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Paparazzi: (Brian Tyler) Given the highly publicized
events surrounding Princess Diana's death and a considerable number
celebrity lawsuits involving nosey paparazzi photographers, it's surprising
that Hollywood took this long to strike back with a film like
Paparazzi. For people familiar with the celebrity scene, the premise
is believable: a dashing actor with newly achieved fame becomes the victim
of hoards of paparazzi, and they eventually cause a car crash that severely
injures his family. Whether or not you believe the tale from here on is your
decision, but the actor exacts his revenge upon the paparazzi by plotting
their individual demise, and the film becomes an exploration of integrity
and the concept of revenge. A first-time director to the mainstream, Paul
Abascal has a propulsive vision of the movement of his film, with the
paparazzi swarming like insects and the cascade of emotions of the film's
hero taking the story down some very dark alleyways. For the score, Abascal
wanted music that was both highly aggressive in rhythm and thematic in
style. Composer Mark Isham had originally been attached to
Paparazzi,
but given the desires of the director, Isham could not have been a more
ill-advised choice (especially with his
Twisted score earlier in the
year being completely devoid of rhythm or theme). Rising star Brian Tyler
was contacted for the job based on a sampler of Tyler's talents that
contained music from his previous suspense and action efforts. Between the
sharp edges of
Darkness Falls and smooth lines of
Children of
Dune, Tyler's abilities would suit Abascal's wishes well, and both
Abascal and Tyler would give the result of their collaboration rave reviews
once their work was finished.
Tyler would assemble an 80-piece orchestra (recorded in
Prague and Seattle, an odd combination that does, however, allow for a
longer album release), a significantly larger than normal percussion
section, a solo vocalist, and several electronic instruments (from keyboards
to guitars) to provide the full spectrum of emotions necessary. The result
of this combination of forces is a score that, as Tyler explains, is very
richly layered, both in instrumentation and in the alteration and mixing of
all of those elements into one very thick sound. While Tyler also states
that the score is thematic, the two primary themes (for the primary
character and for the paparazzi) are very loosely interpolated into the
length of the score. An alternating minor/major key motif sets the rhythm of
the score throughout and continues to give us the drive behind the perilous
good-guy/bad-guy psyche of the film. The more sensitive subtheme for the
family is less developed, but does assert itself in about three cues in the
score. One thing that Tyler did indeed succeed in providing Abascal with was
an extremely aggressive score. There is substantial malice throughout the
Paparazzi score, both in the pace of the rhythms and in the extensive
mixing process during which Tyler highlighted the harsher edges of each
instrumental section. Also resulting from those mixings are sound effects
that often rumble, tick, and clang in tandem with the traditional percussion
section of the orchestra. Each relatively short cue presents itself in a
slightly different variation of mixing, almost as though Tyler is
experimenting with the sounds as the film progresses. Despite the extensive
lengths to which Tyler went to produce a locust-like "sonic image" for the
paparazzi, the score is ultimately not one of memorable creativity. Rather,
its 70-minute length (57+ minutes on album) wears you down with the force of
its own size and momentum.
Within the aggression, Tyler does occasionally let rip with
a slightly more stylish variation on his vengeance ideas, and these moments
often include a heavier reliance on the electronic instruments rather than
the orchestra. The "Premiere" cue, for instance, is appropriately "cool" for
the circumstance of Hollywood glamour, all the while maintaining the fast
pace of both the lifestyle and chase at the heart of the film. Tyler has
arranged the softer moments of the score near the beginning of the album,
with the first six or seven cues very effectively alternating between drive
and passion, beauty and that invigorating aggression. As the score
progresses at the consistently heightened volume and pace in the second
half, it does run the risk of aggravating the listener... even with a few
minimalistic offers interspersed. This attribute isn't as much of a
complaint as it is a comment about the nature of the beast.
Paparazzi
may not be a score you wish to drive to, because Tyler very effectively
boils your blood with his action sequences. The only straight complaint
about the score centers on the beautiful "The Awakening" cue, which features
one of those over-simplistic melodies that Tyler has a tendency to write,
and this one just happens to be over-simplistic in too many similar ways to
the overblown melodies of
Armageddon. Additionally, an argument could
be made that Tyler didn't sufficiently offer a distinct enough sound effect
(or orchestral effect) to convince the listener that the photographers are
indeed insects. Overall,
Paparazzi is a very effective score, and the
diverse ranges of theme and sound heard in the first half dozen cues will
set you up for the disappointment of over-consistency in the latter half
(much like the
Timeline album was arranged). In all its parts,
Tyler's score has a depth of sonic manipulation that will, along with its
breakneck rhythms, at least keep you interested until the end.
***
| Bias Check: | For Brian Tyler reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.3 (in 11 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.2
(in 8,770 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert includes a note from the director about the score.
