Music makes movies iconic. It gives the audience a better understanding of characters’ emotions and can instil a sense of adventure that brings a franchise like Jurassic Park or Batman to life. There are different techniques and styles to create a great movie score, but the most effective composers all understand a basic premise:

The score should reflect the underlying reality of what’s appearing on screen.

Inception demonstrates this perfectly. The intellectual truth of that movie, and the one that is left lingering in minds long after that infuriating final shot, is the question, “is my world real?”

Please just drop…

Hans Zimmer explores this question in the score. The innovative use of Non, je ne regrette rien challenges the audiences’ perception of music and sound effects. The song is initially played at normal speed, but then is dramatically slowed down to create the ‘BWONG’ sound effect that wakes the characters from their dreams.

When watching the film no one realised where this iconic sound came from and the discovery of the truth delighted fans and added yet another layer to the movie — a realisation that allows the movie to continue questioning reality well after it ends.

Equally, Zimmer’s original score beautifully captures the overall theme of this movie — building in intensity by adding layers of instruments until finally stripping it bare to expose a simple melody.

Just like the movie, it is one simple idea that grows and creates something intricate, developed and perfectly formed.