Composing Greatness: #5.The Freshman Class of the 2010's - "Gravity" (2013)

Scene from Gravity (2013)

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

Series Composer: Steven Price

Entry: Gravity (2013)

Collaborators (If Available): N/A

Nomination: Best Original Score

Did They Win: Yes

Other Nominees:
Best Original Score
-The Book Thief (John Williams)
-Her (Will Butler & Owen Pallett)
-Philomena (Alexandre Desplat)
-Saving Mr. Banks (Thomas Newman)

Additional Information

This is to help provide perspective of where each composer is in their Oscar-nominated life as it related to the current entry.

Oscar Nomination: 1

Oscar Wins: 1

Track List

1. "Above Earth"
2. "Debris"
3. "The Void"
4. "Atlantis"
5. "Don't Let Go"
6. "Airlock"
7. "ISS"
8. "Fire"
9. "Parachute"
10. In the Blind"
11. "Aurora"
12. "Aningaaq"
13. "Soyuz"
14. "Tiangong"
15. "Shenzou"
16. "Gravity"

Note: Listen to here.

Exploring the Music

The area of the column where I will explore the music in as much detail as I see fit for each entry.

Theme Exploration:

"Above Earth"

In some respects, the heft of the score doesn't really kick into gear until the second track. If anything, this is the equivalent of the audience being transported to space. There's traces of the classical score that will be heard more in full towards the end, but it's slowly become indecipherable static. The organic has become technological, embracing a spaceship that is receiving signals from Earth. It doesn't have much of a time to develop the melody and instead establishes a tone that is somewhat chaotic but slowly reveals something grounded at its center. Steven Price uses his time in the electronic music world effectively to elevate the sound of space into something humans cannot obtain without machinery. 

Interesting Standout:
"Atlantis"

As mentioned, the back of the score is more traditional, so it's difficult to really find what stands out in a score of two minds. With all of the best work being in the second half, it's interesting to explore the first, where we're still stranded in space. Steven Price's score is at times vacant, mostly observing Earth from far away, getting glimpses in between electronic signals and an awe-filled choir who sings of the beauty below. Any of the tracks where peril is happening could go here, but a brief moment of silence feels most noteworthy because it's the calm before any storm really develops, and it helps to add a dynamic to the atmosphere. 

Best Moment:
"Shenzou"

Here is where the film's nightmare-inducing plot switches from the uncertain doom to a final burst of optimism. While there have been tracks leading up to it that have emotional resonance, this is the one that gets it all right. The build-up is phenomenal managing to tear away the machinery that defined the score and find the organic score starting to overpower. It's a beautiful melody, creating a desire to finally be home and away from trouble. If the score has gotten any love over the past six years, it's for the closing half that feels as rich as any other score that year.

Did This Deserve an Oscar Nomination?:
Yes

While I had initially believed that nobody made an Oscar-nominated score in the vein of The Social Network, I wasn't aware of the meticulous nature of Steven Price. Listening to the first half is a bit of a mislead, serving more as an atmospheric experience where not a lot happens, but the aesthetic captures something brilliant if listened to closely. The way it shifts is also inspired, managing to blend humanity with technology in a battle to escape peril. If the film had to have a score (which some argue it shouldn't), Price at least did a fantastic job of expressing the ideas through music in a way that builds tension and allows the audience to feel like they too are stuck in a battle to return to Earth. 

Did This Deserve to Win?

No

This will be a tough call because it's such an accomplished score on its surface. The way it uses melodies and techniques to capture something exciting and fresh in a way that make the 2010's Oscar nominees exemplary. However, I am not a fan of atmospheric scores and this doesn't do enough early on to be my favorite score of the year. Considering that The Academy also nominated Her in the same year really makes me wish that they had gone with something else. This is definitely a very good score that compliments the film beautifully, but I feel like this was a score that only won because of the Gravity phenomenon of the time (remember when it almost won Best Picture?). Other aspects of the film are more impressive than the music and they all deserve to be awarded. Price should probably have another nomination just to prove he's still a modern genius of film composition, but I don't know that this is worthy of winning over much better scores. 

Up Next: Best Original Score - Will Butler & Owen Pallett, Her (2013)

Best Theme

A ranking of all themes composed by The Freshman Class of the 2010's.

1. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross: "Hand Covers Bruise" - The Social Network (2010)
2. John Powell: "This is Berk" - How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
3. Mychael Danna: "Piscine Molitar Patel" - Life of Pi (2012)
4. Ludovic Bource: "The Artist Overture" - The Artist (2011)
5. Steven Price: "Above Earth" - Gravity (2013)