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10 Most Effective Thomas Newman Film Scores

Musicnotes

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10 Most Effective Thomas Newman Film Scores

Thomas Newman’s specialty is creating film scores that convey the perfect mix of emotions, set the mood for what’s coming, tickle the senses, and give a sense of continuity and finality. His talent and whimsicality have led him to become one of today’s most prominent film score composers.

What Films Has Thomas Newman Scored?

Film music is essential to creating a coherent and immersive movie experience. Newman's film scores have graced movies of all genres and led him to receive many awards for his work, including several Grammys. His work breathes life into more than 40 films.

While all of his music is well done, let’s look at ten of the most effective Thomas Newman film scores.

1. ‘He Named Me Malala’

This documentary, released in 2015, tells the story of young female activist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai, who stood up to the Taliban, survived an assassination attempt, and continued fighting for the rights of women and girls across the world.

Thomas Newman had the honor of meeting Malala and her father, Ziauddin, before composing the score. He said that he felt he had to contribute something more than just musical creativity to the film, he wanted to create something meaningful on an international level. He composed 28 songs to help convey the feelings of such an emotive film.

The film score includes a traditional Pakistani song performed by school children in Pakistan and two songs co-written with Alicia Keys. For the other 25 songs, Newman combined his usual style with ethnic instruments to create unforgettable melodies and give the film an empathetic, innocent, and triumphant touch.

Malala’s story of strength and perseverance was already inspiring, but Newman helped add texture and reinforce the storyline through his music. This film score was nominated for an Academy Award and for the Best Original Score for a Documentary at the International Film Music Critics Association Awards.

2. ‘American Beauty’

American Beauty is probably one of the most iconic Thomas Newman movies out there.

The film portrays a man’s midlife crisis as he becomes infatuated with his teenage daughter’s best friend, while intertwining stories of his wife’s affair, and the controlled life of a neighbor with an ex-military father. Slightly twisted and just a little dark, it touches on themes such as loneliness and sadness.

While the film is a critique of American suburban life, Newman chose to magnify the socially critical nature of the plot instead of simply conveying the characters’ disillusion and emptiness.

For example, Newman used bright percussion and acoustic guitar to allude to the life that the main character should have been living, while the film shows the bleak and lonely life he is actually leading. The music unites each scene of the film, while still maintaining the individuality of them all.

It was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe and won at the BAFTA Awards. Newman went on to win a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.

3. ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’

Thomas Newman does a fantastic job with black humor, and A Series of Unfortunate Events is no exception. The film is based on the first three books of a series of thirteen and shows the life of three orphaned siblings as they experience a series of unfortunate and dismal events at the hands of an evil count and his posse of twisted misfits.

The material is dark and gloomy, yet humorous, and Newman uses his characteristic sound design and compositions to convey a grayish, though not heavy, feeling. His music is lighter than the visuals, keeping the entire film from falling into darkness.

The music sits between the abstract and the literal and shows his understanding of what makes a film work. The unique range of emotions and mix of action, mystery, and humor make the film quirky and eccentric, but the way that Newman captures, unites, and conveys those elements is phenomenal.

Many critics have expressed distaste for the film itself but acknowledge that Newman understands the nuances of the original storyline as written in the book and provides a much-needed continuity to the movie.

4. ‘Skyfall’

The Skyfall soundtrack was one of the highest-charting albums of all the James Bond movies. It won a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media and the BAFTA Award for Best Film Music.

Like the other movies in the Bond series, this film is pure adrenaline and action. It follows James Bond as he chases an assassin through Istanbul, works through childhood trauma, and deals with his aging body and other’s expectations. It explores the meaning of James Bond, making the music an essential element in conveying all that Bond is about.

Thomas Newman carefully crafts a melancholy but fresh take on the series. While his specialty seems to be bringing quirky, unique plots to life, he nailed it with new ideas for a typical action film.

His pieces seem to give more of a sleek, technological feel to action scenes, whereas in past films, the music was more brute and forceful. He conveys well the pensive and vulnerable side of Bond instead of focusing solely on action and strength. Bond feels he’s almost unnecessary at this point in his career, and Newman conveys those feelings carefully to the audience.

The music is moody, it’s raw, it’s balanced, and conveys all the emotion happening alongside the action.

5. ‘Finding Nemo’

It may be an animated film, but that doesn’t lessen the importance and effectiveness of the score on the storyline. Thomas Newman does it again with Finding Nemo, whose music is curious, warm, sad, and adventurous.

The story follows Marvin, a widowed clownfish whose only child, Nemo (who also has a disability) is taken away by divers and ends up in a dentist’s office aquarium. Marvin goes on a wild cross-ocean search with a forgetful friend, Dory, to find him.

Nemo presents diverse themes such as family, determination, loss, and love to children of all ages, and Newman brings out the emotions of each scene while providing an overall calming and heart-warming effect.

For example, the barracuda scene is intense and almost frightening, but the music following the scene is bright and calming. The shark scene was similar, but Newman did an excellent job of bringing it back to the overall adventure and warmth the film is meant to convey.

6. “The Shawshank Redemption”

The film score for Shawshank Redemption is considered a Thomas Newman classic and appears in most rankings of Newman’s film compositions. The music for this movie was nominated for a Grammy and for Best Original Score at the Academy Awards.

Many consider this score to be emotive and reminiscent of old-time movie music because it features a more orchestral style than some of his other works.

The score itself seems to play almost a background part compared to the story, but this works well, as the storyline for this film is strong. It’s a purposefully understated and subtle score, but one that demonstrates his great ability to read between the lines and produce music that works with the story and characters instead of overshadowing them.

This movie is based on a short story by acclaimed author Stephen King and presents the tale of two prisoners who befriend each other and help each other cope. One claims innocence and the other helps him learn that although he may be locked away, his spirit can’t be broken.

Newman conveys the complexities of the case, prison life, and the main character’s emotional state through the music while weaving in a thread of hope. His pieces evoke a feeling of perseverance and determination, even when all the odds are against the protagonists.

7. ‘WALL-E’

Another animated film starring the genius compositions of Thomas Newman is Pixar’s Wall-E. His classic whimsicality shines through in this score.

Newman received a Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Motion Picture for the song “Down to Earth” and one for Best Instrumental Arrangement for “Define Dancing.” He also won a Best Original Song Written Directly for Film Award at the World Soundtrack Awards and was also nominated for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe.

Newman outdid himself on this beautiful score. Some say he perfectly captured the sentiments of a lonely robot as he passes through difficult trials and tenderly adorable moments.

Wall-E, a small trash robot, finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world cleaning up garbage. He falls in love with EVE, a probe robot, and goes to her home and attempts to save the human race from ignorance.

The music is the perfect complement to all that happens in the film, from the ominous moments, to the carefree ones Wall-E spends with EVE, to the tear-jerker scenes. Newman did a fantastic job of making versatile electronic music that puts the audience in the shoes of the adorable little robot.

8. ‘1917’

A powerful story needs a powerful score to match, and Thomas Newman knew exactly how to pull the audience into 1917. His film score for this movie earned him nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Grammy.

This movie follows two soldiers during World War One as they are sent to deliver a message to the enemy camp to save thousands of soldiers from being lured into a trap.

Newman uses orchestral tracks for much of the film, and then creates the more intense moments using electronic rhythms, strong percussion, and rumbles to up the adrenaline and make viewers feel as if they were among the chaos.

The content of the film is already heavy and gloomy, as the two young men embark on a seemingly impossible mission, so Newman matched the music more to the landscapes and less to the characters.

One challenge for Newman for this film is that there were no transitions or cuts to use to change tracks. It was shot to appear to be one continuous run. He was able to pull it off by deciding where to fade out the music and where to bring it back stronger.

9. ‘Saving Mr. Banks’

Saving Mr. Banks shows how Disney convinced Pamela Travers, the author of Mary Poppins, to give him film rights. The movie shows how she based the characters in her book on her childhood and memories, including her own father, personified by George Banks. She resists Disney’s changes to the plot and characters but is finally moved by the redemption of George Banks in Disney’s film.

Thomas Newman had a challenge when it came to Travers’ flashbacks of her childhood, but he successfully created a score that helped transport the audience back in time and then pull it back into the present.

Newman chose to primarily use strings for this score, as well as other instruments from the period, and wrote all original tracks instead of recreating the music from the Disney film.

10. ‘Road to Perdition’

The movie Road to Perdition is about revenge, loyalty, and morality. Set in the 1930s, mob enforcer Michael Sullivan betrays his boss after the murder of his wife and son. He takes his surviving son and flees, and the film shows how they follow a road of revenge and redemption.

Thomas Newman was nominated for an Oscar after developing this score, which is poignant, symphonic, and moving.

Finding Sheet Music for Thomas Newman Film Scores

Finding sheet music for these film scores isn’t difficult at all. We have many of them right here on Musicnotes, in versions apt for different skill levels and for a variety of instruments. Check out our Thomas Newman options on our website.

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