip in which it is used:

This classic example of Scorsese and his sometimes hard to watch violence goes perfectly with the lyrics to this song. Two minutes into the film the audience knows exactly what kind of film this is going to be. The way in which the freeze frame is used in combination with this is picture perfect followed by the titles.

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The Fourth is featured in 'The Departed' with the song 'Gimme Shelter' by the Rolling Stones.

Below is the clip in which it is used:

Scorsese is obviously a big fan of the Rolling Stones with a number of their song being featured within his films. However he is not simply plugging his favouirte bands into films s they have great influence on the scene I could have chose any other such as in 'Mean Streets' with the Rolling Stones song 'Jumping Jack Flash' however I chose 'Gimme Shelter'. Its a song that screams 60s and 70s with connotations of peace and the Vietnam War but paired with Jack Nicholson's voice over this sets the scene perfectly and pretty much explains this Nicholson's character and the film's premise. The song is brilliant and paired with Nicholson makes for an exceptional opening scene.

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The Fifth and final song is from 'Wolf of Wall Street' called 'Black Skinhead by Kanye West.

Below is the song for the trailer:

Completely different from the other songs on the list but just as effective when paired with Leonardo DiCaprio's voice-over which seems to be a reoccurring trademark of Scorsese's which I will be sure to include within my own film. The fast paced beat goes well with the editing and makes scenes in the film and trailer flow pretty much unnoticed.

So there are my choices of music which I will be deciding between in post production but I am fairly confident that whichever song I choose out of this list will be perfect and effectively replicate Scorsese's style.