VOA标准英语2013--Nominated Movie Scores Feature Sophistication, Cultural Diversity

 

Nominated Movie Scores Feature Sophistication, Cultural Diversity

Movie music has come a long way since the early days of film, when all it did was set a mood for the story.

Daniel Carlin chairs the Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television department at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. He says this year’s nominees¹ for Best Original Score are notable for their sophistication and their cultural diversity.

“The cultural influences range from contemporary India [to] Turkey [to] Iran and then the Far East and then you are back in 19th century Russia. All of those scores are extremely successful and worthy² of consideration," explained Carlin.

Consider the score for Life of Pi, about an Indian boy and a tiger adrift on the ocean, directed by Ang Lee.

Carlin admires the South Asian instrumentation that veteran composer Mychael Danna brought to the project.

“But I also appreciated the way he incorporates Indian lead instruments into a more traditional film score model," said Carlin. "So we get the feeling of India, but we don’t have to leave our comfort zone in terms of how we usually feel U.S. film music in a movie."

Carlin says Eastern and Western motifs³ were also combined in Alexandre Desplat's score for Argo. The film is based on a true story and takes place in Iran during the hostage crisis in 1979.

A blend of musical genres⁴ was also featured in Skyfall, scored by Thomas Newman. Carlin says Newman combined the feel of James Bond’s high tech world with the Bond character, who is more melancholy⁵ than in previous Bond films. “I think he gives us some additional humanity rather just this macho comic book figure [typical of Bond],” he noted⁶.

Newman has been nominated for an Oscar 11 times, although he has yet to win. Some say that’s a reason he might win this time.

Dario Marianelli’s score for Anna Karenina, based on Leo Tolstoy’s Russian masterpiece, was also nominated.

In Carlin’s view, Marianelli managed to seemlessly weave together different kinds of music according to the changing action in a scene. "It’s almost choreographed⁷. And you can tell the thought that has gone on behind it," he said. "Marianelli is very good at doing this, and I really appreciate that professionalism and care."

Composer John Williams received his 48th Oscar nomination⁸ for Lincoln. Williams’s score features melodies in the style of 19th century American hymns⁹ and folk ballads¹⁰.

A film’s score must never compete with the dialogue. Carlin notes that this posed a challenge for Williams because Lincoln is heavy on conversation. “So the adept¹¹ composer -- and John certainly is that -- support the drama and the emotion but how to use the correct instruments and sonority¹² ranges so you don’t compete in the same frequency range as the dialogue. It’s very tricky¹³ stuff," Carlin added. "And he is just great at it. Given his stature¹⁴ and the score is magnificent, John is probably the odds¹⁵ on favorite.”

The Academy Awards are on Sunday February 24. To find out who will win the Oscar for Best Original Score, just wait for “the envelope please.”

1 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

2 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

3 motifs   

n. （文艺作品等的）主题( motif的名词复数 )；中心思想；基本模式；基本图案

参考例句：

• I try to develop beyond the old motifs. 我力求对传统的花纹图案做到推陈出新。 来自辞典例句
• American Dream is one of the most important motifs of American literature. “美国梦”是美国文学最重要的母题之一。 来自互联网

4 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

5 melancholy   

n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• All at once he fell into a state of profound melancholy.他立即陷入无尽的忧思之中。
• He felt melancholy after he failed the exam.这次考试没通过，他感到很郁闷。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 choreographed   

v.设计舞蹈动作( choreograph的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• There was some carefully choreographed flag-waving as the President drove by. 总统的车经过时，人们按精心编排的动作挥舞着旗帜。
• Achim had choreographed the dance in Act II himself. 阿希姆自己设计了第2幕的舞蹈动作。 来自辞典例句

8 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

9 hymns   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At first, they played the hymns and marches familiar to them. 起初他们只吹奏自己熟悉的赞美诗和进行曲。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• I like singing hymns. 我喜欢唱圣歌。 来自辞典例句

10 ballads   

民歌，民谣，特别指叙述故事的歌( ballad的名词复数 )； 讴

参考例句：

• She belted out ballads and hillbilly songs one after another all evening. 她整晚一个接一个地大唱民谣和乡村小调。
• She taught him to read and even to sing two or three little ballads,accompanying him on her old piano. 她教他读书，还教他唱两三首民谣，弹着她的旧钢琴为他伴奏。

11 adept   

adj.老练的，精通的

参考例句：

• When it comes to photography,I'm not an adept.要说照相，我不是内行。
• He was highly adept at avoiding trouble.他十分善于避开麻烦。

12 sonority   

n.响亮，宏亮

参考例句：

• Vowels possess greater sonority than consonants.元音比辅音响亮。
• The introduction presents arpeggios on the harp against a string tremolo--an enchanting sonority.引子在弦乐的震音上竖琴奏出了琶音，一种迷人的音响。

13 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

14 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

15 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？