Soundtracks: Economy Money Makers

Music has always been most powerful to me when presented in context of something aggressively visual. Even the film that was seen last week in class grasped my senses in a way that they generally never are. This makes whatever message that stands behind this music about a million times more interesting. But does this music have the ability to solve problems. Maybe not on it’s own, but if music, in the form of a soundtrack or otherwise holds the tone of a production that brings millions of dollars in revenue to a continent or country that desperately needs the boost in economy; I say that this music may have even saved lives.
The movie Blood Diamond was filmed almost entirely in Africa, Mozambique to be more specific. “The reasons are somewhat intangible. Africa is a place of great contrasts. Everywhere you go is breath-taking beauty and heart-breaking squalor,” (Edward Zwick, Levy). The point being of course that a film strictly about the suffering, sound, and most importantly the environment can only be really seen from the location itself.
So what does it take to mimic the emotion of this harsh environment? It takes time, effort, and the contribution from and back into the environment. This can mean millions, of dollars that is. Does this sound krass when discussing an element so beautiful as sound? Not to me. To me it makes the sound of another school being built, or a couple more kids eating. IT makes the sound of an economy picking itself up through the power of very artistic communication. This penetrates the minds and helping hand of richer economies by appealing to their artistic nature, and their emotional side. IT certainly doesn’t sound cynical if in fact the money earned from the film and the resale of it’s millions of soundtrack sales filters back into the African economy.
The best part about all this power is the teaching tools that are put in place from the success of the production. The website, another major selling point for the music,a nd the feeling also holds political information maps that grasps you first in terms of the story, then in terms of real life, (Official Blood Diamond).
So how does music really come in? Many would say that the music has very little to do with the overall hype of the film and it’s story that made this economy-saving money possible. The truth is that nothing in the production world happens without the quality of sound to drag the viewer in. It creates the experience that makes it feel real. I’ll be analyzing the strength of the soundtrack.



Bibliography

Levy, Emanuel. Blood Diamond, Shooting in Africa. EmanuelLevy.com 2004-2009.
Roger Ebert. Sept. 23, 2008. http://www.emanuellevy.com/article.php?articleID=3832

Blood Diamond. Blood Diamond. Official Blood Diamond Website. 2008.
Warner Brothers.Sept.23, 2008. http://blooddiamondmovie.warnerbros.com/