In his latest video, Marco Risch talks about Marvel and a very specific technology that has definitely contributed to the success of the MCU films. You can find out more about what this technology is all about in his video.
Who is Marco Risch? Marco Risch has been uploading videos with news, reviews, analyzes and interviews about current films, series and video games to his YouTube channel Nerdkultur since 2015.
In his podcast Nerd & Culture every Sunday he chats with his colleague Yves Arievich about topics like Star Wars, Marvel and DC. Both are part of the Webedia network, of which MeinMMO is also a part.
In his latest video he talks about the fact that although many fans complain about the development of the MCU, Marvel still does one thing right in the films:
Nobody talks about what Marvel really needs…
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What technology do the MCU films use? In his video (via YouTube) Marco talks about a very specific technique that the MCU films skilfully use: the needle drop.
What this is can be easily explained if you look at an old record player. Marco explains in his video that a needle drop is the moment when music plays in a film scene. Exactly the moment when the needle touches the record.
These are actually well-known songs from pop music and rock music and not songs composed specifically for the film.
Director James Gunn in particular used the music presence in “Guardians of the Galaxy” to distinguish his characters with the music and to give the connection a very special meaning. However, music played a big role in the MCU right from the start, as Marco reports.
From the beginning, Marvel plays with music: In his video, Marco explains that Marvel actually used the Needle Drop in the MCU’s first film. The first scene of Iron Man is introduced by the well-known song “Back in Black” by AC/DC, marking the start of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).
Marvel managed to differentiate itself from other superhero films not only through the character of Tony Stark and the successful portrayal of Robert Downey Jr. The distinctive music of the first “Iron Man” film also played its part.
However, Marco also mentions in his video that the MCU was in a dilemma at the beginning. Because of the lack of a coherent musical motif, the MCU, in contrast to other superhero franchises, lacked an optimally functioning leitmotif.
Only the Avengers theme, which quickly became legendary for fans, really stuck in their minds and proves how powerfully a functioning leitmotif can affect us emotionally.
Afterwards, Marco talks again about how James Gunn in particular used the needle drop perfectly with the Guardians of the Galaxy. In fact, there is hardly any other film, especially in the MCU, that uses this symptom so often. With this, Gunn proves that he understands the magic of the needle drop better than anyone else in the MCU.
Marco also addresses Taika Waititi’s method in “Thor Ragnarok” of simply using the same needle drop twice to describe character development in his video. Waititi also shows again and again in his work that he has understood the needle drop and can use it in a targeted manner.
Despite the criticism and many changes in the MCU, perhaps not all is lost. This is exactly what the latter films in the MCU show, which created very emotional, beautiful and memorable moments and a connection between the viewer and the characters, especially through their music.
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