Posts by Clare Nina Norelli
Sound Upon Sound: The Conversation
Undertones: Volume 11 Having the misfortune of being dwarfed by the releases of the critical and commercial giants, The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather II (1974), The Conversation (1974) stands as somewhat of an under-appreciated gem in the Francis Ford … [Read the Rest]
Nothing Out There
Undertones: Volume 10 In 1977, amongst works by Beethoven, Chuck Berry and examples of indigenous music from around the world, Blind Willie Johnson’s mournful blues work, “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground” was shot into space as part … [Read the Rest]
Future Shorts Arrives In Australia
On 19th June, Future Shorts will be having its Australian launch in Perth, Western Australia. Future Shorts is one of the leading and most innovative short film labels in the world and since 2003 it has created a rapidly enlarging … [Read the Rest]
Sonic Isolation: Jonny Greenwood’s score for There Will Blood
Undertones: Volume 9 Dissonant strings buzz malevolently, rising from the audio depths and as a shot of uninhabited terrain in the American West is shown onscreen, they glissando eerily in contrary motion. As the string buzz subsides a solitary man … [Read the Rest]
5 Memorable Film Scores of the ‘00s.
Undertones: Volume 8 As we approach the end of the decade, it seems fitting that this installment of Undertones concern itself with some of the most memorable film scores of the ‘00s. Though the films range in financial or critical … [Read the Rest]
Tortured Overtures: Horror Film Score Themes of the 1970s
Undertones: Volume 7 It’s the time of the year again where folks’ minds turn to the macabre and the ghoulish; where death is celebrated rather than feared and of course, when dusty copies of horror films are taken off the … [Read the Rest]
Scores from Outer Space
Undertones: Volume 6 The classic science fiction film emerged during a period of great societal paranoia in the US in the early 1950s. The post-WW2 environment saw an increased concern with nuclear armament and a fear of the infiltration of … [Read the Rest]
Sweet Sadism: Angelo Badalamenti’s Score for Blue Velvet
Undertones: Volume 5 Removing the veneer of squeaky-clean suburban American life to reveal its seamy underbelly, David Lynch’s 1986 film, Blue Velvet, is a modern masterpiece and perhaps the most crystallized example of Lynch’s filmic vision. Concerned with the misadventure … [Read the Rest]
The Drone of Dead Man
Undertones: Volume 4 Jim Jarmusch’s transcendental western, Dead Man (1995), is the tale of a spiritual and physical journey taken by an ordinary man named William Blake (Johnny Depp) sometime in the later part of the 19th century. Travelling to … [Read the Rest]
Scoring the Silents
Undertones: Volume 3 From the beginning of cinema theatre owners tried a variety of methods in which to add sound to film. Initially the reasons for the addition of sound varied from people being weirded out by seeing mute folks … [Read the Rest]
Hooch ‘n’ Harmonies
Undertones: Volume 2 In the 1940s the consumption of alcohol was predominantly glamorised on the silver screen. Starlets sipped sensuously on their g & t’s whilst detectives downed shots of whiskey before departing the office on a hot lead. If … [Read the Rest]
The Sound of Falling: Bernard Herrmann’s Score for Vertigo.
Undertones: Volume 1 Bring up Alfred Hitchock’s Vertigo (1958) in conversation to anyone who has seen it and you are bound to get one of two responses; complete and utter contempt over its baffling complexity or hyperbolic gushing over the … [Read the Rest]










