I’m curious if anyone here knows what I’m referencing:
In my youth, I owned and watched the absolute hell out of an old VHS tape I got from… somewhere, I’m honestly not sure where I got it. It was a National Geographic documentary produced in 1987 called Secrets of the Titanic, which dramatically documents Bob Ballard’s discovery and initial exploration of the wreck of the Titanic. The one I had was narrated by Martin Sheen, and it really helped shape my earliest recollections of the ghostly stateliness of the wreck. I think it’s a pretty excellent piece, in its own right, and well worth the watch.
One of the reasons this little documentary sticks in my mind so much probably has to do with its soundtrack. This program came with an original synth score by composer Craig Safan, most notable for his score for The Last Starfighter (1984) and A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), and while very of-its-time, as a loyal disciple to the likes of John Carpenter and Vince DiCola, I find this soundtrack utterly fantastic. I listen to these tracks and it just takes me right back to those first ghostly moments of discovery. Whenever I look upon footage of the wreck, this is usually what my head hears. In addition, I think Safan also gives a very unique musical interpretation of the Night of the Disaster; i’ve never heard anything like it.
You can find the soundtrack here and the documentary is out there in some sort of internet archive, I’m sure. But I’m curious: does anyone else have any recollection of this documentary, and specifically this soundtrack? What are your memories with it?
(I’m also spending some time recreating some of these synth sounds on my own, is that something anybody here would be interested in following?)
In my youth, I owned and watched the absolute hell out of an old VHS tape I got from… somewhere, I’m honestly not sure where I got it. It was a National Geographic documentary produced in 1987 called Secrets of the Titanic, which dramatically documents Bob Ballard’s discovery and initial exploration of the wreck of the Titanic. The one I had was narrated by Martin Sheen, and it really helped shape my earliest recollections of the ghostly stateliness of the wreck. I think it’s a pretty excellent piece, in its own right, and well worth the watch.
One of the reasons this little documentary sticks in my mind so much probably has to do with its soundtrack. This program came with an original synth score by composer Craig Safan, most notable for his score for The Last Starfighter (1984) and A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), and while very of-its-time, as a loyal disciple to the likes of John Carpenter and Vince DiCola, I find this soundtrack utterly fantastic. I listen to these tracks and it just takes me right back to those first ghostly moments of discovery. Whenever I look upon footage of the wreck, this is usually what my head hears. In addition, I think Safan also gives a very unique musical interpretation of the Night of the Disaster; i’ve never heard anything like it.
You can find the soundtrack here and the documentary is out there in some sort of internet archive, I’m sure. But I’m curious: does anyone else have any recollection of this documentary, and specifically this soundtrack? What are your memories with it?
(I’m also spending some time recreating some of these synth sounds on my own, is that something anybody here would be interested in following?)
