The first time I head the song "Needle in the Hay" by Elliot Smith was while watching the Wes Anderson directed film The Royal Tenenbaums. In the particular scene in which the song plays, Richie, one of the characters of the film, decides to kill himself due to his love of his sister. The song, which is good, and the acting, which is also good, blend together to form a powerful picture of suicide. It blew me away. See for yourself:
Now is this a new piece of art or just Luke Wilson's acting, Wes Anderson's directing, and Elliot Smith's song mixed together? I understand the concept of movie as art, but consider the combination of illustrator and writer.
Imagine reading Hunter S. Thompson's writing without the illustrations of Ralph Steadman. Steadman's art is just as crazy as Thompson's ideas, and the combination of the two takes the reader into a twisted world which might have gone unvisited without the dual engineered train.
These thoughts have been weighing heavily on my mind as I consider ways to promote my work into other avenues of art. Considering how art is changed as it touches other veins is an interesting and unending discussion. I look forward to new thoughts... from you.
3 comments:
I totally agree. Me and Joseph were talking about that a few days ago. A lot of the music I like has come from soundtracks. I don't think the songs themselves would have caught my attention had it not been for the visual aspect as well. Take my favorite--and simultaneously least favorite--movie of all time: Velvet Goldmine. The movie itself sucks despite an awesome cast. But it is like a giant glam rock music video. I saw that movie as a 14-year-old kid, and from that moment on, it defined my love of music. Brian Eno, Pulp (they did a cover), David Bowie, Lou Reed, T.Rex...etc. All my favorites came from that ONE movie. The power that can come from the combination of artistic mediums is nothing short of amazing.
Almost like a musical in some aspects, though of course a musical is written around the score, rather than music added to the finished product. Hedwig comes to mind. wow. great play. great movie. incredible soundtrack.
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