Friday Night Lights

Novelist H. G. Bissinger's story about a high school football team in Texas went to the big screen with Billy Bob Thornton in the lead role. The score and background music was largely composed for the film by indie faves Explosions in the Sky, with a little help from Daniel Lanois, David Torn, and Bad Company. Producer Brian Reitzell has gone against convention in designing musical atmospheres for the film that don't conform either to the martial music generally associated with football or the C&W associated with Texas. Instead, he opted for a more autumnal, introspective sound that serves as a perfect backdrop for the film, but also stands up on its own without benefit of any other audio-visual cues.