Riccardo Percacci






Composition for Film and Television

Assignment submission: 4000 word essay






Soundtrack analysis for the movie Godzilla (2014)

Directed by Gareth Edwards


Music composed by Alexandre Desplat

Introduction

Alexandre Desplat’s score for Godzilla (Godzilla, 2014) represents a big change in style from his
previous works. As he says himself in an interview, “I always try to do movies that are different
from the ones I’ve done before, and this movie is the perfect example: I’ve never done a monster
movie before”. Indeed, Desplat is best known for “lighter” kinds of scores, such as Grand Budapest
Hotel or The Girl with the Pearl Earring. In tackling the most recent instalment of the blockbuster
series however, Desplat went all in and delivered an aggressive, gargantuan sound that perfectly
suits the disastrous, large scale events shown in the movie. 



In short, the movie depicts the battle between Godzilla and two MUTOs (Massive Unidentified
Terrestrial Organism), parasitic monsters which feed on radioactive materials. MUTOs were
responsible for the 1999 meltdown of a nuclear power plant in Janjira, Japan, in which scientist
Sandra Brody died. Sandra’s husband Joe Brody keeps researching on the events for 15 years,
suspecting world governments of covering up the events with a fake nuclear disaster story. In the
present day (2014 at the time of the movie’s release), a male MUTO emerges and calls out for a
female. With the menace of a human extermination, Godzilla intervenes as the only force of nature
capable of restoring balance. The story follows also the key role that Joe and Sandra’s son Ford, a
naval bomb disposal technician, has in the defeat of the MUTOs.



Instrumental choices in this type of movie are quite forced: a full-sized orchestra is needed. In fact,
Desplat went even bigger, with 18 first violins and 18 second violins positioned at opposite sides of
the orchestra, as well as double the amount of brass and horns, also positioned at opposite sides. In
Desplat’s own words, this allows for “very strong stereo movements” that would “emphasise these
characters’ broken souls” (Rolling Stone). However, this setup allows the score to also musically
represent the battle between the monsters, and create a lot of space for the large scale disaster to
take place.

The orchestra is also joined by a large SATB choir, adding size to the sound and providing some of
the score’s most terrorising moments. There’s also a reference to the Japanese origins of the
Godzilla franchise in the inclusion of the Shakuhachi flute, along with the important thundering
presence of Taiko drums (and other oriental percussion such as Tam-tams and Chinese cymbals).

Organic instruments are supported and enriched by synthesiser sounds: these play important parts in
creating a connection both to the beastliness of the monsters (with some otherworldly screams and
screeches) and to the nuclear weapons thematics present since the beginning of the Godzilla
franchise (with resonating pulsing basses).

In terms of style, Desplat often pays homage to the original 1954 movie’s score by Ifukube, to John
Williams’ iconic monster movie scores, and also hints at Goldenthal’s aggressive, complex brass
arrangements.



Major thematic elements and their development



Although there is recurring thematic material, the score isn’t very strongly theme-based, in that no
themes are consistently attached to specific characters or situations. Rather, these are used according
to the type of mood and pacing they provide to the picture. The score is very varied, with a few
recurring motifs and devices acting as connecting tissue. Nevertheless, there is a tangible feeling of
consistency with the main mood and intention of the music. As will be explained further, this is
achieved through persistent use of certain harmonic coloristic devices, and through the use of
familiar melodic fragments in the rhythmic ostinato parts.

The movie’s main title, “Godzilla!”, contains itself several features and devices used throughout the
score. It takes the form of a gargantuan march, reminiscent of Ifukube’s work on the original movie.
The quite fast paced (100 bpm) march is characterised by the rhythmic pattern 4/4-2/4-3/8, and the
blunt juxtaposition of two minor chords, a minor second apart (Fig. 1).

The resulting effect is very dark and menacing sound, and the nervous, obsessive alternation
between these two chords (more general, between two chords) is idiomatic for the entire score,
signifying the relentlessness of the battle, and keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat, save for
only brief moments of relief.

This march will reappear only later on in the score, when Godzilla appears and the battle between
the monsters starts. In the meanwhile, a more subtle and mellow toned - but not less brooding and
menacing - version in 4/4 signature persistently underlies the events leading up to the battle.



At the start of the main title, there appears also a melodic motif in a loose Hungarian mode, played
by trumpets and horns (Fig. 2).

This theme is embedded in the march’s harmonic context mentioned above, with the fourth bar
however containing a tritone leap from G minor to C# minor, for an even darker and more
menacing effect. This type of harmony is used extensively throughout the score, resounding not
only with the catastrophic events but also with the dark colours featured in the majority of movie’s
scenes.

This theme appears in a variety of situations, but generally in quieter moments. It could be linked to
the more human side of the conflict, as it is heard in a scene depicting the turmoiled population
following an encounter in San Francisco between the first MUTO and Godzilla. It is also heard
while a nuclear bomb is being lowered by a helicopter into a boat. The bomb is supposed to attract
the MUTOs in the open sea and detonate, killing them. The sinister sounding theme suggests us
right away that this plan will fail, as the MUTOs will eventually take the bomb and use it to build
their nest. Again, the theme appears in a more dramatic action scene, when Ford manages to
detonate the nest. As he is climbing out, the melody plays quite unexpectedly over the building
string ostinato patterns, underlining the decisiveness of his actions. At the end, Godzilla is laying
motionless, exhausted from the battle, amid the ruins of the city, while rescue operations are
beginning to dig up buried survivors. The theme plays, and its mysterious chromatic quality seems
to paraphrase the viewer asking himself if the beast is still alive. However, following the same
interpretation of the theme, it could be argued that the score is evidencing the unlikely alliance
between Godzilla and humans against the MUTOs.


Another recurring device present in the main title are the fast brass 6-tuplets pictured below in Fig.
3 (staves for horns 1-4 and 5-8). These are played by the 8 horns and doubled by violins and violas.
This is a first example for the type of stereo effect encountered frequently in the score. The nervous,
aggressive character of this device will lend itself later in high energy action scenes.


Finally, it’s worth noting a certain string ostinato pattern, that serves in the main title to build up the
rhythmic energy leading into the march (Fig. 4). In this case, the stereo effect (with violins 1 and 2
sitting at opposite sides of the stage) aids very effectively in building up the tension.

This very simple pattern is frequently used as rhythmic accompaniment in the abundant action
scenes. But also, it has a slower version, in which the fragment is used more melodically than as a
rhythmic device. This version appears a few times, in quieter scenes with dialogue, such as in
“Hiroshima”, where Dr. Serizawa tells the U.S. army general in charge of operations how he lost his
father in the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima (Fig. 5). The underlying harmony, realised by soft
tremolos in the strings, is similar to that of the main title march (in this case D♭minor - C minor),
but is softened by the inclusion in both chords of a major 9th interval. This note is also used to
provide an oscillation in the lowest notes of the arpeggio, which gives the phrase a more melodic
feeling and helps rendering these more reflective moments.





In another early cue, titled “Drive to Plant/Meltdown/Sandra’s Death”, we can find two more
important thematic features. Here, in 1999 Joe and Sandra arrive at the power plant where both are
employed. There’s a concern about tremors going on, which Joe believes to be electromagnetic
pulses (which turn out to result from a MUTO feeding off the plant’s radioactive core). Desplat
gives us a direct representation of this with a low rumbling pulse generated with piano and
electronic sounds (102 bpm) (Fig. 6). 


Even though it sounds like a device frequently used in many movies, it is very effective in creating
foreboding tension in a way that is integral to the plot. This pulse with appear many times in the
movie. One instance is when Joe tells his son that his knowledge in echolocation suggests him that
a certain signal he’s been picking up from the same site may be some kind of “call” (in fact, a
mating call to the female MUTO). 

In “Kill it” it appears in a form even more explicitly similar to an electromagnetic pulse (98 bpm)
(Fig. 7).

This image shows viola and cello parts, which are doubled in the winds with bassoon, contrabass
clarinet, clarinet and piccolo clarinet (an ideal neutral, round sound for the device). At this point,
Joe and Ford have been caught prowling in the “quarantine zone” in search for Joe’s floppy disk
data from the day of the meltdown. They are being held in the ex-power plant, where the MUTO
has been developing underground thanks to the radiation source, emitting electromagnetic signals
that have been studied all this time. Now the signals are growing stronger and stronger, Joe
recognises a similarity from the day of the meltdown and is warning his captors that “this is not a
malfunction, this is an electromagnetic pulse, […] and it is going to send us back to the stone age!”. 

The pulse, with this clearer instrumentation and its faster pace, now sounds closer and less muffled,
and is warning us with growing tension of the imminent rise of the beast from underground. The
tension is created both by the rhythm and also harmonically by the the employment of the tritone
interval D-A♭. This pulse device will also be employed frequently.

Returning to “Drive to Plant/Meltdown/Sandra’s Death”, 15 years earlier, the second important
feature of this cue is what may be considered a theme for the Brody family. It plays for the first time
in the scene depicting Sandra’s death. She remains trapped in the insides of the plant when Joe is
forced to block her team’s exit to contain the breach. As Joe looks at her for the last time through
the glass, we hear the strings play in a lyrical and mournful musical moment, presented in Figs. 8, 9
& 10 with chord analysis.
The harmony here is very soft, and the lyrical diatonic phrases provide appoggiaturas and passing
tones which add colour and richness to the whole. The main harmonic effect is the transition from
Gmaj7 to Fmaj7, momentarily shifting away from the key of B minor, but returning with greater
emotional power directly to F# minor. Here the melodic oscillation between C# and D in violins 2
and cellos, resulting in the 9th interval C#-D, as well as the suspended eleventh in E7, above the
already present third, create poignantly sad dissonances, before the tension resolves on the softer
Dmaj7. 

This moment provides musical material for other scenes involving the Brody family. In the havoc
caused by the MUTO emerging from the ex-power plant in 2014, Joe is seriously injured and dies
on a helicopter with Ford. Here, in a very quiet musical moment, the piano softly plays a version of
the melody from the 1st violins (Figs. 11, 12, previous page). The rhythm is stretched and has a
more iambic feel. The piano is supported by a sustained chord of two superimposed 5ths in the
strings, after which there is a reference to the Gmaj7-Fmaj7 transition mentioned above (though the
harmony is not exactly the same, the effect is similar). This more poetic approach (in rhythm and
thin orchestral and harmonic texture), evidences (as indicated in the piano part) a distancing from
events of the past and the passing on of Ford’s loved ones. It reflects the shattering impact these
tragic events have had on Ford’s life, and it is only at the very end, when Ford and his son Sam are
reunited with Ford’s wife Elle, that this theme returns with richer and uplifting harmony and
orchestral texture.


Analysis of selected fragments

It’s worth observing how Desplat introduces Godzilla in a few scenes, with great cinematic effects.

His first appearance is depicted in the cue “Muto Airport”. Here, the male MUTO is creating havoc
in an airport in Honolulu. Tension is building up in the strings, with two-note ostinato patterns
reminiscent of John Williams scores (Fig. 13).

The harmony is based on a diminished 7th chord on E♭, but the inclusion of additional notes in the
string parts as well as in the other instruments makes the categorisation unclear. For instance, we
see the winds persistently arpeggiating a B minor chord (Fig. 14, next page). The alternation with
E♭is reminiscent of the familiar harmonic device of two minor chords a minor second apart (C
minor and B minor in this case). If we look at the octatonic sounding brass phrases however, we
find harmonic clashes (Fig. 14, next page). The condensed result is a voluntarily dissonant,
clustered effect which is most prominent in all the score. This helps represent the utter chaos in
which civilisation is thrown in. 

Also the string parts get ever more complex, with both violins going into independent 3-part divisi
as the music reaches a climatic fortissimo and drops suddenly. In this moment, a fighter plane
crashes on the ground, causing a chain of explosions in the airport, and Godzilla enters the scene.
The silence here is very effective, emphasising the enormous presence of the monster: we first see
only his feet thumping profoundly on the ground. As the camera moves up and reveals his full
figure for the first time in the movie, Desplat creates an even more chaotic buildup, through the use
of aleatoric techniques in all the orchestra except brass.
These start in woodwinds and low strings, where basses and cellos play a very dense cluster, while
violas are instructed to repeatedly play a given chromatic pattern at unsynchronised speed (Fig. 15,
next page). Then an incredibly dense choir joins, with some voices playing fixed note clusters, and
some continuously glissandoing between given notes (Fig. 16, next page). Along with timpani rolls
and harp glissandos, the whole grows into fortissimo as the camera moves up from Godzilla’s feet
to his head. The “music” then drops and there is a brief moment of silence before the beast lets out
his enormous roar.
This orchestral device is definitely strongly evocative of fear. The scene is played out from the
viewpoint of the people in the airport, and the chaotic choir sound seems to represent the turmoil of
voices caught between the two monster’s fight. At this early stage, Godzilla is still felt as an enemy
to humans (he has already caused a deadly tsunami emerging from the sea), not yet as their saviour,
so it makes sense that his first depiction is so frightful. At the same time though, the introduction of
the choir specifically for his entrance helps in establishing his majestic stature as the only force of
nature capable of defeating the MUTOs.
The sequence “Kid Reunited/Saratoga/Yucca Mountain/Missing Spore” is particularly well
constructed. The events take place right after the scene described above: the MUTO has escaped
and Godzilla is chasing him by sea, heading towards San Francisco, where Ford’s wife and son are.
In a devastated Honolulu, Ford is taking care for a kid who’s been separated from his parents. As we
are shown images of the aftermath, one of the recurring motifs is heard (Fig. 17, next page). The
harmonic structure is altered, which as we shall see, is functional to the fact that for these people the
worst is over. The menacing I-♭II-I-#IV minor chord succession - used for the original presentation
of this theme - would be out of place here, being suggestive of an impending menace rather than the
aftermath of a disaster.
So the motif plays on a tonic pedal of D. As the phrase reaches the eerie G#, additional strings and
brass come in and out with a Dm9 chord (the A is present in the brass). The presence of E and G#
evokes an E7 chord in fourth inversion, creating a tension effect typical of “gypsy” modes with the
♭III-#IV minor third step (much used by composers such as John Williams).
At the end of the second phrase, ending on a B, we get the same dynamic effect with the chord B-C-
F-G#/A♭. The overall harmony may be reduced to a Bdim7(♭9) chord, but the 9th (C) is played
in the low register, so that the effect we hear is more that of an F minor chord with the additional
“color” of and augmented 4th, over a tonic pedal of D. This chord has a darker effect, more similar
to the harmonic context of the main theme, in which this motif first appeared. 

The first phrase is heard once again as Ford looks around realising he’s lost the kid, but then sees
that his parents have found him. So here, instead of the second phrase, the tension is resolved on A
minor (bar 15), and we hear a pleasing trumpet solo celebrating the family’s reunion (Fig. 19). Ford
looks on with a smile, and we see a line of soldiers passing by from behind him. Here (bar 18) the
harmony transitions from G major to F# minor, signalling that he’s “back to business”: this is one of
the few short moments when the viewers are able to catch their breath in the midst of all the drama.
The F# minor chord is sustained as Ford speaks with one of the soldiers, asking how to get back to
San Francisco. The soldier explains that Godzilla, and therefore the army, is heading there too, and
the music transitions with a fast crescendo as the trumpet phrases some variations of the previous
motif. 


The scene cuts to a wide shot of the US navy following Godzilla. As we are brought back to the
urgency of the situation, we briefly hear the march theme. The music dampers down to a low pulse
as we go inside USS Saratoga, where Admiral Stenz is conducting operations, with Dr. Serizawa at
his side as the chief scientific expert on the monsters. In the dialogue between Stenz, Serizawa and
his assistant, Serizawa remembers a spore that had been discovered years before and had been
considered dormant and dumped in Yucca Mountain in Nevada, US’s nuclear waste repository.
Driving the dialoge are pulsing synth basses and two-note string ostinatos. These build from violas
and cellos into violins, as brass and winds start playing a repetitive motif in a “call and response”
arrangement (effect aided by the already mentioned stereo disposition of sections) (Fig. 20, bassoon
and horn parts).

The melody presents a tense oscillation between C and D♭, and the effect of dilation and
contraction is enhanced by the underlying harmony, alternating F major and F# minor over a pedal
on A (Fig. 21). Additional notes are added in the strings (B and G#, adding dissonant intervals to F
and colour to F#m), giving extra tension for the buildup, as the characters reach their worrying
realisations about a potential second MUTO entering the game.

The crescendo grows to fortissimo as the scene cuts again to the Nevada desert, where a military
team is hurrying to Yucca Mountain in search for the spore.

The music shifts suddenly to a very rhythmic 4/4 (Fig. 22). The fast descending phrases in the
violins and the strong rhythmic drive, supported by loud taikos, have a great effect in giving the
scene its pressing anxiousness. Meanwhile, the brass keep playing the “call and response” motif
from before with a more aggressive intention, giving wholeness and consequentiality to the cue.

Another notable cue is entitled “Golden Gate Chaos”. Busses are stuck on the bridge with the army
setting up a defence there, as Godzilla is expected to arrive in the city at any moment. The scene is
set up with a very tense initial silence. Birds suddenly start to flock over the bridge. To complement
the images and sounds of the birds, Desplat uses again a dense cluster in the second violins with
chromatic patterns to be repeated ad libitum in the first violins (Fig. 23).

As soon as a man on a ship below the bridge spots Godzilla’s back sticking out of the water, we
hear the march theme in a 4/4 version (measure 14 in Fig. 23).
On top of the string ostinato (doubled by winds), brass menacingly repeat the chords G minor and
F# minor, growing in volume as Godzilla draws nearer the bridge (Fig. 24).

As already mentioned before, but not exemplified, the march theme is used frequently in this
straight 4/4 format. In this case however, it is actually playing at double tempo. In previous
instances, the string ostinato would have been played in crotchets rather than quavers, with the
function of setting the scene’s menacing atmosphere. Here, the theme is already familiar and is used
more as an effect to make us feel the direct presence of Godzilla. With relation to the march,
Desplat is stripping the theme of its irregular rhythmic pattern, taking just the harmonic gesture as a
device to be used as needed.

The music stops as Godzilla suddenly halts. He then lifts his giant tail, going under one of the ships.
In this moment, a big G minor arpeggio is heard in the strings (Fig. 25).

This musical moment is perfect for the scene, as marines look up at the huge tail in dismay. The
swinging up and down pattern successfully evokes a mixed state of confusion and fear with its
motion. 



Finally, we must consider a few moments in the movie’s ending stages. Godzilla finally manages to
kill the last MUTO just in time to save Ford from a hopeless face to face. As the enemy collapses,
trombones, trumpets and horns play a triumphant two note gesture (Fig. 26).

At this stage, both Godzilla and Ford are exhausted from the events. As they are in no mood to
celebrate yet, so the music refrains from doing so in any big way. What we hear instead is a mellow
cadence in strings and brass (Fig 27).

The sound is still somewhat darkened by the E♭ minor, but there is nevertheless a sense of relief
and the closeness of the epilogue is audible.
Both Ford and Godzilla collapse and both the picture and the sound assume a sympathetic
viewpoint. The sound gets muffled as Ford lays looking faintly at the sky, meanwhile we hear long
high notes played softly on the strings with the piano slowly hinting at the Brody family theme on
the upper keys, while a helicopter comes and rescues him.

Later on, Ford and Sam are reunited with Elle in a refugee camp. In this moment we hear the Brody
family theme (Fig. 28).
The chords are slightly altered, though their harmonic functions are similar (for example, instead of
A in first inversion, we have F in second inversion). What is consistent with the theme is the
melody, with its step up, step down, four steps up, direction, and the descending bass. Also, the
colour effect B♭ -A♭ maj7 is present.
Now everybody looks up at the screens, where Godzilla is shown heading towards the sea, hailed by
TV titles as “saviour of our city” and he is finally given his triumphant celebration (Fig. 29).

The violin line is doubled in two octaves in trombones, trumpets and horns, and is somewhat
resemblant of the main title theme (Fig. 30).

Instead of the chromatic step downward though, the melody has a heroic upward push. The
arpeggio (doubled by woodwinds) is taken from the familiar ostinato pattern.
The music then lands on a F major - B major chord alternation, repeating it five times in crescendo,
before concluding on B major (Fig. 31).
The tritone, present in all the score as an element of menace, is asserted triumphantly as the root of
two major chords, rather than two minor chords.

The E# to D# appoggiatura in B major is a typical use of the tritone that creates a very sharp, bright
clash with the 5th (F#), and sound particularly heroic and potent in brass.

Indeed, Desplat’s articulated brass arrangement is very heroic (Fig. 32), the trumpet fanfare leading
the crescendo to its maximum before two big chords are played fortissimo and Godzilla disappears
back into the ocean (Fig. 33).