Reddit mentions of The Music of James Bond

Here's a few that I like:

Fred Karlin's On the Track is a very good place to start, and among the best books from a musical point of view. It's expensive, though. Check your bookstore and library for a used copy, but it's a great book.

There's a pretty comprehensive study of music in Hitchcock films by Jack Sullivan. Only available on kindle, but again, check your library. If you're at a school with a big music and/or film department I wouldn't be surprised to find it there.

Hearing the Movies and Reel Music both offer a pretty good overview of the history. Reel Music is from a non-musician perspective, Hearing the Movies covers musical material as well.

That being said, there are a lot of books that can be very helpful from a non-musical point of view. The Bernard Herrman biography, Heart at Fire's Center, is a fascinating read and incredibly insightful. Do you like James Bond at all? Jon Burlingame (well known around LA as the journalist/historian) wrote an incredible book, detailing every movie. The paperback is an updated version with a Skyfall chapter.

Watch these:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi5adKU9gu4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PcGSnFlUw

The first is a roundtable with Danny Elfman, Alexandre Desplat, Fernando Velasquez, Mychael Danna, Marco Beltrami and Patrick Doyle. The second with Hans Zimmer, Christophe Peck, Henry Jackman, Thomas Newman, Steven Price and Alan Silvestri.

Google "John Williams." You've probably heard the name. Listen to him talk. He's brilliant. If you're ever in LA at the end of August, go see him conduct at the Hollywood Bowl.

And the best thing you can do? Score movies! There's value in rescoring scenes from films, and, if you can, find a film school (possible at the same school if you're at a place like NYU or USC) and reach out to the students there. Offer to score their films. The best way to get into it is really just to do it.



Amazon links:
http://www.amazon.com/Track-Guide-Contemporary-Film-Scoring/dp/0415941369/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412216822&sr=1-1&keywords=fred+karlin

http://www.amazon.com/Hitchcocks-Music-Jack-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B0015MTOQ8/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412217334&sr=1-1&keywords=hitchcock+music

http://www.amazon.com/Reel-Music-Exploring-Years-Film/dp/0393925749/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412217613&sr=1-8&keywords=film+music

http://www.amazon.com/Hearing-Movies-Music-Sound-History/dp/0195327799/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412217613&sr=1-11&keywords=film+music

http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Fires-Center-Bernard-Herrmann/dp/0520229398/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412217247&sr=1-1&keywords=bernard+herrmann

http://www.amazon.com/Music-James-Bond-Jon-Burlingame/dp/0199358850/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412217281&sr=1-1&keywords=jon+burlingame