Podcast Portal: Score:: The Podcast

Welcome to Podcast Portal: a spontaneous column that will highlight podcasts of all genres that are lesser known or new shows that are worth giving a listen. With the medium continuing to grow, it is hard to acknowledge all of them. However, I am going to try and find as many noteworthy titles as possible to share and hopefully expand your mind to the greatest growing medium out there. If you have any podcast that you feel is worth adding to the Podcast Portal, please make sure to inform me whether through the comments or through an e-mail (information in sidebar). 

SHOW: Score:: The Podcast
HOSTS:  Robert Kraft, Kenny Holmes
NETWORK: N/A
EPISODE BEING DISCUSSED: "#1 | John Debney, Behind the Score: James Cameron & Name That Score"

There's a lot of movie podcasts out there that focus on the craft that goes into making the image pop. One could listen to dozens of hours weekly on any given film and still have hours of content to discover. The podcast medium has opened up the world of film criticism in fascinating ways, yet there is one area that is largely untapped: the film score. Many shows talk about the music, but where is the show that captures the craft and art that goes into the music that accompanies the images that move us? With the help from the crew who created the Score documentary comes a new show that should be essential for any film fan wanting to learn about music not from fans, but people who actually know what they're talking about because they did it themselves.
The show released three episodes on April 3, and they help to give a strong sense of what the show may likely be. The first episode may not have the biggest name of the three (James Newton Howard is the biggest name, and he's in the third episode), but it does lead to an interesting start. Even if you don't know John Debney's name, there's a good chance that you've seen his work over this past winter in The Greatest Showman. For a film that's all about the music, it's important for a score to have an impact that carries the emotions and create a sense of place. But how do you separate score from the original songs, not composed by Debney? It's the crux of the conversation, which looks over his impressive career. It isn't just the hits either. There's a short look into Debney's composition for Welcome to Mooseport, where they address the question: how do you score a movie without any real quality?
The rest of the show is a bit of a film composer parlor game. In the segment Behind the Score, the crew talks to director James Cameron about his partnership with the late James Horner, specifically as it relates to Avatar. What becomes clear is that it's more than grand melodies and compositions that thrill the audience. There's an entire culture that gets built into the soundtrack choices, and it creates an authentic score. There's also a segment that ends the podcast where the crew tries to guess the name of various film scores... when they are played backwards. It only feels right that they start with the most famous film composer in history: John Williams. It's pretty easy until it isn't, but it's always fun.
In a world where there's a lot of shows dedicated to directors and actors, Score; The Podcast feels important because it is likely to serve as a compendium for modern film scores. There's a sense of care that goes into every segment, and it all plays beautifully over less than an hour. The interviews alone will give insight into the creative process of how the music comes to be. What may seem mundane on its surface often presents a variety of more interesting tidbits, such as brief film cues that lead to extended conversations of their progress to playing those notes. This show is likely to make listeners more appreciative of the craft and may even humanize the composers in way that show just how difficult the job is and how talented one has to be to make music that compliments films.
This is only a brief look into the first episode, which is a good representation of the other two episodes. The series mostly follows the same beats and explores film score history in a way that is fascinating and proves just how much audiences take for granted. In terms of shows that were adapted from other media, this is arguably one of the best and expands upon something integral to the movie-going experience. It helps that the hosts are very knowledgeable and seem to have a great report with all of the guests. It's everything that a great show needs to be great, and one can hope this pattern continues as the show evolves over time. 


OVERALL RATING: 5 out of 5
WORTH A SECOND GO?: It's an easy yes, especially if you love film and have an affection for the music that accompanies the most iconic scenes in history. 

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