WHY RE-SCORE THE BLOB RE-MAKE FROM 1988?
The original score to The Blob Re-Make in 1988 was composed by Michael Hoenig. He has composed on a variety of other films throughout the 80s and 90s, most notably on The Gate, The Wraith. I.Madman, Class of 1999, The Amy Fisher Story, to name a few. He was a working composer and I like alot of his work on those films. I cannot criticize his approach as a composer as it was mostly due to budgetary constraints that led to the decision to do a sound design approach (long before movies started doing sound design as score on a regular basis like is done today). Plenty of gifted composers can be handicapped by lack of budget which leads to lack of resources such as a large ensemble or even quality of synths available. I can only comment on what I didn’t like in the original score versus what I did like before delving into why I wanted to re-score the film.
WHAT I LIKED
Sound Design Ahead Of Its Time
The dark, atmospheric sound design stuff during the opening titles and throughout much of the first half of the movie. The use of atonal work in high register trills and glissandos with big hollow metal sounds as well as percussion were the sections of the score I still like today. The only 2 cues I like outright that are not atmospheric sound design is the cue for the theatre attack and the stand-off in the street between the lead characters and the scientists (trying not give spoilers). Other than that not much else has kept my interest.
The Subtle Approach
The composer knows when to pull back and not overtake the scenes while going balls to the walls when necessary. The sound design approach helps with creating the subtleties, mystique and unease needed around the presence of The Blob moving from the crash site and into town.
WHAT I DID NOT LIKE
Synth Orchestral Instruments
The use of synth brass and woodwinds but primarily synth strings in fast succession and in high registers during the action scenes. The theatre attack scene, while still being my favorite action cues in the movie, uses the synth strings in an ascending series of fast notes that are grating on the ears. They have grown on me over the years but they still are grating to me. The main titles uses the brass pads as due other cues and even tries to do stingers with low register brass hits and it just sounds like farts to me.
Temp Score Copying
Something I would only discover a few years later when I acquired the score to another movie would I experience my first encounter with a composer copying the temp track. Capricorn One would be the score from which Hoenig would lift a track from and make slight alterations (I am sure to avoid copyright infringement). Ironically, it was not an action cue or the main theme. It was the secondary love theme for the family in Capricorn One and used for the Shawnee Smith scenes when she is back home after the failed date night.
Overall Approach
There was an opportunity for creating some human drama within the score that in my opinion was missed. The current score has a few moments (namely with the Capricorn One copying), but it comes and goes quickly. Most of the score is heavy on representing the dark atmosphere around The Blob itself and the killings by The Blob. Then when the tone shifts to the conspiracy angle in the third act, the music turns more militaristic and that is where we get more synth brass and overbearing percussion (snares).
In Conclusion
If given more resources and budget, the composer may have been able to expand the sonic sound and ensemble size of instruments to give the bigger moments such as the kills and chase scenes the scale they desperately needed.
Ultimately, the original score by Michael Hoenig lacked any real focus on the emotional drama between several characters and the town as a whole being threatened with extinction. There were moments where the music was soft and emotive, but they were few and far between. Mostly, the movie seemed to favor the scares and subtle soundscape the original composer tried to establish.
WHAT I DID DIFFERENTLY
Sonic Pallett
In all my albums I strive to create a sonic palette within which to formulate my ideas. This palette keeps a necessary cohesiveness to the soundscape and helps to create an overall unique signature soundscape that is specific to the story the music is supporting. Also, I try to create and maintain a musical architecture to which the musical development must adhere to in order to properly evolve.
For this re-score album, I wanted to return to an era when Main Titles and opening sequences were the chance for a composer to introduce the overall roadmap for the score to come. It is designed to set the stage of events to come both narratively and musically. All the major thematic material - motifs, themes and signature sounds - would get introduced during the Main Title cue.
There is an array of sound design elements, risers, echoey instruments, metal hits and the like create moody atmospheres, tension, suspense, etc. heard intertwined throughout the score to help add texture and color to the music. I chose a specific set of instruments and sounds to create the consistent soundscape for the score and each are used as motifs in and of themselves. An example of this would be the echoey hollow metal tapping sound. It is used when there is something mysterious happening like someone suspects something off screen is lurking or following them.
By the end, all the musical ideas will have developed to their fullest form and culminate in a complex fabric that was constructed over the course of the movie. They began as more ghostly and distant alien incarnations but morphed into something more human and familiar sounding by the end. Again, this approach signifies the twist that occurs in the story regarding The Blob.
A Narrative Focus
I wanted to focus more on the dramatic and emotional aspect of the characters while still serving up tension, scares, mystery and chases where necessary. Overall, the music would be from the perspective of the characters, not necessarily the onscreen action. A fledgling town dealing with financial woes being hit with murders and eventually a quarantine by a science team resulting in even bigger mass casualties. The music I created has an architecture to it that would support this emotional journey.
I too used sound design but a more modern approach and with modern sound design effects and sounds but intertwine the sound design with the more orchestral elements. As the story unfolds, the sound design becomes less prominent and the orchestral takes over, signifying the mystery ending and a frightening reality occurring.
The Dramatic Approach
The two main characters have their own issues to contend with but are both seen as outsiders of sorts, feeling oppressed much of the time and yearning to be believed and accepted by others despite their class status. I came up with a simple bittersweet melody that, while plays mostly over them, also acts as the town's theme as the town as a whole also is up against a greater oppressor - the scientists.
The Monster Material
Like Jerry Goldsmith did in Alien (though much of the material was dropped), I created a sound for The Blob. It is a series of gurgles and blops mixed with atonal string drones and glissandos while adding brass swells - all to give a sense of how The Blob is amorphous (has no shape) and growing. So the sounds start off slower, more drawn out swells and mostly growls and gurgles, as The Blob grows, the sounds get bigger and more prominent, those sounds change and grow with The Blob's growth.
There is a small motif for the The Blob as well that is used when it existence is talked about by those who have encountered it. It is a 4-note motif usually heard in upper registers only and also acts like a “signal” as if The Blob was emitting one. It is used as stingers when people are directly being attacked by The Blob. It is heard in the Main Titles as well and like the Military motif (mentioned below), it does not appear again until the Crash Landing scene.
The Military Motif
There is a repetitive 5-note motif that is constantly heard throughout the score. At first, it might be associated with being an action or suspense motif for when it is lurking about and about to attack, but it is actually hinting at the forthcoming twist regarding The Blob. It first is heard in the Main Titles but doesn't appear again until when The Blob crashes in the forest. THis is to help seed the listener's mind with the motif so it makes sense later on when the twist is revealed.
Mostly played on low register instruments and distant sounding percussion drums & snares. It first takes on a more alien sound then it becomes more human sounding when it becomes a full orchestral version near the end. Signifying the dark agenda the scientists have for The Blob.
ABOUT THE ALBUM
Chronological Order
In keeping with the times, the complete score will be presented in chronological order. There are also several alternates I created for several of the early cues in the film as I was having difficulty locking down the exact sound and structure I wanted for the score. It was important these early cues worked properly for the rest of the score to work.
No Physical Media
At the moment, it is only available in digital download form as it is too expensive at the moment to produce physical CDs. Forthcoming crowdfunding efforts will be made on all my albums to produce a limited run of each album.
