MUSIC 007 Film Music Appreciation

Recorded music for the first feature film, Don Juan, was performed the ______________________ .

New York Philharmonic

Sunset Boulevard has both elements of _____________________ and ___________________________ .

film noir and message films

Ennio Morricone was born _______________ .

1928

The silent film era came to an end in ______________________ .

1928

Dimitri Tomkin began writing music for Hollywood during the _______________ and became a dominant film composer in the _____________ .

1930s, 1950s

Timbre

is the technical term for the color or tone quality produced by voices, instruments, and various combinations of the two. This element often plays a critical role in the overall impact of a film score.

Intertitles

'One might argue that "silent films" were never silent. Although the films lacked spoken words, commentaries and dialogue were often shown through printed texts, inserted into the film, called intertitles. Still, music, sound effects, and sometimes, spoken words were essential parts of film presentations

The Wizard Of Oz

'The finest musical film of the 1930s, and many would argue of all time, is The Wizard of Oz. The film is a hybrid, with elements of drama, adventure, fantasy, and animation. There are two creative forces behind the music: Harold Arlen wrote the songs and Herbert Stothart orchestrated them, while also composing the underscoring. Both won Academy Awards, Arlen for "Over the Rainbow" and Stothart for Best Original Score.

Don Juan

'The premiere of the Vitaphone system in New York on August 6, 1926, opened with a number of short films, or "shorts," filmed with live-recorded sound. Following the shorts was the feature film Don Juan, starring John Barrymore. The drama—with its humorous amorous complications, swashbuckling duels, romantic passions, and a Guinness Book record of 191 kisses—was a perfect choice for the debut of the Vitaphone system. Supporting the film is a musical score composed primarily by William Axt and recorded by the New York Philharmonic. For Don Juan, the studio created a number of musi= cal shorts recorded live and shown prior to the feature film.

Second half of The Birth of A Nation

'The second half of the film is based on The Clansman, a 1905 novel by the white supremacist Reverend Thomas Dixon. In this portion of the film, Griffith slips into historical inaccuracies. Although he suggests that he has re-created a historic vision of the State House of Representatives of South Carolina, his im- ages of people are based on political cartoons of the time, not photos (1:54:08). In addition, historical events are distorted and manipulated to conform to Griffith's point of view. Contemporary viewers were not unaware of the racist undertones, in1g15, and the film faced opposition in newspapers, in court, and in the streets

Film Venues

'The size of the venue for film presentations was a significant factor in determin- ing the size of the accompanying musical ensemble. Many of the earliest films 'were presented as part of a theatrical entertainment, such as a magic show ora vaudeville performance—a practice that increased substantially after a strike of vaudeville performers in 1900. In these situations, it was natural for the theater orchestra to accompany the film as an extension of its normal duties.

Verse-Chorus

'The verse serves as a type of introduction. It presents a light patter, in which the words are clever, humorous, and more important than the melody. In any subsequent repetition of the verse, the lyrics change. The chorus is the musical heart of this structure. It has the more memorable melody, and it generally re- curs with the same text. The most common shape of a chorus is a-a-b-a, in which the b often has an expanded range. In performances, it was common for other performers or even the audience to join in singing the chorus—hence its name. This type of song became standardized as follows: Instrumental introduction Verse Chorus Instrumental break Chorus

Casablanca

'Typical of the conversion process was a script entitled Everybody Comes to Rick's The original story told of Rick, an owner of a café in French Morocco that was a hangout for European refugees. His life there would be totally disrupted by the arrival of Lois Meredith, a seductress who had ruined both his marriage and his law practice in prewar Paris. An official report on the possibilities of this story was filed at Warner Bros. on December 8, 1941, the day after the Pearl Harbor bombing. The studio saw potential for a film version, but changed the story to incorporate themes of separation and sacrifice. The woman, now named Ilsa, was made to be an innocent victim of events in the war, and Rick was recast as a former freedom fighter in- spired to support a new cause. The drama was also given anew name—Casablanca. The story of Casablanca takes place within a forty-eight hour period in December 1941. American audiences would have known the significance of the date and understood that these events occurred just prior to the US involvement in the war. When Rick describes the United States as sleeping, we know that the country, just like Rick, is about to be awakened into action. Many of the films that 'were hastily revised at this time are dated by their wartime settings. But the changes in Casablanca elevate this drama to a timeless tale of love and sacrifice.

During the 1980s John Williams scored a remarkable six of the top ten box-office winners, including E. T., Return of the Jedi, The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

False

Steamboat Willie (1928)

'Walt Disney created a great sensation with Steamboat Willie (1928), starring Mickey Mouse. This was not Mickey's first cartoon—it was actually the third— nor was it the first cartoon with sound. But this parody of the Buster Keaton film Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928) fully exploited sound technology and had enormous audience appeal. Music and sound effects are at the heart of this short, 'while dialogue is minimal. The two most prominent melodies in the cartoon are "Steamboat Bill," and "Turkey in the Straw," featuring a virtuoso performance by Mickey extracting musical sounds from various animals. The coordination of movement and music in this cartoon was painstaking, but the process helped pave the way for advances in the timing of music and film.

Film music serves the following purpose. Choose the best response.

(All the above) < ANSWER Establish a mood Reinforce characters Suggest a point of view Support the plot

Touch Of Evil (1958)

(One of the most fascinating films to appear in the 1950s, described by many as the last significant film noir, is Orson Welles's Touch of Evil (1958), with music by Henry Mancini. Controversy surrounds the film. Welles left pro- duction at the last moment to work on another project, and the studio editors, did not follow his instructions in creating the final cut. Welles later disowned the film and left a lengthy memo detailing how the film should appear. In 1998, Touch of Evil was restored following the intent of Welles's memo, so two versions of the film are now available—the original studio release and the Welles version. No new scenes were added in the revision, and both versions run the same length. The DVD for the latter has a longer running time only because of an opening statement about the revision and the addition of closing credits. Within the film, the order of several scenes is altered with crosscutting, but the major difference between the two versions is the absence of credits in the Welles opening scene (as in Citizen Kane) and the use of music at the beginning and end of the film.

Characteristics of Scores during the Golden Era

1. Extensive use of music (often referred to as "wall-to-wall" music) 2. Exploitation of the full range of orchestral colors 3. Reliance on the melody-dominated style of the late nineteenth century 4. Frequent borrowing of familiar melodies 5. Musical support for dramatic moods, settings, characters, and action 6. Unity through leitmotifs and thematic transformation

Three challenges of The Great Depression on Hollywood

1. the financial turmoil of the Great Depression initiated by the 1929 stock market crash 2. the technological problems created by the advent of sound films 3. The public concern with the morality of movies and their makers.

The first Kinetoscope parlor, established in New York, was in the year____________.

1894

In ________________ ,the first nickelodeon was established in Pittsburgh,

1905

The Jazz Singer

3. In The Jazz Singer, the story centers on a vaudeville performer, allowing segments of live music to be inserted into the story. During two of these segments, Al Jolson improvised dialogue, including the famous first words in a narrative film: "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! You ain't heard nothin' yet." Live music appears in four segments interpolated in the film: 1. Segment 1 (19:00): Jolson sings "Dirty Hands, Dirty Face" by Jimmy Monaco, Grant Clarke, Al Jolson, and Edgar Leslie (1929) and "Toot, Toot, Tootsie!" by Emie Erdman, Dan Russo, and Gus Kahn (1921). Between the songs, he speaks his first lines. 2. Segment 2 (44:10): Jolson sings two versions of "Blue Skies" by Irving Berlin (1926), a traditional version and a "jazzy" version. Between the verses, Jolson carries on a dialogue with his mother. 3. Segment 3 (1:14:40): Jolson sings "Mother of Mine" by Louis Silvers and Al Jolson (1927) during a dress rehearsal. 4. Segment 4 (1:31:20): Jolson sings his famous "My Mammy" by Walter Donaldson, Sam Lewis, and Joe Young (1918) in a stage performance that serves as the film's finale.

Max Steiner wrote music for over ____________________________________ .

300 Films

John Williams has received how many Academy Award nominations?

31-40 nominations.

Ennio Morricone has scored the following quantity of movies.

401-500 movies

The principal venue for film presentations shifted from theaters to nickelodeons. What was the price of admission?

A Nickel

Eadward Muybridge (1878)

A leading photographer of the American West, who had 15 years worth of experience working on moving images. Leland Stanford, the former governor of California, hired him to use this expertise in order to settle a bet. Racing enthusiasts had long debated whether or not a horse ever has all four legs off the ground while running, and Stanford decided to resolve the is- sue with the aid of photography. Muybridge placed twelve cameras at specified intervals next to a racetrack. When a running horse broke the trip wires, twelve successive photos were taken. Through this process it was shown with certainty that a horse does leave the ground while running. Stanford won his $25,000 bet—at a cost of at least $40,000.

King Kong

A major turning point came in 1933 with King Kong. The film's producers were initially concerned that if the monster did not terrify audiences, the elaborate production would be an expensive disaster. After audiences laughed at the image of King Kong in previews, their fears seemed to be well-founded. Desperately needing help, producer Merian C. Cooper tuned to composer Max Steiner and paid $50,000 out of his own pocket for the recording of additional music. The investment paid off. Steiner created a powerful score, complete with raucous brass and pounding percussion. The amount of music was astonishing for the time; The narrative of the film begins without music, as Steiner withholds underscoring for over twenty minutes, Music enters quietly when the ship encounters a mysterious fog (24:50). At that point, the concert begins. Other than during the titanic battle between Kong and the Tyrannosaurus rex and Kong's final confrontation with airplanes, the music is unrelenting.

During the Romantic era, two types of symphonic music emerged that reflect the the trend of music that tells a story, program music and descriptive music.

False

Franz Waxman worked with MGM Studio for twenty years. And, he received twelve Academy Award nominations and one Best Music Oscar for The Wizard of Oz.

False

Electronic Instruments

A number of musical instruments generate sound through electronics. The earliest electronic instruments heard in film music are the theremin and the ondes martenot. These instruments can produce wavering pitches that create an eerie unreal sound.

Operetta

A number of operettas were brought to the screen, beginning with Sigmund Romberg's Desert Song in 1929. A series of such works featuring the engaging team of Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy sustained Hollywood adap- tations of operettas into the 1940s. But interest in that type of entertainment waned, and the greater simplicity of the musical comedy, or musical as it became known, appealed to Hollywood filmmakers. Both newly created works and adaptations of existing Broadway shows began to appear. Over sixty musicals were created in 1928 alone. Particularly noteworthy is Broadway Melody (1929),which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, the only true musical to win the award until 1951.

Cue

A passage of underscoring from its entrance to its end is called a cue. The number and length of cues in a given film vary greatly. In some films there is no underscoring at all.

Score

A score is the music notation containing all of the individual parts for the instrumentalists and singers. It is often used, along with "scoring," as an alternative to the term "underscoring."

Historical Instruments

A story set in the sixteenth or seventeenth century may feature the sounds of recorders (wind instruments similar in sound to flutes), viola da gambas (bowed string instruments), or lutes and mandolins (plucked string instruments, similar to the guita). But the most distinctive instrument from earlier times is the harpsichord, a keyboard instrument that looks like a small piano. The sound of the plucked strings of the harpsichord immediately suggests the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when it was most popular. The instrument is used in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966), where it suggests the intellectual facade of a dysfunctional university couple, and in The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), where it illustrates connotations of formality and tradition.

Stinger

A sudden impact, such as a slap in the face or an object hitting the ground, can be accompanied by an accent in the orchestra, often referred to as a stinger. Sometimes when we see a person or 'object rise, the music ascends, and when the person or thing goes down, the music descends.

Music in Touch of Evil

A variety of other popular musical styles are heard in the film. Country and western music is heard at the hotel (32:35), rock music is heard as Mexican youths abduct Susan (Janet Leigh) in a scene that suggests a gang rape (1:09:40), and loud, intense jazz accompanies Hank Quinlan's murder of Uncle Joe Grande (1:23:20). Another unusual musical sound is provided by a pianola, a piano that plays automatically through the use of a piano roll. Associated with Quinlan's old relationship with Tana, the instrument plays the same nostalgic tune whenever Hank visits her. At the end of the film, the music returns in the underscoring as Tana gazes at Hank's body in the river. In this final moment of the film, we hear the other major musical difference between the two versions. In the studio version, Mancini's music is brought back for an obtrusive Hollywood ending. Welles allows the piano- la to linger hauntingly, and the film segues quietly into the closing credits.

Movie Palaces

Beginning in 1912, a number of large theaters called movie palaces were created, primarily for wealthier patrons in major urban centers such as New FIGURE 6.2 The proscenium and orchestra pit of the ornate Roxy Theatre 76 York. The palaces often featured symphony orchestras of over fifty musicians. Perhaps the most spectacular of the silent film palaces was the Roxy Theatre in New York, which could seat 5,920 patrons. Ironically, the Roxy 'opened in 1927—the same year as the release of The Jazz 'Singer, a film that signaled the end of the silent film era.

3 types of Film Music for Silent films

Adaptations from the classical repertoire; arrangements of well-known patriotic, religious, or popular tunes; and newly composed material. In many cases, all three types can be found in the same film. Musical scores based largely on pre-composed music are considered to be adapted scores. These borrowings were drawn predominantly from the works of nineteenth-century composers. The resultant Romantic style of film music corresponds roughly to the tastes of concertgoers in the United States of the early twentieth century. With the occasional exceptions of ensembles that improvised in a popular style and the rare film that required modern music, the fundamental reliance of American film music on the musical idiom of the late nineteenth century 'would continue for at least two more decades.

Incidental Music

Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were composers as well as playwrights. Shakespeare, too, incorporated live music in his presentations. An overture announced the beginning of the play, entr'actes played before each succeeding act, and songs and dances were often inserted into the stories. 'These musical insertions are called incidental music, and they closely parallel 'what we refer to as "source music" in films. A tradition of adding extra songs and even adding music under dialogue in Shakespeare plays reached a peak in the nineteenth century.

In the 1990s, feature animations had a revival. Since then, it has been continued success both artistically and financially. Disney Studios was the leader in this trend, and partnered with the principal composer, _______________________, for their projects.

Alan Menken

Hugo Friedhofer received 10 Oscar nominations and won the Best Music Oscar twice.

False

In the movie Best Years of Our Lives, composer Friedhofer utilizes a full orchestra with an emphasis on the brass section.

False

Instrumental music that tells a story, suggests an image, or evokes a designated mood is referred to as "picture music".

False

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

Alex North employs jazz effectively in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), director Elia Kazan's adaptation of the classic Tennessee Williams play. The setting of 'New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, allows North ample opportunity to include jazz as source music. Jazz naturally emanates from barrooms, restaurants, and the radio, providing a fitting atmosphere for this tale of lust, instability, and passion. The music often remains in the background, not directly connected to the intense dialogue or physical action. Jaz underscoring also suggests the sexually charged atmosphere of Stanley's house. The saxophone, which was rapidly becoming the standard instrument for depicting an attractive female, here accompanies Stanley (Marlon Brando) in his many poses with a wet shirt or bare chest. The restrained but sultry music underlying Stanley's famous yelling of Stella's name, her slow descent down the staircase, and their embrace as he carries her into the house provides a new, earthy dimension to the film love scene (40:18). The lack of musical contrast for this moment suggests the inevitability that Stella will return to Stanley.

Alfred Newman

Alfred Newman began working in vaudeville at the age of thirteen, By the time he was seventeen he was con ducting Broadway shows. In 1930 he came to Hollywood in order to conduct Irving Berlin's music for a film at the request of the composer. In the following year he conducted Chaplin's music for City Lights and composed the notable music for Street Scene (i933). Newman soon developed a reputation as Hollywood's finest conductor and became general music director at Twentieth Century Fox. He scored about 225 films, received forty-five Academy nominations, and earned nine Oscars, more than any other composer. A number of his family members have also been active in Hollywood, including brothers Lionel and Emil, sons David and Thomas, and nephew Randy.

Anthologies

Also in 1909, the first significant music anthology was published with the fanciful title Motion Picture Piano Music: Descriptive Music to Fit the Action, Character, or Scene of Moving Pictures. The anthology contained excerpts of music to match general moods, settings, or characters. Rather than picking random works from the classical repertoire, a theater pianist could select passages from the anthology based on the needs of a particular film. Precedence for such publications, of course, can be found in the nineteenth-century anthologies for melodramas (gee FIGURE 4.5). Over the next fifteen years, numerous anthologies were created. In Motion Picture Moods for Pianists and Organists (1924), the conductor and composer Erno Rapée keyed 370 musical excerpts to a variety of moods found in films.

James Horner scored the music for Braveheart and Titanic, and he won an Oscar for both movies as well.

False

Jazz music was not considered very useful for film music during the 1950s.

False

Singin In The Rain

Although receiving relatively little Academy recognition, Singin' in the Rain (4952) is the best movie musical of the decade and one of the all-time great American films. The American Film Institute places it as number one on its lists of America's Greatest Movie Musicals (just ahead of The Wizard of Oz). The impetus for this film came from producer Arthur Freed. Having just completed a catalog of songs in MGM's collection that were composed by Nacio Herb Brown with lyrics by himself, Freed asked writers Adolph Green and Betty Comden to create a movie using these tunes from ten or twenty years ago. The result is a humorous tale of 'Hollywood during the transition from the silent film era to sound. Not only are the situations based on actual problems faced during that time—such as microphone placement, ridiculous dialogue, and soundproof booths for the camera—specific silent film scenes are also mimicked, and the characters of Roscoe Dexter and R. F. Simpson are modeled after Busby Berkeley and Arthur Freed. Musical numbers account for well over half of this 103-minute film. Nacio Herb Brown composed most of the songs during the late 1920s and '30s. Several of them, such as the title song, appeared in multiple films prior to Singin' in the Rain. Dance sequences extend many of the songs. Donald O'Connor's "Make 'em Laugh" (27:40) and Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain" (1:07:50) are justifiably considered to be among the greatest dance routines in all of film, and "Good Morning, Good Morning" features an energized romp by the trio of stars (1:01:45). A relatively brief pas de deux follows "You Were Meant for Me" (44:15), but the dance highlight is the 13 minute "Gotta Dance" Segment

Alex North (1910-1991)

American-born Alex North was the son of Russian parents. Trained at the Curtis Institute, Juilliard, and the Moscow Conservatory, he studied with Aaron Copland and began composing for theater and dance, receiving commissions fram Martha Graham and Agnes de Mille. After the war, he wrote incidental music for the Broadway production of Arthur Miller's Death ofa Salesman, which proved to be his gateway to Hollywood. When director Elia Kazan decided to convert Death ofa Salesman into a movie in 1952, he asked North to provide the score. In that same year, Kazan teamed with North in a filmed version of Tennessee Williams's A Streetcar Named Desire, and it is this score that caught the attention of Hollywood. The low point of his career was the decision by director Stanley Kubrick not to use any of the nearly fifty minutes of music that North had composed for 2001: A Space Odyssey (2968). North received fifteen Academy Award nominations and was awarded an honorary Lifetime Achievement Award in 1986. Oscar Nominations for Best Musis Death of a Salesman (1951) A Streetcar Named Desire 1951 Spartacus 1960 Cleopatra 1963 Who's Afraid of Virginia Wool? 1966 Under the Volcano 984

Film music in 1920's and 1930's

Americans attended smaller neighborhood movie houses, with music from a single keyboard instrument. Medium-sized theaters, could feature an ensemble of five to ten musicians, generally including a pianist.

Populist

Among the high-quality films in the 1930s that use little underscoring are Best Picture-winners It Happened One Night (1934) and You Can't Take It with You (1938), both comedies with screwball tendencies—characters acting outside the norm. During this time, such madness is often combined with a populist theme, in which ordinary people are pitted against the rich, politicians, or both. Gen- erally, these movies employ music only for the credits, source music, montages, and perhaps an occasional musical joke. Simple diegetic tunes often provide the main musical presence in theses film.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Among the most popular musicals of the decade were those featuring the dancing duo of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Fred Astaire was an adequate singer and had a warm, engaging personality, but it was his dancing, with its elegant mixture of ballet and popular styles, that packed the theaters. He is considered one of the greatest dancers of the century, even by the standards of classical ballet, and he is the prototype of the song-and-dance man that remained a staple of musicals into the 1950s. Essential to the success of the Astaire-Rogers films is the music, which includes songs by three of the greatest popular composers of the time: Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, and George Gershwin.

Smaller Dramatic Presentations

Among these were dramatic readings, pantomimes (stories acted without dialogue), tableaux vivants (live actors posing, often re-creating an image from a famous painting), and magic lantern shows. The magic lantern was a type of image projector that primarily worked with individual slides, but it was also the source of some of our earliest illusions of moving pictures. Common to all of these types was a simple musical accompaniment, generally provided by a pianist. Light classical and popular 'music were a staple for such performances, as it would be for some of the earliest 'moving pictures, or what we often call movies.

John Williams and George Lucas became collaborators. One of their collaborations included E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

False

One of the highlights of Alex North's career was the music that he created for director Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Sapce Odyssey.

False

Laura (1944)

Another composer active in bringing contemporary musical sounds to Hollywood was David Raksin. Yet he is best remembered for incorporating a popular music idiom into one of Hollywood's most influential scores—Laura (944). The film's plot has many of the traditional features of film noir, but the principal female, Laura, is treated in a new manner. Instead of portraying her sexual activity within a negative social stereotype, the film depicts her as a modern, sophisticated woman in charge of her own sexuality. Essential to building her positive image is the music, which relies heavily on the idiom of popular music. Director Otto Preminger originally wanted to use Duke Ellington's "Sophisticated Lady" as the principal theme for Laura, but Raksin objected. Given the weekend to create a worthy substitute, Raksin responded by com- posing the hauntingly beautiful Laura theme. With the success of the film and its music, this theme was later adapted into a song, becoming one of the most popular melodies of the century.

Verse-Chorus

Another frequent form of popular song is the verse— chorus. The chorus is the musical heart of this structure. It has the most memorable melody, and it usually recurs with the same text (refrain)

Music in Sunset Boulevard

Another significant musical idea borrowed from Richard Strauss is a simple trill.In the opera, the trill signifies Salome's insanity, a detail that Waxman does, not overlook. Linking the trill with the film noir cliché of a wavering pitch, Wax- man frequently employs an oscillating sound in the score to signify Norma's dementia. In one scene, the sound is attributed to the wind blowing through the pipes of an organ (18:20), The trill subtly becomes more pronounced, leading to the final scene, when Norma hears that the cameras have arrived. In a direct quote from the opera, a trill begins in the woodwinds, signaling Norma's complete descent into her fantasy world.

Message Movies

Cynicism and pessimism became prominent themes in the late 1940s, and the critically acclaimed movies after the war tended to deal with serious social issues, such as racism and euthanasia. The themes of the Best Picture winners from 1945, 01950 mark a strong departure from the sunny optimism of 1944's winner, Going 'My Way with Bing Crosby: The Lost Weekend (1945): alcoholism The Best Years of Our Lives (1946): difficulties of veterans Gentleman's Agreement (1947): anti-Semitism Hamlet (1948): Shakespeare's classic drama of indecision and murder All the King's Men (1949): the corruption and power of Huey Long All About Eve (1950): intrigues on Broadway

D. W. Griffith

Appearing on the scene when the industry was still in its infancy, D. W. Griffith elevated moving pictures from a short diversion to a sophisticated art form. Generally regarded as the single most important figure in American film, he stands as the first great artist in the field. His rise to this position was remarkably quick. In an eight-year time span he rose from novice to master. By the time he began 'work on The Birth of a Nation in 1915, he had made approximately 450 films. In these early works, Griffith fine-tuned his skills at using the visual, dramatic, and musical arts. Griffith became the first true auteur of film, controlling all aspects of film making. In the area of visual arts, Griffith explored a wide range of effects, including close- ups, panoramas, and the moving camera. By mastering the technique of crosscutting, he was able to build tension and to show simultaneous action in a way that is not possible on the stage. He also worked with a permanent ensemble of actors. During his unprecedented rehearsals, prior to filming, he abandoned the theatrical gestures used in live theater and created a new style of acting suited to film. Having a strong background in music, Griffith also was involved in the creation of scores for his films.

Historical Music

Are frequently heard as source music. Howard Shore uses Gregorian chant, monophonic sacred melodies from the early years of the Christian church, in his scores for The Lord of the Rings in order to show a his- torical connection of this time period to the Middle Ages, while Renaissance music rings through the period film Shakespeare in Love (1998). Historical styles can also create a special ambience that matches a particular story. The film score for The Four Seasons (1981), which takes its title from a Baroque composition by Antonio Vivaldi, abounds in works by this Venetian compos- ex. Similarly, the score for A Little Romance (1979), in which the goal of the journey is to kiss under a bridge over a Venetian canal, includes numerous Vivaldi quotations.

Around The World in Eighty Days (1956)

Around the World in 80 Days (1956), shot in color with Todd-AO and record- 'ed with stereophonic sound, is a travelogue with a narrative. Built on an episodic plot—Phileas Fogg wagers that he can, with the assistance of his servant Passepartout, travel around the world in eighty days—the film takes us on an 'exuberant tour of some of the world's most scenic spots. Accompanying the beautiful wide-screen effects is a colorful and tuneful score by Victor Young, one of Hollywood's finest composers. Each area of the world is accompanied by appropriate music, either using ethnic instruments or evoking 'Western stereotypes of regional styles. Quotations of well-known tunes suggest locations, such as "Rule Britannia" for Great Britain, "Auprés de ma blonde" for France, and numerous familiar melodies for the United States, such as "Yankee Doodle" and "Oh! Susanna." The most memorable music in the score is the waltz tune composed for the film, "Around the World in 80 Days"

Generalizations about music about during this era

As the industry grew, film music also underwent significant changes. The following are among the trends that can be observed: -The size of musical ensembles expanded as larger theaters began to appear. - The organ replaced the piano as the most common movie-theater instrument. - Adapted scores incorporating excerpts from nineteenth-century classics became common. - Cue sheets and music anthologies provided help for theater music directors. - Original scores were created for specific films

Synchronized Sound

At this time, recorded sound was seen merely as an enhancement of silent film, and several films created before 1926 were reissued with synchronized sound well into the early 1930s. But this technological achievement signaled the imminent demise of the silent era.

The central role of the film director; the creative force that forges all of the artistic elements into one principal goal, is often referred to as an __________________ .

Auteur

Thematic Transformations in Don Juan

Axt alters the original theme so that we hear several versions with- in a short time span. Example 7.1 shows the original statement. Its most distinctive features are the stepwise rise of four notes at the beginning When Don Jose leaves his estate, Axt transforms this theme into a march. The melody still has, its distinctive features, but an extra beat has been added to the second note of each measure to create a duple meter instead of the original triple. When he discovers that his wife is unfaithful, Don Jose's theme becomes distorted (Gee EXAMPLE 73); only three rising notes, an accent on beat 2, and a rising leap recall the initial statement. At the end of the prologue, Don Jose is disenchanted. His, theme at this point (Gee EXAMPLE 74) is much like it was at first, but the noble character is gone; the tempo is slower, and the woodwind orchestration gives the moment a tinge of sadness.

Gone With The Wind

Based on Margaret Mitchell's popular novel and shot in lavish three-strip Technicolor, Gone with the Wind brought together the finest visual, dramatic, and musical art of the time. It was composed by Max Steiner. Borrowings or quotations of well-known tunes are also plentiful. Particularly effective are the distorted versions of Southern tunes such as "Dixie" when the South begins to suffer defeat. Steiner's original music for Gone with the Wind tends to be tuneful. Avoiding the kinds of short motivic themes he used in King Kong, Steiner created a number of lengthy melodies to represent individuals and relationships. The most important of these is the Tara theme, her plantation. Some of the other leitmotifs reflect the nature of the characters they rep- resent. Two of the themes suggest an ethnic background: a jig underscores Gerald O'Hara's Irish heritage, and a rag theme—a syncopated rhythmic sound associated with African Americans—accompanies the lively character of Mammy. Character traits are suggested by the serene melody for Melanie and the confident theme of Rhett Butler. The lyric nature of the other themes reflects the romantic quality of the love relationships.

Meter

Beats often occur in regular patterns of strong and weak pulses. In films, most music features meters with two or four pulses.

The US Faced one of its greatest challenges in the 1940's. This period is divided into three distinct periods

Before, during, and after the country's entrance into the War

One of the most influential Hollywood scores, created for Laura (1944) by David Raskin, is a completely traditional score.

False

John Williams is traditional in his scoring techniques, returning to the legacy of great film composers before him. One of the composers listed is not referenced as an influence for the Star Wars music.

Bernard Herrmann

Franz Waxman (1906-1967)

Born in Germany, Waxman began working in the German film industry and contributed arrangements for The Blue Angel (1930). After being beaten by Nazi hooligans, Waxman immigrated to the United States and was soon 'working in Hollywood. One of film's finest and ablest craftsmen, he scored films from the 1930s into the 1960s, adapting to many of the changes in musical taste. He won two Oscars for Best Score and was nominated an additional nine times, with at least one nomination in every decade of his career. Important Film Scores: The Bride of Frankenstein 1935 Captains Courageous 1937 Rebecca 1940 (Best Picture, music Oscar nom) Humoresque 1948 (music Oscar nom) Sunset Boulevard 950 (best music Oscar) A Place in the Sun 1951 (best Music Oscar) The Spirit of St. Louis 1957 Taras Bulba 1962 (music Oscar Nom)

Dmitri Tiomkin (1894-1979)

Born in Russia, Tiomkin was trained at the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music and played piano in Russian si- lent film theaters. He came to the United States in 1925 and performed on the vaudeville circuit. In 1928 he played. the European premiere of George Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F, but a broken arm nearly ten years later ended his concert career. He began writing for Hollywood during the 19308 and became a dominant figure in the 19508. He is one of Hollywood's most honored composers, with four Oscars and numerous nominations to his credit. Lost Horizon 1937 You Can't Take lt with You 1938 (Best Picture) 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington 1939 Meet John Doe 1941 It's a Wonderful Life 1948 High Noon 1952 (2 Oscars for best music) The High and the Mighty 1954 (best music winner and music Oscar nom) Dial M for Murder 1954 Giant 1956 The Old Man and The Sea 1958 (best Music Oscar) The Alamo 1960 The Guns of Navarone 1961 Town without Pity 1961 455 Days at Peking 1963

The Jazz Singer used synchronized music and live recorded music. The music for the Jazz Singer was primarily ____________________________________________ .

Borrowed Music

The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

Both films were adapted from Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus. It is noted for its stylized expressionistic images, exuberant self-parody, and the brilliant musical score by Franz Waxman. Self-parody is simply treating the conventions of a genre with humor. A recent example is the series of Pirates of the Caribbean films, which employs and simultaneously pokes fun at the clichés of pirate/action films

Dream Street

D. W. Griffith, using an improved system, produced a par- tial sound film in 1921, Dream Street. It turned out to be a financial disaster due to its weak sound, the lack of theaters with the proper equipment, and the poor quality of the film itself. A practic

Sunset Boulevard did win the Best Music Oscar in 1951.

False

The fantasy film genre was very successful during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Batman and Jurassic Park were two of the films in this category, both of which were scored by Danny Elfman.

False

Classical/ Golden Era

By the mid-ig30s, American moviemaking entered a second Golden Age, a period that is considered to be the classic era for Hollywood film. Typical of any art, such a period is characterized by the large quantity and high quality of works produced. During this time, an impressive roster of composers worked for Hollywood, including Max Steiner, Erich Korngold, Franz Waxman, Alfred Newman, and Herbert Stothart.

Erich Korngold (1897-1957) Film Scores

Captain Blood 1935 The Sea Hawk 1940 Anthony Adverse 1936 The Sea Wolf 1941 The Adventures of Robin Hood 1938 Kings Row 1942

The Song of Bernadette (1943)

Casablanca is the finest example of a film relating directly to World War IL Other movies from this time provided a morally uplifting mood with plots unrelated to current events. The Song of Bernadette (1943) is a drama based on the life of Bernadette Soubirous. Born in Lourdes, France, in the mid-nineteenth century, Bernadette had a vision of a "Beautiful Lady" in a grotto at the age of fourteen. Facing initial skepticism, Bernadette continued to see apparitions of what she eventually identified as the Virgin Mary. In later years, following several miracles at the site, the Roman Catholic Church reorganized Bernadette as a saint, and the grotto became a major pilgrimage destination. This story, with its setting in France (at the time, occupied by Germany) and with its strong religious message of hope, resonated strongly with American audiences, Among the movie's four Academy Awards is an Oscar for Best Score given to Alfred Newman, one of the foremost figures in the history of Hollywood film music. His legacy includes composing, conducting, and serving as the music director at Twentieth Century Fox. Typical of the score as a whole is the radiant music for the initial vision. It is easy to hear links to the traditional romantic style of film music in this passage—the lush timbre of the full orchestra and choir, emotional intensity, sweeping melodic lines, and reliance on triads. There are also more subtle modern features, including harmonic progressions that do not follow the classic rules of previous centuries. Indeed, some of the magic of the moment of the vision is that the climactic B-major chord is unexpected, and hence feels uplifting.

Citizen Kane (1941)

Citizen Kane is generally acknowledged as America's greatest film and can be seen as the high point of the Golden Age. Yet many of the qualities that define its greatness run counter to the general trends of the time. The plot is a unique conception, a single story-the rise and fall of Charles Foster Kane—told from six perspectives: - Newsreel: the public view - Thatcher: the guardian - Bernstein: the business partner - Leland: the best friend - Susan: the second wife -Raymond: the butler After the initial public view of Kane, each of the retellings focuses on more intimate details of the various stages of his life: Thatcher knew him as a boy, Bernstein began business with him, Leland was his best friend until the marriage scandal, Susan lived with him through his declining years, and Raymond witnessed his last days. An anonymous reporter named Thompson, whose face is, never shown fully, links these stories together as he searches for the meaning f "Rosebud," Kane's last word before dying. Although his efforts are eventually futile, the audience is given the last puzzle piece in the final moment, completing our understanding of Charles Foster Kane.

The film Around the World in Eighty Days does not incorporate opening credits, and therefore has a lengthy closing credit at the end of the film, lasting over six minutes. The closing credits were not set to music by the film composer, Victor Young.

False

City Lights

City Lights (1931) and Modern Times (1936). These are considered the last great silent films. For both films, the talented Charles Chaplin produced, directed, acted, and composed the music. City Lights presents a series of comedic episodes loosely connected to a central dramatic thread—the love between the Tramp and the Blind Girl. Chaplin's music helps to unify the story through recurring themes, one of which is a borrowed melody, "La violetera" ("Who'll Buy My Flowers?") composed by José Padilla in 1914. Chaplin also employs comic Mickey Mousing and quotes well- known tunes, such as "How Dry I Am" (14:40). The latter is a double pun, since one of the characters, the millionaire, is drunk, and both he and the Tramp have fallen into the water.

Hurrys

Common type of music that accompanies a a chase scene or a race to the rescue.

High Noon (1952)

Considered by some to be Hollywood's greatest western, High Noon is a classic showdown between good and evil. The film lacks the standard features of westerns at the time: there are no Indians, no scenes of the wide-open West, and relatively little violence. The essence of the drama is not the showdown itself, but the tensions leading up to the climax. Will Kane (Gary Cooper), having just resigned as marshal (thus becoming Citizen Kane), is leaving town with his Quaker bride Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly). News arrives that Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald), a man Kane sent to prison, is arriving in town on the noon train. Miller intends to rejoin his gang, seek revenge against Will, and retake control of the town. Will decides to remain and help the town; he expects his friends and the community to assist, but as time ticks toward noon, his wife, his ex-lover, his deputy, his friends, and virtually everyone in the town abandons him. (Part of the fascination with this film is that it is set in real-time, as opposed to reel time) Most compelling is the scene in the church, in which good Christians debate what to do. A number want to help, but they become resigned to inaction because the majority feels that the problem will disappear if nothing is done. The symbolic parallel to the attitudes of appeasement toward Hitler's Germany is clear, but the drama can also be seen as representing the silence of Hollywood during the onslaught of the Congressional hearings on communism.

The final section of the film E.T. is one of the finest examples of Hollywood film scoring. It is an extended cue that lasts nearly ten minutes.

False

Unlike Max Stiener, Erich Korngold was willing to take on any film composing assignment, that he was offered.

False

While John Williams had created a score unlike anything else he had composed prior, his efforts for Schindler's List did not honor him with an Oscar.

False

By the mid-1930s, there was an impressive roster of film composers working in Hollywood. Which name is not a film composer during that time?

Felix Mendelssohn

In film noir, a seductress is generally referred to as a _____________________ .

Femme Fatale

Music for Early Silent Films

Following the traditions of live theater, music was created by the individual venues, not by the filmmakers. Hence, the same movie likely had entirely different music from one theater to the next. Needless to say, the quality and appropriateness of these musical accompaniments varied widely. In looking at the diverse music from this fascinating era, we should consider first where the films were shown and then what types of music were employed.

Theme Songs

Dimitri Tiomkin, one of Hollywood's veteran composers, introduced a major innovation to film music with his use of a country and western song in his landmark score to High Noon (1952). The ballad, released four months before the film, created a great sensation and quickly reached the top of the Billboard charts. Not only did recording sales provide a new source of income, but every playing of the tune on the radio or phonograph served as free publicity for the movie as well. High Noon would become the first film to win Academy Awards for both dramatic scoring and song.

John Williams established himself as Hollywood's premier composer during the early 1970s for following type of film, ______________________ .

Disaster

By the late 1930s, music in film had cemented its success in many film genres. Which one is not on the list?

Documentary

Character Leitmotifs in Don Juan

Don Juan as a boy has a childlike melody played gently by the clarinets The theme for Don Jose, Don Juan's father, is a stately Spanish dance. The dwarf servant has an impish melody derived from a clarinet theme in Till Eulenspiegel by Richard Strauss Finally, the Spanish lover has a dashing, passionate theme played primarily in the strings In its presentation of multiple leitmotifs during the exposition, this passage recalls the opening of The Birth of a Nation

Who unveiled the moving picture Kinetoscope, a peephole viewer for a single person to observe moving pictures without sound?

Edison

Edwin Porter

Edwin Porter's The Great Train Robbery, considered to be the first major American narrative film, appeared the following year (1903). Porter had worked as a projectionist and began directing films for Edison at the turn of the century. This film falls within the tradition of recreating historical events. On August 19,1900, Butch Cassidy and his gang stopped a train in Wyoming, uncoupled several cars, robbed the passengers, and made off with $5,000. This film is a retelling of that event. While westerns for modern audiences are fantasies set in the past, this plot was current news and audiences went wild, especially at the point at which one of the bandit's points his gun at the camera and shoots straight at the audience.

The Hays Code list of practical rules included the following for film making.

Eliminate sex outside of marriage. Eliminate gratuitous use of liquor. Eliminate nudity. Eliminate profanity. All of the above. <<<<

Cadences

Ends of phrases. In a number of respects, musical phrases are similar to phrases and clauses in writing. Some are independent, some are incomplete, and some are questioning. Musical cadences are the equivalent of punctuation marks.

Musicals

Entering the 1950s, Hollywood, and specifically MGM under the leadership of Arthur Freed, continued to produce a large number of elaborate, high-quality musicals. Although the number would diminish toward the end of the decade, the golden age of Hollywood musicals would extend into the 1960s. Broadway adaptations were common in the 1950s, but the three most highly acclaimed musicals of the decade were original productions: An American in Paris (1951), Singin' in the Rain (1952), and Gigi (1958). An American in Paris contains a dazzling score by George Gershwin that features several previously composed songs by Gershwin and excerpts from his 1928 symphonic poem, An American in Paris. The musical highlights of the film include several extended dance sequences and a performance of the third movement of Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F (1:05:30), with a daydreaming Oscar Levant humorously playing the piano solo, conducting the orchestra, playing violin and percussion, and also leading the bravos at the end. An Ameri- can in Paris became only the second musical to win an Academy Award for Best Picture; Broadway Melody (1929) was the first, and seven years later, Gigi would become the third.

The Adventures of Rbin Hood

Erich Korngold established a model for underscoring action films. The Adventures of Robin Hood is an episodic story based on the lives of two medieval figures—the historical Richard the Lion-Hearted and the fictional Robin Hood. The pairing of these characters, largely based on legend, creates an exciting romantic swashbuckler. The lavish nature of this costume drama is enhanced by the brilliant colors produced by three-strip Technicolor, the first film by Warner Bros. to use this process. Korgold's score is remarkable for its length (he underscored nearly three-quar- ters of the film), the full and varied exploitation of the large orchestra, dramatic sup- port, and thematic transformation. A number of critics have hailed the work as the first masterpiece of film music. Essential to its conception are the action scenes, for 'which Korngold employed a style incorporating the following characteristics: 1. A full symphonic orchestration, emphasizing brass and percussion 2. Loud dynamics 3. Passages of quick notes 4. Irregular and hard accents 5. Occasional motivic references These elements combine to suggest the chaos of battle. With the addition of sound effects, this simple formula became a cliché for future action films, including Star Wars.

Alex North received 15 Academy Award nominations for Best Score, and was awarded one Best Music Oscar.

False

Disney continued its efforts in creating musical animations in the 1950s. These films included: Cinderella, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, and Lady and the Tramp.

False

During the 1950s, Hollywood discovered that incorporating popular music was much more expensive than traditional orchestra, and really did not appeal to younger audiences.

False

Prominent European Composers who worked in Hollywood

Erich Korngold was an early success in this endeavor, but they also enticed two of the most famous composcere of the century to Hollywood—Arnold Schoenberg in 1934 and Igor Stravinsky in 1941. Both eventually moved to Hollywood permanently, but neither actually completed a studio score. In a frequently told anecdote, Stravinsky is said to have requested $25,000 for a score, a year to compose it, and a voice in how the film was created. Needless to say, the studio did not meet his demands. Schoenberg had earlier met a similar roadblock in negotiations with MGM's Irving Thalberg. Although he did not compote for the studios, Schoenberg did join the faculty at UCLA and in that position exerted an influence on a number of film composers. Hollywood was more successful in coming to terms with the American concert composer Aaron Copland. Best known for his ballets Appalachian Spring, Rodeo, and Billy the Kid.

Cinématographe

Europeans were the first to explore the projection of films to a paying audience. In 1894 Louis and Auguste Lumiere created the Cinématographe, a device that was capable of recording moving pictures, printing film, and projecting images onto a screen. Because the camera weighed only twelve pounds, it could be taken outdoors, and it shot the first moving images outside a studio. On December 28, 1895 the Lumiere Brothers showed a series of films to an audience consisting pri- marily of photographers and inventors. Included in the show were Departure from the Lumiére Factory, their first motion picture from 1894; The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station, which created an enormous sensation, as, the train seemed to roar toward the audience; and The Sprinkler Sprinkled, a brief comedy sketch.

According to the textbook, Don Davis, the composer for the Matrix, mixed styles of the modern concert-hall sounds of minimalism with popular sounds of techno and the blues.

False

Alan Menken is well known for scoring music and creating songs to serve musical animations. This masterful skill has been awarded seven Oscars.

False

Alan Menken worked along side of Elton John to create the score and songs for The Lion King. True or False?

False

Film D'Art

Film d'Art, a company dedicated to producing films of high artistic quality, engaged the leading stage actors in France to perform quality dramas based on history or mythology. Their first production, Vassassinat du Due de Guise (1908) re~ counts the murder of the French duke by King Henry III in 1588. For music, the company turned to one of France's most prestigious composers—Camille Saint-Saéns.

Homophonic Texture

Film music usually presents a single dominant melody with accompaniment. Examples of such a texture include the music for the opening credits of Gone with the Wind and Star Wars.

Film Noir

Film noir is a significant movement in American movie history. The term, first employed by French film critics in 1946, can designate both a style of filmmaking and a film genre. Viewed as a style, film noir is dark and pessimistic. The images are black and white with strong contrasts of light and dark, creating deep shadows. Clearly indebted to Citizen Kane, the style can be found in a variety of film genres. a 'The term can also be applied to a subcategory of the detective or crime genre. The typical film noir plot is modeled after detective archetypes. that was distinct from his refined, cerebral British counterpart. The American detective is tough, pragmatic, not necessarily above flouting the law, and smart enough to resolve complicated cases with dogged determination and a strong jaw. Scenes often take place at night, frequently in a city with rain-slicked streets, and the stories contain multiple twists. Many of these films feature voice-over narration by one of the main characters. Arriving at the peak of Hollywood's Golden Age, film noir introduced disruptive elements to the prevailing trends of Hollywood. New visual techniques challenged classical traditions; happy endings, in which the boy gets the girl and good triumphs over bad, were replaced with tragic and ambiguous conclusions; and composers for film noir began to explore new roles for both modern and popular musical styles.

Unity

Film scores can be unified by a consistent mood, timbre, and style. The string timbre of Psycho, the songs of Simon and Garfunkel in The Graduate, and the surf oriented rock music of Pulp Fiction create a unified sound for their respective films. In other movies, such as Wuthering Heights, Laura, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Doctor Zhivago, and ET. the Extra-Terrestrial, a single memorable theme dominates the score, creating a different kind of unity. Musical themes can represent the overall mood or underlying idea of a film, without any specific connection to the drama.

Feature Films

Filmmaking as we know it took shape in the 1910s. During this time, the length of films expanded from one-reel shorts (@reel generally runs twelve minutes) to feature films with four or more reels. Emerging from anonymity, a number of actors be- came stars. Names such as Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie Chaplin drew audiences to the new theaters, and movie magazines (see FIGURE.) and gossip columns focused on the lives of the leading men and women. As the financial potential grew, so did the studio system. After breaking Edison's grip on film making, studios created their own empires. Much of the construction was in the west, most notably in Hollywood, where there was an abundance of cheap land and plenty of sunshine for filming.

Richard Wagner

For film music, the most important operatic figure is Richard Wagner, one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of Western music. In his operas, Wagner sought to bring together the best elements of all the arts— brilliant philosophy and literature in the libretto; stunning visual elements in the scenery, costumes, and lighting; and the best of performing arts in the acting and music. To this end, Wagner created some of the most celebrated works in the history of Western arts, including the masterpieces Tristan und Isolde and the cycle of four operas Der Ring des Nibelungen, commonly known as the Ring Cycle. In order to implement his ideals fully, Wagner built his own theater—the Festival Theater at Bayreuth, where he exerted total control over his productions. Among his many theatrical innovations are the following, many of which we take for granted today: 1. The auditorium was darkened during the performance. 2. He created a sunken orchestra pit that extended beneath the stage, so that the audience would not see the musicians. 3. The audience was asked not to applaud during the performance. 4. Unique and detailed scenery and visual effects were created for each scene in a production. 5. He eliminated box seats and created a classless, theater in which every seat had equally good sight and sound. The fanlike seating arrangement is, now known as "continental" seating.

Movement

If you are unfamiliar with classical music, think of a movement as an act in a stage drama, a symphonic poem is a one-act play while a program symphony relates its narrative in multiple acts. The two best-known program symphonies are Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral) and Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, both of which have five movements. The "story" in Beethoven's symphony is quite simple. It evokes the happiness of being in nature, portrays the fury of a storm and projects the sense of joy after the storm has subsided.

The composer for Sunset Boulevard is _______________________________ .

Franz Waxman

One of the most popular musical styles featured the dancing duo of ___________________________________________ .

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

Much of the success of musical films is due to songs written by three of the greatest composers during that time. Which listed below is not one of the three?

Gene Autry

Building on the work of film projection, ___________________________________ , developed a competing system called the Movietone for Fox Studio.

General Electric

Movietone

General Electric, building on the work of inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case, soon developed a competing sound system called Movietone for the Fox studio. By making visual images of sound waves, this alternative system could place sound on the film itself (gee FIGURE 78). Hence, the process of filming and of projecting visual images with sound was greatly simplified. Fox took its new camera equipped with the capability of recording sound into the world and made a sensation with its Fox Movietone News, most notably with its initial video and audio of Charles Lindbergh's takeoff for his historic fight across the Atlantic. Movie audiences were watching the event in New York Theaters even before before Lindbergh landed in Paris. Soon applied to feature films, the simplified coordination and greater durability of the sound-on-film system quickly dominated, and the Vitaphone system faded away.

The film musical An American in Paris featured an extended dance sequence performed to the 3rd movement of the Piano Concerto in F by the following composer.

George Gershwin

A good rule for distinguishing between these two basic types of film music

If there is a reasonable expectation that a character in the film can hear the music, then it is source music. If only the audience can hear the music, then it is underscoring. Hence, if you are watching a film about survivors in a lifeboat in the middle of an 'ocean and you hear a full symphony orchestra, you are listening to under- scoring. If you are watching a movie in which a woman is spinning wildly while singing, "The hills are alive," then you would have to identify this as, source music. You may wonder where the orchestra is coming from in this mountainous scene, but that is an issue for a later time.

Dominant Seventh

Harmonically, the tonic is defined with a relatively mild dissonant chord called the dominant- seventh that resolves to a tonic chord. This is the basis for most older classical music and in jazz and rock as well. To Western ears, it just sounds normal.

Tone Clusters

Highly dissonant chords created by playing a group of adjacent pitches, as if someone pressed down on the piano keyboard with a fist,

Hugo Friedhofer (1902-1981)

Hugo Friedhofer (1902-1981) California-born Hugo Friedhofer, a former cellist in a silent film orchestra, worked in the 1930's as an orchestrator {for other film composers, including Max Steiner (for whom he orchestrated over fifty scores), Erich Korngold, and Alfred Newman. For many movies, including Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, he played a critical creative role beyond orchestration. In 1944 he began composing scores for Twentieth Century Fox, and he would eventually receive nine Oscar nominations, winning the award for The Best Years of Our Lives. The Best Year of Our Lives (won best music and picture Oscar)

Thomas Edison

In 1888 Edison unveiled a commercially viable version of the phonograph, which he had invented in 1876.

Vitascope

In 1896 he unveiled his projector, the Vitascope, and, as depicted in a poster from that year (featured at the beginning of this chapter), his presentations included an orchestra. Edison continued to work on combining recorded mu- sic with projected films, but he eventually abandoned that project in 1915, just about a decade before this dream became a reality.

Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ

In 1899 a stage version of Lew Wallace's sensational novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ was produced on Broadway. One theater historian has estimated that this play 'was seen both in this country and abroad by over twenty million people, making it the most widely watched American play of all time. The spectacle was enhanced with live camels, a drifting raft, and an onstage chariot race with twenty horses and five chariots. Edgar Stillman Kelley, a well-traveled and versatile American composer, provided the music for the production. He composed an overture, entr'actes, multiple choral segments, and songs for vocal soloists. In addition, there is music to accompany stage action and to support dramatic dialogues. Within his score, there are several easily identified leitmotifs, including those for Ben-Hur and Christ.

Theaters wired for sound

In 1927 there were about 150 theaters wired for sound, Within two years, the number would exceed 8,000.

Anatomy of A Murder

In 1959, director Otto Preminger wanted to incorporate the sounds of jazz in Anatomy of a Murder. Turning away from Hollywood composers, he hired the greatest contemporary figure in jazz to compose the entire score—Duke Ellington. 'Typical of courtroom dramas, there is no music during the trial portions of this film. Ellington's work is primarily heard as source music, during transition scenes, and at the end, where it closes the film on an extremely high note. Although used sparingly, the music has a strong impact.

Auteur

In film, the term auteur is used to describe the central role of the director; the creative force that forges all of the artistic elements into one principal goal.

Click-Track

In making The Skeleton Dance, Stalling helped develop an early version of the click track, a system in which holes placed in the film create a clicking sound that can be made audible to the conductor and musicians of a studio orchestra. Because of the success of this system in coordinating music with action, it was adopted by the movie studios and became part of the standard process in postproduction scoring.

Music as the Opening and Closing Frames

In many films, music is heard during the opening and closing credits, thereby providing a musical frame for the film as a whole. In accompanying the main title and the opening credits, music can fill a variety of functions: 1. Alerting the audience, often with brass fanfares, to the beginning of the film 2. Introducing the dominant musical theme of the film 3.Presenting several musical themes that will be heard in the film; when the music quotes a number of songs from the film, as is common in musicals, it is called a medley. 4. Establishing the mood of the opening scene or of the film 5. Foreshadowing significant aspects of the story Music for the closing credits may similarly reflect the mood at the end of a film or simply create a cheerful ambience for the exiting audience. Frequently, the closing credits reprise a number of important musical ideas from the film, but it is also common in recent filmmaking for the closing credits to include a new song, which could lead to a possible Oscar nomination for Best Song and boost potential sales of a soundtrack recording.

Examples of descriptive music

In music from the Renaissance, descending lines were often used to denote sadness; chromaticism, pain and suffering; quick tempos and lively dance rhythms, joy and happiness; and low registers, death and grief.

Wall-to Wall Music

In other films, music plays almost continuously, a technique that is referred to as wall-to-wall music.

Nickelodeons

In the first decade of the twentieth century, however, the principal venue for film presentations shifted from large theaters to nickelodeons, small shops that showed films exclusively, usually for the admission price of a nickel. The first nickelodeon was established in 1905 in Pittsburgh. By 1908 nearly five thousand appeared in the United States, and within another three years, that number increased to over ten thousand. Piano often accompanied films shown in these venues.

Newly Composed Scores

In the mid-1910s, film music was primarily created in the individual theaters and contained substantial amounts of borrowed material. Musical scores writ- ten for specific films that would travel from theater to theater were unusual. But within a decade, most major new films were issued with their own music. Although these are original scores (written specifically for a new film), they often contained a substantial amount of borrowed music, either adapted works or arranged melodies.

Strophic

In the simplest song form, called strophic, each stanza (or strophe) of a poem is sung to the same melody. This is a common structure for folk music and many popular songs.

Character Dances

In these segments, he often gives ethnic characters distinct musical qualities, many of which became cliches for ethnicity in film. In The Nutcracker, for example, the Spanish Dance features a solo trumpet and prominent castanets, while the Chinese Dance is ~. presented primarily by the flute and pizzica- to (plucked) strings. In the first act, a dance for a Barbarian has syncopated rhythms, low-register instruments, and a quick tempo. These qualities are later assimilated into Hollywood musical depictions of Native Americans, Africans,and African Americans.

Modern Music

In this case, itis not meant to be synonymous with "recent." Although it may seem strange to refer to something written over a cen- tury ago as "moder," the term is a common way to refer to music predominantly by concert composers (composers writing for performances in opera and concert halls) that breaks away from the compositional techniques and styles of the eigh- teenth and nineteenth centuries. As with popular music, there are numerous sub- categories of "modern" music. Five general types are mentioned in the text: 1. Expressionism is the musical equivalent to the art and literary movements of the same name from the early part of the twentieth century. Since expressionist music explores continuous dissonance and avoids tonal centers, it can be heard as the most radical of the prevalent modern musical styles prior to World War II. Arnold Schoenberg, the leading figure in this movement, developed a theoretical system in the 1920s to sustain this general style called serialism. 2. Neo-classicism emerged around the same time as serialism and became the dominant aesthetic of American music critics prior to 1950. As with serialism, it is not necessary to understand the full implications of neo-classicism in the study of film music, but among the salient features for our purposes are a mildly dissonant harmonic idiom, a reduction in the amount of underscoring and in the size of the orchestra, and a detached, objective character that avoids the emotional excess of Romanticism. 3. American nationalism, which is most closely associated with the music of Aaron Copland, shares some qualities with neo-classicism. Essential to American nationalism are broad melodies with wide intervals, syncopated rhythms, warm orchestrations, and a modern but relatively conservative harmonic system. American nationalism has influenced a number of prominent film composers, including Hugo Friedhofer, Elmer Bernstein, and John Williams. 4. Avant-garde is a term applied to a variety of art movements throughout the twentieth century that were innovative and experimental. Avant- garde artists and composers in the 1950s and '60s explored the limits of their disciplines in creative, complex, and colorful manners, Electronic music, in which sounds are generated or manipulated through various, electronic devices, is the most enduring development of the musical avant-garde, 5. Minimalism emerged in the 1960s. Related to a movement of the same name in visual arts, minimalism is a repetitive style based on deliberately simplified melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic qualities. As such, it can incorporate elements of both non-Western musical styles and rock music. Minimalism has had a strong impact on film scoring in the twenty-first century.

Four Films with Synchronized Sound

In this chapter, we will examine four films with synchronized sound: Don Juan, the first feature film to break the so-called sound barrier; The Jazz Singer, the first narrative with spoken words; Sunrise, the first film created using the sound-on-film technique; and City Lights, one of the last great silent films.

Jazz

Jazz is particularly useful for underscoring, as it is the only contemporary popular music type to have a substantial repertory without voices. The three films employing jazz discussed next contain primarily instrumental cues. In these films, jazz has an edgy quality that is appropriate for the contemporary plots dealing with sex and violence.

A trend towards realism in film making let to numerous films with historical settings. Which film is not considered a historical drama?

Jurassic Park

Which film score was not composed by Danny Elfman?

Jurassic Park

Which group does not belong to symphonic orchestra?

Keyboards

Kinetescope

Kinetoscope, a peephole viewer for a single person son unveiled to observe moving pictures without sound. In 1894 the first Kinetoscope parlor was established in New York, at a site now occupied by Macy's, and soon similar es tablishments appeared throughout the United States.

What Important Film Scores Did Max Steiner Compose?

King Kong 1938 Casablanca1g 1942 The Informer 1995 Since You Went Away 1944 The Charge of the Light Brigade 1936 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948 Dark Victory 1939 The Caine Mutiny 1954 Gone with the Wind 3939 The Searchers 1956 Now, Voyager 1942 A Summer Place 1959

The Big Parade

King Vidor's The Big Parade appeared one decade after Grifith's 'masterpiece. With its mixture of humor, romance, and realistic battle scenes set 'in World War I, The Big Parade became the biggest box-office hit of the 1920s. The story follows Jim Apperson, a spoiled, rich young man who enlists in the army. The title ofthe film denotes the joyous celebrations when men go to and return from war. 'Within the story, it also refers to the convoy taking men to the front line and to the procession of vehicles bringing the dead and wounded back home.

What term is a musical theme that can identify a person, object or idea in a story?

Leitmotif

Music for The Birth of A Nation

Less known, but also significant, is its use of music composed specifically for this film. With this step, the film- maker controlled the music, not the theater owner. Hence, the movie could be shown only at a limited number of theaters that were capable of performing a full orchestral score. Griffith worked closely with composer Joseph Carl Breil in the creation of a compelling, three-hour musical score in which all three types of music used for silent film can be heard—adaptations of classical works, arrangements of well-known melodies, and original music. 'The extended quotations of classical music usually accompany large action scenes. Breil chose excerpts from the most agitated sections of classical works for scenes of action and violence. Arrangements of well-known melodies are used primarily to arouse emo- tions and set moods. Southern tunes, such as "Dixie" and "Maryland, My Maryland" (the same melody as "O Christmas Tree"), express patriotism for the South and remind the viewer of the story's setting.

_________________________________ was a dominant musical figure of the early nineteenth century. Many of his works achieved popular status outside of the concert halls along with their inherent emotional associations.

Ludwig van Beethoven

Music for Citizen Kane

Like many of the film scores from the Golden Age, the music for Citizen Kane supports the drama, captures the moods, and contributes a sense of unity to the film. But Herrmann also introduces disturbing elements in his choice of orchestration, harmony, and melody. The challenge to traditional filmmaking is readily apparent at the onset of the movie. The title is set with large lettering that seems to demand a trumpet fanfare in Hollywood fashion. The lack of music here is unnerving, and Welles then daringly segues into a montage showing the death of Charles Kane without presenting the credits for the actors and key production figures. For the montage, Herrmann eschews the typical full symphonic orchestration and writes for a small ensemble featuring flutes, bassoons, muted brass, and vibraphone. other dissonances and the use of the lower registers of the instruments create a dark and somber mood that matches Welles's foreboding images and parallels the starkness of the story and of the black-and-white photography. In general, Herrmann's melodic material in the film lacks warmth. One of the most lyrical melodies, the waltz tune associated with Kane's first wife, is shortlived. In the breakfast montage (51:50), we hear the waltz dismantled through a set of variations, just as we watch their marriage disintegrate. Each of the six breakfast scenes is accompanied by a variation of the tune. The opening contains the original version, and its romantic quality reflects their feelings just after the wed- ding. In the succeeding segments, the music turns humorous, agitated, dark, and ominous. For the final portion, the musical motion is suspended, just as, the emotions of their marriage have dissipated. Two five-note themes underlie much of the drama. In addition to providing unity to the musical score, these motives reveal the film's underlying theme.

Sunrises' Two Musical Scores

Like many of the major films from this time period, Sunrise had two principal musical scores, one by Emo Rapée for live theatrical performances, and a second by Hugo Riesenfeld for the synchronized version. The Riesenfeld score is remarkable for its emotional range, rich lyric content, and dark moods. Typical of an adapted score, it includes several passages from nineteenth-century classics. Most notable are Liszt's Les préludes, used for the opening credits, Wagner's Sieg fried Idyll, a passage associated with marriage, and Gounod's Funeral March of a Marionette, later known as the theme song for the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. The latter is played in a humorous scene when the couple thinks they have broken a Venus de Milo statuette (56:15). Murau oft referred to Sunrise with the subtitle A Song of Two Humans. In keeping with the idea of a song, the Riesenfeld's score for Sunrise abounds in melody-dominated textures.

Which movie does not belong in the list of Disney animations during the 1990s?

Little Shop of Horrors

In 1927, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was organized, and included the Oscar awards for outstanding achievement in the industry. The creation of this was by __________________________ .

Louis B. Mayer

In 1928, Walt Disney created an animated sensation, Steamboat Willie. This early cartoon starred the character ____________________ .

Mickey Mouse

The Leading composer for film noir is ____________________________ .

Miklos Rozsa

Cinematography in Citizen Kane

Most striking is the stark contrast between bright light and darkness. This effect is used primarily in scenes with the reporter Thompson, such as the discussion after the newsreel and his visit to the Thatcher Library. The camera angles also create many unique shots throughout the film. The low perspective of the camera during Leland's flashback suggests Kane's rise to power and his greatness. The scene with Kane and Leland after the election loss was shot at the floor level. These effects—combined with the use of deep focus (which enables images in both the foreground and background to stay in focus), reflected images, and montage—help make this film one of the most creative and influential works in film history.

Popular Music

Most students will be able to describe and recognize a great variety of subtypes of popular music, whether in jazz (New Orleans, big band, bop) or rock (Motown, disco, heavy metal, rap, post-grunge). Each of these sub types has its own distinct characteristics, but, in general, popular music tends to be melody-oriented, have a strong dance-like beat, and incorporate syncopated rhythms. Possessing strong appeal for audiences, popular music has played a prominent role in films since the inception of moving pictures. Since most types of popular music project a single mood, popular music is, generally reserved for four situations in film: to accompany the opening and closing credits, to underscore montages, to provide source music, and to serve as a leitmotif, such as can be heard with Axel's theme in Beverly Hills Cop (1984). A recent good example is Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), where popular songs from the 1960s and'70s serve as both source music (from Peter's Walkman) and 'as accompaniments to montages such as the preparation for battle (1:19:50).

Mickey Mousing

Music can also suggest natural sounds, such as splashing water, thunder, the ticking of a clock, gunfire, or a speeding train. Such mimicking of movement and sound is quite common in cartoons. Since films are supposed to be more realistic than cartoons, composers tend to be careful not to match the music too closely to physical gestures. When the music is too obvious—for example, accenting every step of someone walking-it is appropriately termed Mickey Mousing.

Ballet

Music for ballet resembles film scoring in a number of aspects. Like their counterparts in film, nineteenth-century ballet composers had to work with a set scenario, answer to the whims of a director (ballet master), and adjust their music to the particular needs of a drama. Although some musical sections in ballet are simply tuneful dances, others are extended passages for orchestra that support moods, actions, and emotions of given dramatic scenes. Because ballet music is essential in relating a story that has no spoken words, it can be seen as closely allied to the music for silent film in particular. The three most popular ballets from the nineteenth century all have music by Tchaikovsky—Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker. Among the sever- all musical elements of these works that have parallels to later film music, three are of particular importance. To begin with, Tchaikovsky uses leitmotifs in all three ballets. Perhaps most notable are the contrasting themes for Carabosse (the wicked fairy godmother) and the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty. The two themes are heard in the overture, the evil theme first and then the good one. Similar structures 'can be found in the music for the opening credits in many Hollywood films. Swan Lake also pits good against evil, as represented by the characters known as the 'White Swan and the Black Swan. Both have the same theme, but the melody is transformed from its initial idyllic presentation with a solo oboe to a dark sinister presentation by the low brass to represent the Black Swan.

Ethnic Music

Music from a non-Western culture—can likewise be heard as, source music or incorporated into the underscoring in order to suggest a location in a distant country or the presence of someone from another culture. In some instances, an ethnic style may emerge at the slightest suggestion in the film. For example, characteristics of Asian music are heard during Neo's training in martial arts in The Matrix (1999) after he realizes that he knows kung fu. Other incorporations of ethnic styles are more substantial. A mixture of Indian and American popular music sets the place and tone of Slumdog Millionaire (2008), and the sounds of Central European folk music energize The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014).

Source Music or Diagetic Music

Music is heard as part of the drama itself—for example, when musicians are performing at a party or concert, or when a radio or phonograph is playing in the film. In a way, source music could also be considered a kind of sound effect. As with sound effects, the audience does not have to see the actual source of the sound. Just as the sounds of cars on a distant street can be understood as real, so too the sound of an unseen dance band or jukebox is considered to be diagetic. While the use of source music might seem to be the simplest music in film, it can be subtle and quite sophisticated. In Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954), there is no underscoring. All the music comes from radios and musical instruments in the neighbor- hood apartments, and the impact is just as strong, if not stronger, than what would have been produced by traditional underscoring.

Timbre is the term for __________________ .

Music tone quality

Georges Melies

Méliés's most famous work is A Trip to the Moon (1902). Although this is not the first film narrative, its substantial length (over ten minutes), elaborate sets, and costumes, and fantastic story make it a landmark work in the presentation of a story. In each of its fifteen scenes, the camera is stationary, while the actors (Méliés appears as the principal astronomer) and scenery move in front of the lens. The character of a theatrical magic show is evident. The film was originally shown with both narration and musical accompaniment.

Sound for film can be divided into three categories. Which one does not belong?

Narrative

Choose the answer below that does not qualify as one of Erich Korngold's music style for The Adventures of Robin Hood.

No leitmotifs

The general characteristics of the classical film score were established during the middle to late 1930s. Which characteristic is not one of the general features?

No principal themes and moods during the opening title and credits.

Bernard Hermann (1911-1975)

One of the leading figures in bringing modern music to Hollywood is Bernard Herrmann. Coming from radio, Herrmann made a remarkable film debut in 1941 with two scores, both of which earned Oscar nominations. Characteristic of the two scores are frequent dissonances, small musical ensembles, and new and colorful musical sonorities. Among the innovative new timbres in his, score for The Devil and Daniel Webster (1941) are the re- corded humming sounds of telegraph wires that help create an eerie effect associated with the devil (15:00). Other musical highlights include a macabre waltz (1:17:20) and the layered violin tracks for a series of variations on "Pop Goes the Weasel" (030). Hermann won the Academy Award for this creative score, but he will always be best remembered for his other 1941 film—Citizen Kane. Born in New York, Bernard Herrmann was trained at The Juilliard School of Music. By the age of twenty, he had founded and was conducting a chamber orchestra. He went on to guest conduet for the New York Philharmonic and other prestigious orchestras. Beginning in 1934 he worked as an arranger and conductor for CBS Radio, and it was there that he met Orson Welles. Herrmann provided musical numbers for Welles's infamous War of the Worlds broadcast in 1938, and when Welles decided to make Citizen Kane, Herrmann was invited to compose the 'musical score. In later years, Herrmann would collaborate with other great directors, including Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorcese's.

Shall We Dance

One of the most popular films pairing Astaire and Rogers is Shall We Dance (2937), with songs by the composer-lyricist team of George and Ira Gershwin. The plot follows the conventions of a romantic comedy. The audience is introduced to two major stars and knows that they will eventually come together. But initial- ly, the relationship seems impossible, and every time they get close, something drives them apart. Naturally, all is resolved at the climax of the story, and the lovers are united in love and presumed matrimony. Typical of many musicals, the principals are entertainers: Astaire portrays Peter, a performer of ballet under the stage name of Petrov; Rogers is Linda Keene, a renowned singer and tap dancer.

Popular Music Trends in the 1950's

Other popular trends of the 1950s included country and western, ideal for westerns, and rock and roll, a natural for movies aimed at teenagers. Hollywood quickly learned that popular music was, less expensive than symphonic scores, attracted young audiences, and created additional revenue through record sales. The expanded role of popular music is, the most significant development in film music during the 1950s.

Robin Hood's Themes

Outside of the fighting sequences, the score contains an abundance of tuneful ideas. Much of the melodic material is derived from the Robin Hood theme, initially presented in a quick trumpet fanfare when Robin is seen for the first time. The first four notes of his theme form an independent motive that is frequently heard in fighting sequences and can be found embedded within other themes, such as the opening notes of the jovial Little John melody. Similarly, the Love theme of Robin and Marian bears a strong resemblance to the Robin Hood theme. The Love theme also shares a similar contour with the first four notes of the King Richard theme, which allows Korngold to suggest a close association between the two. Indeed, during the primary romantic scene (1:10:10), the Love theme actually becomes subordinate to Richard's theme, just as Mari- an decides to stay and help Richard rather than leave with Robin.

Structure of Music

Overture Main title and opening credits First part of the film Intermission (with or without music) Entracte Second part of the film Closing credits In a sense, these epic films contain a double overture—the "Overture" prop- er and the music for the main title and opening credits. Of the two, the music during the opening credits is usually more significant for the film as a whole, but the "Overture" can still help establish a mood and acquaint the audience with themes from the film. Similarly, the music for the entr'acte generally has greater musical weight than that for the intermission.

Memorable Musical Moment in Sunrise

Perhaps the most memorable musical moment in the film is the moody cue that complements the expressionistic mise-en-scéne near the beginning of the narrative. The scene creates a brooding atmosphere through both visual images, and music.

Music can direct an audience to feel emotions. The musical mood can suggest a POV. POV is an abbreviation of _________________________ .

Point of View

Overture

Precedes the beginning of the film

First Half of The Birth of a Nation

Produced exactly fifty years after the close of the Civil War, The Birth of a Nation is a twelve-reel epic film. The plot extends from the antebellum South, through the Civil War, to the time of Reconstruction. The film is divided into two parts. The first half s a powerful story of the Civil War and its tragic impact on two families. Griffith took great pains to re-create several events of the war, 'most strikingly the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (1:18:40), which is remark- able for its historical accuracy. The most spectacular and successful moments of the film are the panoramic battle scenes. For the climactic scene of the Civil 'War, Griffith chose to re-create the battle of Petersburg (46:15), the one battle that most closely resembled the modern trench warfare of World War I. The relationship between what was on the screen and current events in Europe would not have been lost on an audience in 1915.

Two Types of Musical Shows

Productions featuring a series of unrelated performances, such as the revue or vaudeville Productions that inserted musical numbers into a dramatic plot, such as operetta and musical comedy

Two types of symphonic music

Program symphony and Symphonic poem (tone poem). The difference between the two is simply a matter of length; the symphonic poem is a single-movement work, and the program symphony generally has four or more movements. While there have been relatively few program symphonies, there have been many symphonic poems.

The Big Five Hollywood Studios

RKO Warner Bros MGM 20th Century Fox Paramount

Regarding film music, the most important operatic figure is _________________ , one of the greatest and most influential figures in the history of Western music.

Richard Wagner

Dimitri Tiomkin utilized the following key points in his scoring of the movie High Noon, except one. Identify which one he did not use.

Rock Music

Rock and Roll

Rock and roll exploded upon the popular music scene in the mid-1g50s. The most distinctive elements of the new sound were the drummer's hard accents on beats two and four of a measure and the inclusion of electronically amplified guitars. The rock era began in earnest in 1955 when Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" be- came the first rock tune to top Billboard's hit chart, a position it maintained for eight 'weeks. Billboard, a trade magazine founded in 1894, began publishing its "Music Popularity Chart" in 1940 with its first number-one song, Frank Sinatra's "ll Never 'Smile Again." The dominant performers through the next fifteen years included Bing Crosby, Perry Como, Patti Page, and the Andrews Sisters. But after 1955, rock music was king. By the end of the decade, the foundations of classic rock had been laid by a number of legendary performers, including Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Fats Domino, and Little Richard. Hollywood saw the financial potential of the new genre and turned to rock music to lure younger audiences to the movies. Stars of rock and roll, both white and black, soon appeared on the screen. Two films filled with rock came out in 1956. Fats Domino, the Platters, and Little Richard perform in The Girl Can't Help It, in which curvaceous Jayne Mansfield sings "Rock Around the Rock Pile." Columbia Pictures' Rock Around the Clock features not only Bill Haley and the Comets, but also the Platters and Freddy Bell and His Bellboys. By the end of the 1950s, a rebellious young rock star had also become a movie star. Love Me Tender (1958), Jailhouse Rock (1957), and too many others to name brought Hollywood stardom to Elvis Presley.

Film Music Styles

Romantic, Modern, and Popular. All of these styles are defined by distinct characteristics created by elements discussed in Chapter 2: melody, harmony, texture, rhythm, and timbre. Whether listening to classical, heavy metal, country, or world music, you will hear musical qualities common to all music in that style. Knowledge of these basic characteristics can be an aid when listening to film music.

Romanticism

Romanticism, or simply Romantic music, refers to the prevalent musical style created in the nineteenth century. As embodied in the works of Pyotr Ilyich Tehaikovsky, this music emphasizes melody, colorful orchestrations, and a wide range of emotions. Such qualities are ideally suited for the needs of film: Romanticism is powerful, flexible, and relatively unobtrusive. Composers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries added more-complex harmo- nies to their concert works, which exerted a strong influence on film compos- ers. Among the most prominent of these figures are Claude Debussy, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, Jean Sibelius, and Sergei Rachmaninov.

Hays Code

Self-imposed rules for Hollywood media content instituted in 1930 with the goal of creating "wholesome entertainment." Resolved the technical issues, and installed standardized censorship. 1. No picture shall be produced which will lower the moral standards of those who see it. The sympathy of the audience shall never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil, or in. 2. Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama and entertainment, shall be presented. 3. Law, natural or human, shall not be ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation. The Hays Office closed in 1945, but the code remained in effect until 1966. In 1968, a rating system took its place.

Intermission

Separates the two parts of the film, so the audience can take a short break

Establishing a Mood

Since music appeals directly to the emotions, all music projects some type of mood. In some movies, the musical mood remains consistent throughout the film, no matter what is occurring in the story. In these instances, the music creates an overall ambiance that serves as a backdrop to the unfolding drama. The relentless somber mood of John Williams's music for Schindler's List (1993), for example, reminds us of the reality of the Holocaust. A similar effect can be heard in films that rely on popular music, such as The Graduate (1967) and The Social Network (2010); in the first, the music creates a consistent mood of the youthful uncertainty in the 1960s, and in the second, it reflects the energy and emotions of twenty-first-century college students.

While not receiving much Academy recognition, the following musical film, in considered number one by the American Film Institute, just ahead of The Wizard of Oz.

Singin In The Rain

During the 1930s, only the film Gone with the Wind was more financially successful than __________________________ .

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Some Like It Hot (1959)

Some Like It Hot (1959), rated by the American Film Institute as America's greatest comedy, is a hilarious cross-dressing farce. As in many great comedies, music plays a significant role. Hollywood veteran composer Adolph Deutsch, who received three Oscars for his adaptations of Broadway musicals, was an excellent choice for this film. In the story, two musicians, Joe (Tony Curtis) and Jerry (Jack Lemmon), don women's apparel and join an all-women jazz band in order to escape execution by the Chicago gangster Spats Columbo. The featured soloist of the band, Sugar, is played by Hollywood's foremost sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe Portions of the film are structured like a musical. Monroe performs three period-appropriate songs: "Runnin' Wild" from 1922 (31:10), "I Wanna Be Loved by You" from 1928 (1:09:18), and "I'm Thru with Love" from 1931 (1:55:36). Deutsch's underscoring serves two opposing roles—to make the story seem serious and to underline the humor. To make the plot appear plausible, Deutsch calls upon traditional symphonic scoring to support the perceived danger from Spats and his gang, just as one would hear ina serious drama. But elsewhere, Deutsch freely incor- porates popular music to underscore the fun, including a growling muted trumpet for several of Marilyn's steamy appearances and a scurrying saxophone line for Joe and Jerry's narrow escapes. One of the film's highlights is a crosscut between two dates; Joe (@s a millionaire with the voice of Cary Grant) shares a romantic evening with Sugar, and Jerry (as Daphne) has gone dancing with the actual millionaire Osgood.

Leitmotifs

Some themes, called leitmotifs, can be identified with a person, object, or idea in a story. There must be a clear and consistent relationship between a musical idea and its onscreen counterpart in order for a musical theme to be considered a leitmotif. One of the best-known leitmotifs in film is the twomnote half-step motive that accompanies Jaws. Throughout the film, the audience is alerted to the shark's presence by these two notes. Also memorable are the numerous leitmotifs in the original Star Wars trilogy, including the opening fanfare that represents Luke Skywalker and the dark theme of Darth Vader. Through a leitmotif, the audience can be told what a character is thinking. In Gone with the Wind, for ex: ample, we see a silent Scarlett O'Hara and hear the Tara theme. Without a word, we know that she is thinking of her plantation.

Source Music in Casablanca

Source music plays a critical role in the film. Once we enter Rick's Café, there is no underscoring, not even during the action of Ugarte's arrest. All of the music for this nearly thirty-minute segment is diegetic, stemming from the pianist Sam and the band. The reliance on American popular music for this portion of the story serves several purposes. Tunes such as "Knock on Wood" (the only newly composed song) are catchy and enjoyable, and the film brilliantly interweaves these entertaining songs into the drama without interrupting the dramatic flow. In addition, contemporaneous American popular tunes help date the story and distinguish Rick's Café from the Blue Parrot, the local bar where Middle Eastern music is heard.

Stagecoach (1939)

Stagecoach (1939) is considered to be the first great western. Richard Hageman pro- vided an energetic score for the film based primarily on American folk and cowboy tunes. Most prominent is "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie," one of the most famous of all cowboy songs. His set- ting of the tune, heard primarily during travel montages, incorporates a fast-paced accompaniment, while the tune itself is presented in a broad, lyric manner. This texture will become a cliché in later westerns, as will the combination of music and beautiful landscapes.

Stalling

Stalling left Disney in 1930 and in 1936 began working for Warner Bros., 'where he remained for twenty-two years. During this time he composed music for two major cartoon series, Looney Toons and Merrie Melodies, in which he provided musical support for such popular characters as Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, and the Roadrunner. Behind the visual cartoon antics of these characters are musical scores incorporating children's tunes, popular melodies, jazz, borrowed classics, and modern music. Stalling, like several of the other composers listed in TABLE 101, explored a number of modern compositional techniques ranging from serialism to avant-garde, predating and paving the way for their use in Hollywood feature films. Scott Bradley, the composer for Tom and Jerry, once remarked: "I hope Dr. Schoenberg will forgive me for using his system to produce funny music."

Max Steiner (1888-1971)

Steiner was a child prodigy. Born in Vienna, he conducted his first operetta at age twelve, graduated from the Vienna Imperial Academy of Music at thirteen—completing four years of work in one—and composed a successful operetta at sixteen. In 1929 RKO Pictures invited Steiner to Hollywood to work on a film version of the Broadway show Rio Rita, and he remained in the service of RKO until 1937. In 1933 alone he worked on thirty-three films, and he would become one of Hollywood's most prolific composers, scoring over three hundred films. Most of these films were for Warner Bros,, where he worked from 1937 to 1953. Steiner won three Academy Awards and was nominated for fifteen others.

With which film director did John Williams have the most notable continuing working relationship?

Steven Spielberg

doctrine of affections.

Such connections were codified in the Baroque era

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Sunset Boulevard (1950) combines elements of both film noir and message films. Like Spellbound and The Lost Weekend, it presents a story about dementia. There are several clear links to noir, including extended night scenes, a gothic mansion, and the use of a narrator—the murder victim, Joe Gillis (William Holden). But Billy Wilder's film is also a harsh indictment of Hollywood and its star system. The real-life silent film actress Gloria Swanson portrays an aging former silent film star named Norma Desmond. Supported by other Hollywood film figures, such as actor/director Erich von Stroheim, director Cecil B. DeMille, comedian Buster Keaton, and Hollywood reporter Hedda Hopper, Sunset Boulevard exposes the fleeting, seductive, and all-consuming nature of fame.

Soundtrack

Technically, this, term should denote all of the sound in a film, including dialogue and sound ef fects. In its general usage today, however, "soundtrack" refers only to music and sometimes just to songs. Listening to a soundtrack recording is generally an un- reliable substitute for watching the movie, as recordings often contain revisions and additions to the actual music used in the film.

What is considered the first major American narrative film?

The Great Train Robbery

Kinetephone

The Kinetophone debuted in 1895 and, came equipped with both a viewer and earphones. Dickson shot the first known films with sound in 1894 or 1895. In one experimental film, several frames of which are shown in FIGURE 5, Dickson plays a tune from the opera The Chimes at Normandy on the violin into a recording horn, while two men dance in the foreground. Recordings for the Kinetophone—our first examples of film music—tend to be of popular dance tunes, such as the "Pomona Waltz," "Continental March," and "Irish Reel." These tunes primarily accompanied images of dancers.

Open Cadences

The endings that seem to be incomplete, similar to commas or question marks.

Select the film scored by Erich Korngold which did not receive the award of Best Music Oscar.

The Sea Hawk

The Vitaphone

The Vitaphone system involved the coordination of visual images shown by a projector with recorded sound played on a phonograph. The length of a reel of film was, timed to match that of one side of a record. Since Warner Bros. owned their own theaters, they had sufficient venues to make the efforts financially feasible. Naturally, the quality of recorded sound did not equal that of a live orchestra, but audiences in the largest theaters quickly adapted to the technological novelty, and for those who attended the 98 percent of theaters in America that did not employ an orchestra, the sound of a group like the New York Philharmonic

Animated Musicals

The Walt Disney Studios, which had taken a break during the war, created another popular series of animated musicals beginning in 1950 with Cinderella. In keeping with the Disney tradition, music plays an important role in the success of the film, as Cinderella received two Academy nominations—for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture and Best Song ("Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo"), As shown in TABLE 61, Disney continued to create outstanding animated features throughout the decade. The musical highlights of this series are the song-filled Alice in Wonderland, and Sleeping Beauty, with substantial music adapted from Tchaikovsky's ballet of the same name. Major Movies Cinderella (1950) Oliver Wallace and Paul Smith Alice in Wonderland (1951) Wallace Peter Pan (1953) Wallace Lady and The Tramp (1955) Wallace Sleeping Beauty (1959) George Burns

The finest musical film of the 1930s, and many would argue of all time, is ______________________________________ .

The Wizard of Oz

Underscoring in Casablanca

The appearance of Iisa and Laszlo shatters Rick's artificial world. At the moment that Rick sees Ilsa, underscoring occurs (33:30) for the frst time inside the café. An orchestral stinger suggests that Rick is stunned by her appear- ance. The oboe then picks up "As Time Goes By," and the tune becomes their Love theme from this point forward. During the subsequent awkward conversation that refers to the Paris days, Ilsa mentions the Germans, and the mu- sic turns dark with a quotation of the German patriotic tune "Deutschland tiber alles," against which a phrase of the love theme can be heard in counterpoint.

The War Years

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, is the defining moment in twentieth-century American history. By the end of World War II, the Unit- ed States had become a superpower, and every aspect of American life was, transformed. During the war, European film production was either curtailed or converted to serve the wartime needs of those countries. In the United States, President Franklin Roosevelt decided to let the film industry remain independent, and Hollywood responded splendidly. Patriotic films were produced to help boost morale, documentaries kept the public informed, and training films helped build stronger armed forces. Moreover, theaters sold war bonds and stars, entertained the troops, supported charity and relief efforts, and even enlisted. Hollywood had its finest moment as a social institution; it also made record profits. War movies filled the screen with images of courageous American soldiers pitted against villainous Germans and "Japs." Other major film genres of the 1930s were retooled to incorporate war themes. Backstage musicals, instead of featuring Broadway hopefuls, now dealt with USO entertainers. Detectives began to pursue spies and become agents of espionage, and even Sherlock Holmes 'was resurrected from the 1890s in order to fight against the Nazis. Horror films showed zombies created by evil Axis scientists, and comedies and cartoons lampooned the enemy and provided, at the very least, needed diversion from the strains of the war.

Leitmotifs and Thematic Transformations In King Kong

The extensive musical score is unified by leitmotifs and thematic transformation. The two principal themes, representing Beauty and the Beast, both change during the film, The Beast motive is a three-note chromatic descent. The Beauty theme appears in two main forms. At first, it is a lovely waltz tune as John declares his love. After Ann is abducted, a terrorized version of her theme appears with a faster tempo and a reduction to four descending notes. Since four descending notes are also embedded in the Native theme, Steiner is able to merge the two themes during the sacrificial dance. In this shared theme, the first 'two measures are the terrorized version of the Beauty theme, the third measure is both the condensed statement of the Beauty theme and the second measure of the Native theme, and the last measure is from the Native theme.

Cue Sheets

The first cue sheets appeared {in 1909, and leading the way was the Edison Film Company. Wanting to maintain more control over the music played for his films, Edison published specific suggestions for individual scenes. Describing each scene of the film, the cue sheet would indicate what type of music would be appropriate to the various moods.

Singing Cowboys and 'In Old Arizona'

The first western in the sound era, In Old Arizona (2928), contains little music, but the Cisco Kid does serenade his girl (44:50), and a male ensemble sings "My Antonia" at the close. Singing cowboys were a rage on the radio in the late 1920s, and vocal numbers would remain a standard feature of movie westerns through the 1950s.

Original music in The Birth of a Nation

The greatest strength of Breil's score lies in the original music in which he crafts numerous leitmotifs. Many. of these can be heard during the exposition of the film. While Griffith establishes the political situation in the North and South and introduces the two principal families, Breil presents six leitmotifs that are associated with aspects of the story; two of these belong to specific people, two represent a group of people, and two are simply. love themes. Shortly afterward, two melodies are heard represent- ing the Stoneman family. The stern theme for Senator Austin Stoneman is set in a minor key and suggests his questionable role in the drama. By contrast, his daughter Elsie has a playful tune that suggests her innocence. In the DVD version of the music produced by Kino, she shares this theme with her two brothers. When the setting changes to South Carolina, we hear the other leitmotifs: a warm melody representing the entire Cameron family and two love themes for budding romances. Typical of love themes, the melodies are lyric and played by string instruments. Nota bly, the theme for Elsie and Ben is the best-known newly composed music from the film. Taking on an independent life, it was published as "The Perfect Song," becoming the first hit theme from a feature movie.

Sunrise

The highly acclaimed Sunrise, created by the renowned German director F. W. 'Murnau, is the first full-length feature film using the sound-on-film system. In 1928, the first Academy Awards gave two Oscars for Best Picture—Best Production (Wings) and Best Artistic Quality of Production (Sunrise). In 1929, however, the latter award was dropped, and the Best Production award was renamed Best Picture. As a result, histories of the Oscars list Wings as the first Best Picture winner, even though Sunrise was considered by most to be superior to the popular aviation film.

Miklés Rézsa

The leading composer for film noir is Miklés Rézsa. He brought unrelenting harshness to films such as Double Indemnity (1944) and The Killers (1946). 'The music director for Double Indemnity complained that the music was better suited to a war movie. This criticism is not about the use of dissonances, but about the type of scenes where they are heard. In the late 1940s, the harshness of modern music was expanding into new types of dramatic situations. For The Killers, Rézsa composed a curt four-note theme that was later "borrowed" as the theme for Dragnet, a popular series on radio and television in the 1950s. Rézsa also made a sensation with the music for the noir-styled Spellbound (1948), directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

The most commercially successful of the message films is William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), the biggest box-office hit since Gone with the Wind and the winner of seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Scoring of a Dramatic Picture. Inspired by an article in Time magazine, The Best Years of Our Lives interweaves the stories of three veterans arriving home after the war. While sharing the bond of a common war experience, the three servicemen come from different branches of the armed forces, are in different stages of relationships with women, and have different financial backgrounds. The youngest has lost both hands in a war injury, which are replaced by mechanical hooks. Harold Rus- sell, a real-life paratrooper who lost both hands in a grenade explosion, plays the role of Homer Parrish. His ability to manipulate his hooks in such ordinary tasks as lighting a match and playing Chopsticks with songwriter Hoagy Carmichael (2:09:50) is part of the film's fascination. For this role, Russell won two Oscars— Best Supporting Actor and a special award for bringing hope and courage to veterans. He is the only actor ever to win two Oscars for one role.

"As Time Goes On" from Casablanca

The most important source music in the film is "As Time Goes By," which the American Film Institute lists as the second greatest song in Hollywood history next to "Over the Rainbow." Although Steiner made this tune famous, he did not compose it. Herman Hupfeld wrote the song in 1931. Not liking the song, Steiner asked to write an original tune instead. An attempt was made to accommodate his wishes, but Ilsa had spoken the title, and the scene could not be re-shot be- cause Ingrid Bergman had changed her hair for her role in For Whom the Bell Tolls. So Steiner worked with Hupfeld's theme, and he later admitted that the tune grew on him,

The Music for Best Years of Our Lives

The music for The Best Years of Our Lives is by one of the quiet masters of film music—Hugo Friedhofer. His gift for orchestration is readily apparent in many passages, such as the music accompanying Fred's nightmare (50:40). The strength of his score, however, is in the overall mood, which is indebted to Aaron Copland's American nationalism—melodies built on disjunct intervals, nontraditional harmonic progressions, syncopated rhythms, and warm orchestrations. Rather than conjuring up nostalgia for an unspecified past, this musical style is applied to con- temporary issues of veterans' adjustments, urban life, and changing values. Friedhofer's music contributes a positive tone to the serious plot, which ultimately shows that all three men can overcome their difficulties through honest American values and, of course, the steadfast love of women.

Over The Rainbow

The musical highlight is Dorothy's rendition of "Over the Rainbow," performed early in the film (5:48). 'The producers almost cut the song because they felt that it slowed down the pace. As a compromise, the song was shortened; the verse and break were eliminated, so that the song consists of the chorus only. The chorus is in the standard a-a-b-a form, with a closing tag called a codetta. This song is different from most typical a-a-b-a songs in that it is the a portions that are expansive. Each a statement begins with the words "Some- where over the rainbow," and the first line also includes the words "way up high." Arlen captures these images with a succession of three wide ascending leaps, and the phrase closes with a gentle descent that brings us back to the starting pitch (the tonic). The b segment ('Someday I wish upon a star") is more restrictive, as its range is limited and the rhythms are quicker. Rounding off the song, a portion of the b phrase is used as the codetta ("If happy little bluebirds Ay").

Country, Rock, and All That Jazz 1951-1959

The number and variety of popular music styles increased rapidly in the 1950s. Some of the newer types of jazz created a more agitated and disturb- ing mood. Characterized by hard accents, rapid notes, and increased volume and intensity, these newer styles began to accompany scenes of violence and sexual encounters. Most notably, film noir introduced a jazz sound featuring a cutting and somewhat coarse melodic line from a saxophone or trumpet, which was used to suggest seedier aspects of life.

The Early 1940's

The paradigm of the Hollywood style created in the late 1930s, which includes a lengthy orchestral score in the Romantic style, continued to exert a strong influence on American filmmaking through the end of the 19505. Yet, as is typical of all artistic cycles, change was inevitable. For film music, the manifestation of this imminent transformation was the emergence of a new musical sound influenced by the modern styles of contemporary concert composers.

The first words spoken in a major feature film

The pivotal scene for film history, in which Jolson speaks the first words in a major feature film, is set in a café where Jack Robin is about to sing for his supper (17:30). At this early stage of his career, Jack is hoping to break into vaudeville. 'While he sings, he attracts the attention of Mary, who will serve as a love interest and help promote his career.

Blackboard Jungle (1955)

The rock phenomenon was fueled in part by Hollywood movies: "Rock Around the Clock" was released in 1954 with only moderate success, but it was propelled to the top of the charts when it appeared in The Blackboard Jungle (1958), a film that deals with juvenile delinquency- cy. Haley's rendition of the song is heard only during the opening and closing credits, but the melody also appears in the underscoring during a savage attack on two teachers by teenage hoodlums (36:58). For adults, the association of rock music with rebellious youth was clear, but teenagers quickly adopted this exciting new kind of music.

High Noon Score

The score centers on Tiomkin's Ballad "Do Not Forsake Me" sung by Tex Ritter.

Leitmotifs in The Jazz Singer

The score contains several leitmotifs, most notably for Jack's mother and Mary. The application of leitmotifs is for the most part simple and lacks the thematic development heard in Don Juan. The biggest weakness of the score is the peculiar use of the love theme from Tehaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet to underscore the intense arguments between Jackie and his father (11:20 and 47:15). Adding to the awkwardness of these moments are obtrusive sound cuts that interrupt the natural flow of the original work.

Concert Composers

The term "concert composer" refers to composers, 'who write primarily symphonies, chamber music, and operas for performances in concert halls. In the United States, classically trained concert composers rarely wrote movie music. The assembly-line production of Hollywood studios required specialists who devoted themselves to film almost exclusively. These composers wrote quickly and effectively but had little time for other music. Composers of concert music did not fit well into this system, and when they tried, they tended to resent their lack of artistic control over the final product. Still, the modem styles and techniques of concert music gradually slipped into the palette of Hollywood composers, partially because of a number of concert composers who were enticed to Hollywood and partially because of the creative efforts of several studio composers.

Songs

The term song, although general in its application, does have one critical limitation: it has to be sung by a voice or voices. Instruments can play in a songlike, lyrical fashion, but an instrumental passage should not be referred to as a song. In addition, songs need words, and these often necessitate an independent musical form. While most of the music of a film can be tailored to the flow of the drama, a song will often interrupt the story. The song is one instance in which a musical form can take precedence over the dramatic structure. At times, you may find yourself impatient for the completion of a song so that the story can continue, but you will find also that many songs further some aspect of the plot or provide commentary on what is happening. One of the most innovative uses of song in film can be seen in Cat Ballou (1968), in which the singing of Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye provide narration as the story unfolds.

Narrative Film

The two figures most closely associat ed with the beginnings of narrative films are Georges Méliés and Edwin Porter.

Thematic Transformations

Thematic transformation helps to create variety and gives support to dramatic situations. In the sim- plest terms, a leitmotif can be altered when it recurs during a film by a change of instrumentation, tempo, dynamics, or harmony, to depict the changing mood or state of a character. In Return of the Jedi, the death of Darth Vader is accompanied by his theme. Vader's leit- motif, generally heard in the low brass with a terrifying edge, is now played gently, suggesting the transforma tion of his character just before his death. The melody can be heard in string harmonies, woodwinds, and the harp. The high register of the instruments and the tim- bre of the harp (the instrument of angels) are musical cliches for death

Running Counter to the Action

There are also times when the music depicts a mood that deliberately does not match what is happening on the screen. This is called running counter to the action. In one of the most unforgettable scenes in all of film, the climax of The Godfather (1972), we hear source musie from an organ church service while wwe observe the systematic slaying of Michael's foes. And in The Hateful Eight, several of the main characters die painfully from poisoning while the music sounds playful and humorous.

Song-Films

There is even a significant repertoire of song films—films or slide shows created to illustrate a popular song that would be performed live. It was common for song films to alternate with narrative films in a nickelodeon.

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)

This film is marginally related to the screwball comedy, and it definitely exemplifies the populist film. As such, music is minimal in the story. In addition, there is another Hollywood cliché at work: it has been generally thought to be inappropriate to underscore scenes set in government buildings, such as courtrooms or, in the case of this film, the US. Senate. In conformance with these traditions, scoring is heard only once in scenes in the Senate, near the end of Mr. Smith's filibuster. Much of the other music in the film stems from source music, such as the bands at the boys camp and at political rallies. Reflecting the populist tradition, American tunes abound during the montage of Mr. Smith's AWOL bus tour of Washington, DC (21:18), culminating in one of Hollywood's most patriotic moments at the Lincoln Memorial. Dimitri Tiomkin cleverly includes "Red River Valley" as an expansion of "Taps," heard during the view of the Arlington Cemetery.

One of the major innovations to film music was the use of a theme song, introduced in 1952, a country western song for the movie High Noon.

true

Melody is a succession of pitches, sometimes called a _______________ .

tune

Theremin

To depict the dementia of the leading male figure, Rézsa employed an electronic instrument, the theremin It's wavering sound mimics a human voice,and it was eventually assimilated into scores for science fiction movies.

Which does not belong to the elements of rhythm?

Tritone

Both Don Juan and The Jazz Singer, used the film music technique of leitmotifs.

True

Danny Elfman's career in film scoring began because director Tim Burton was a fan of Danny's rock group, Oingo Boingo.

True

During Hollywood's classic age, composers generally turned to the sound and style when invoking the sound of another culture, as with Victor Young's colorful score for Around the World in 80 Days.

True

During the 1980s, the Academy of Motion Pictures awarded Best Picture Oscars to three movies with different countries or origin, including Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, and The Last Emporer.

True

Erich Korngold was complimented by well-known classical composers as a musically prodigious child talent.

True

For the music score of Schindler's List, John Williams did not employ his usual music trademarks of fanfares, big melodies, and big orchestration. Instead, Williams sought to utilize elements of the Jewish traditions, including klezmer which feature solo clarinet or solo violin.

True

In an effort to attract young audiences with the incorporation of the new genre, rock music, some movies were created to feature the legend Elvis Presley as an actor.

True

John William uses one dominant leitmotif in Jaws, the shark theme. But for Star Wars he uses many themes, and reuses them in the subsequent films, just as Richard Wagner had done in his opera cycle Der Rind des Nibelungen.

True

Opera is considered to be the highest form of musical theater in the Western world, and a great deal of operatic music is well known to the general public, as well as film composers.

True

The most significant development in film music during the 1950s is the expanding role of popular music. The styles of music included rock and roll, country and western, and jazz.

True

Women in film noir tend to be alluring, sexually active, and dangerous.

True

Music for The Big Parade

Two composers are associated with this film: William Axt (1888-1959) com- posed the original music for the live performances of the 1920s; Carl Davis, (b. 1936) orchestrated, elaborated, and augmented Axt's material for a 1988 DVD.

Two types of Guides

Two types of guides appeared: cue sheets intended to accompany specific films, and anthologies of stock musical excerpts.

Hugo Friedhofer was born and musically trained in ___________________________ .

USA

Underscoring or Un-Diagetic Music

Underscoring has no logical source in the drama itself. Performed by an unseen orchestra, jazz band, rock group, or vocal ensemble, underscoring creates an overall mood and guides us emotionally and psychologically through the course of a film. The following is a good rule for distinguishing between these two basic

The big five major movie studios included most of below, except one listed.

Universal

The Little Three Hollywood Studios

Universal Colombia United Artists

Characteristics of The King Kong Score

Using a full symphonic orchestration dominated by brass and percussion, Steiner adds harsh harmonies, brass flutter-tonguing, and stuttering repeated chords to create a terrifying sound. But the music goes beyond this one-dimensional view of Kong; during the course of the film, it also gives him a human personality. Typical of Steiner's scores, the music frequently mirrors physical movement. In the sacrificial scene, the music parallels Ann and the natives ascending the altar, the natives descending those steps, and later the natives ascending the wall. Similarly, music mimics each step of King Kong before we see him.accents—called stingers—coincide with physical impacts, and the music rises and falls with ascending and descending images, as heard during the escape from the cliff (1:15:40). Such obvious mimicking of a physical movement (Mickey Mousing) is now considered to be old-fashioned.

The ______________________________ involved the coordination of visual images shown by a projector with recorded sound played on a phonograph.

Vitaphone

In 1896, Edison unveiled his projector, called the ________________________________ .

Vitascope

When film music plays almost continuously, from the beginning to the end of a movie, it is considered to be ______________________ .

Wall to Wall

Snow White and The Seven Dwarves

Walt Disney fulfilled his ambition of creating a full-length animated feature in 1937 with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Dazzling audiences with its realis- tic animation, stunning colors, and memorable songs, this work became the top moneymaking film in the history of the industry to that point. During the 1930s, only Gone with the Wind (1939) would be more financially successful. In the tradition of earlier Disney cartoons, music plays continuously throughout the film and includes a number of simple songs. A clear distinction is made between the developed songs sung by humans and the simple tunes for dwarfs: "I'm Wishing" (3:50) and "Someday My Prince Will Come" (57:40) both have verse-chorus structures, while the title "Heigh-Ho (23:00) contains almost all the words used in the song. Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Bambi became the top three moneymaking movies of the 1940s; all three included outstanding music that received Academy recognition. Al- though Fantasia was initially a box-office failure, it eventually became one of Disney's most popular films. As in some of the earlier Silly Symphonies, most of the music for Fantasia is borrowed from the concert halls, and the eventual success of the film was a major factor in America's burgeoning appreciation of classical music.

In 1936, after working with Walt Disney Studios, Carl Stalling began working for ________________________________ .

Warner Bros.

Principal Leitmotifs in The Bride of Frankenstein

Waxman matches the hyperbole of the film with an energetic score that contains its own sense of parody. The two principal leitmotifs represent exaggerated versions of their characters. The monster's motive, consisting of only five notes, includes a harsh harmonic clash on the fourth note. The dissonance, which could be termed a "wrong-note" harmony (a term suggesting the accidental playing of two adjacent pitches), is purposefully jarring. The loud dynamics, the sustaining of the dissonant sound, and the use of flutter-tonguing in the brass add to the overly horrific effect. By contrast, the theme for the bride is a lush, lyric melody that is far more beautiful than she is, perhaps depicting how she is seen through the eyes of Franken- stein's Monster. Indeed, the first three notes of her theme are identical to the beginning of the popular song "Bali Ha'i" from South Pacific.

Wuthering Heights (1939) with music by Alfred Newman

While the storyline, mirrored by the weather, continually focuses on the stormy aspect of the relationship between Heathcliff and Cathy, Newman's music, pre~ dominantly set for strings, serves as a constant reminder of the warmth and endurance of their love. The principal leitmotif, known as Cathy's theme, is one of the most beautiful melodies written for the screen. It dominates the film just as, their love dominates the story. At one point the theme is even heard as a waltz tune played by a dance orchestra (1:14:48). In Cathy's death scene (1:32:00), Newman's music does not reflect the emotions of the dialogue or the changes in mood. Even Cathy's death is barely noted in the music.

Melodrama

While the word melodrama can be used in a variety of contexts (we might use "melodramatic" to refer to exaggerated emotions), we use the term here to refer to a type of stage drama prominent in the nineteenth century. In a typical plot, a boy and girl are in love, a bad guy places the girl in danger, and, after a series of exciting events, good triumphs over evil, and the boy gets the girl. Just as the word melodrama suggests, music was prominent in these productions.

The Hays Code, published in 1930, sought to establish general principles of film making conduct. It became a powerful force in the industry. Select the person on which the code was named.

Will Hays

The film music composer for Don Juan was ____________________________ .

William Axt

Did Ennio Morricone receive an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement?

Yes

Did Max Steiner use the music making technique of Mickey Mousing for the film King Kong?

Yes

Did film composer John Barry win an Oscar for the score to Dances with Wolves?

Yes

Is the film The Mission considered to be an epic?

Yes

Handheld shot

a camera is held on the shoulder for freedom of movement and, sometimes, for the sake of realism, with intentional joggling of the image

A music composing technique called Ostinato involves _______________________________________ .

a repeated unchanging short melodic idea

Dies Irae

a well-known melody from the Catholic ser- vice for the dead. The association of this tune with death carried into movie mu sic, and it became the single most quoted melody in all of film

Composers will often use instruments that represent the time and region to provide a sense of authenticity for the narrative. Therefore, in the opening scene, James Horner utilizes the _________________________ in the movie Braveheart.

bagpipe

Live music accompanying narrative film in the early years provided the benefit of ______________________________ .

distracting from the noise of the projector compensating for the absence of live actors all of the above < adding to the illusion of reality

The music of Star Wars is primarily in the style of the _________________________ .

classic film score

Revue

considered to be the best of these movies, although it is sorely lacking by moder standards. The film was shot at the MGM studios in the middle of the night, after production on all the other films had stopped. Not a lot of attention 'was given to precision in the dance routines, and many of the jokes are dated. But there are some memorable segments, including Joan Crawford singing and dancing the Charleston (6:45), a comedy routine based on the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet shot in an early form of Technicolor (1:23:50), and the closing song, "Singin' in the Rain," which was popularized in a 1952 musical of the same name.

Film music at times can depict a mood that deliberately does not match the emotion of a scene or what is happening in the scene. This is called ______________________ .

counter to the action

Film music is generally made up of many small pieces of music. One piece of music, from its entrance to its end is called a ____________________.

cue

When hearing music during a scene that emanates from the car radio of the protagonist, it would be considered ______________________ .

diagetic

A harmonic chord that sounds harsh and disturbing is considered to be a _________________________ .

dissonance

Documented presentations of films during the 1890's were musically accompanied by ___________________________ .

harmonium piano orchestra all of the above <

Film Genres that have full orchestral scores

horror films, action and adventure films, romances, and epics.

Music pitch refers to _______________________ .

how high or low

Which characteristics do not represent film noir?

images are in bright colors

Entr'acte

immediately precedes the resumption of the film, functioning like an overturre to the second part

United States became the film making epicenter

in the early years of the twentieth century, the histories of European and American film are intertwined, and Europe arguably produced the finest works. The ascent of American films is largely a consequence of World War I, which halted most film production in Europe. European films never regained equal commercial footing with their American counterparts.

Programmatic Music

instrumental music that tells a story, suggests an image or evokes designated moods. For example, the violin concertos of Antonio Vivaldi's Four Seasons from the early eighteenth century contain music that portrays oppressive heat, bitter cold, blistering wind, birdcalls, and a barking dog. Prog During the Romantic era, cymatic music became particularly fashionable in the nineteenth century.

Opera

is a theatrical medium centered on singing, and film music is predominantly written for instruments, not solo voices. Yet opera is considered in the Western world to be the highest form of musical theater, and a great deal of operatic music is 'well known to the general public and certainly to film composers. Operas use music to express a full range of emotions, from comedy to tragedy. Opera has also helped to confirm musical clichés that establish character, time period, and setting. Carmen is a clear example of this: when he composed the opera in 1875, Georges Bizet incorporated characteristics of "Spanish" music that have been easily understood and imitated ever since as representing this region.

Descriptive Music

is often applied to music that either depicts a general mood suggested in a text, title, and program, or mimics specific physical movements and natural sounds, such as wind, thunder, and animal noises. In our overview of forerunners to film music, we will frst look at descriptive music in general and then consider the role of descriptive music in several types of nineteenth-century theatrical entertainments,

When film music intentionally mimics the action of characters in a scene, like accenting each step of someone walking down stairs, it is considered to be ___________________________ .

mickey mousing

Film music that represents a single melodic line is considered to be a ________________.

monophonic texture

John Williams uses only two low notes to create a memorable and frightening _____________________ in the movie Jaws.

motive

In 1926, the film industry made a transition to add recorded sound to silent film. The recorded sound accompanying the film was with _________________________________________ .

music and sound effects

When hearing film music during a scene of lifeboat survivors in the middle of the ocean, it would most likely be considered _____________________ .

non- diagetic

The film The Mission is stated to have the following qualities except one listed below. Please identify which one does not belong.

non-controversial

The first sound recordings for the Kinetophone, our first example of film music, tend to be _________________________ .

popular dance tunes

John Williams utilized post-romantic music era techniques in the film scoring of Star Wars. Which of the following is not correct.

popular music

Zoopraxiscope

projecting moving images to dstinguished audiences of artists, intellectuals, and dignitaries. (For several of these presentations, the presence of musical accompaniment has been documented) The influence of Muybridge's discoveries went beyond entertainment, as scientists and artists were fascinated with capturing and re-creating motion.

With the success of The Jazz Singer, Hollywood moved to capitalize on two basic types of musical shows, the ____________________________ .

revue and operetta

Ostinato

short melodic idea repeated unchanged—suggests his obsession with the Woman from the City. As he goes to a rendezvous in the marsh, the music reverts to alternating chords played in a low register by bassoons. The Seduction theme suggests a waltz, a dance associated with love and a temptress. A degree of harshness intrudes upon the melody, especially the large opening leap, which is heard several times in succession. The plodding chords return, when the Man takes his wife out on the lake with the intent of drowning her (23:50), a mood broken only by the sound of church bells. The tolling of bells is. heard at several critical moments in the plot, suggesting an underlying religious theme.

In the film Titanic, while the ship is sinking, a small music ensemble is performing. Seemingly, this is to calm people from the fear of doom. Identify the correct selection.

string ensemble and diagetic music

The Film Industry In 1909

the commercial viability of the new art form was established. D through the next sixteen years, the fledgling industry would undergo rapid change.

Wurlitzer

the largest organ maker in the United States, began producing special instruments designed for movie theaters. Organs were already able to produce a great- er volume of sound and variety of color than any other instrument; now additional mechanical devices were created for the instrument so that musicians could produce nonmusical sound effects, such as the crow of a rooster, a car horn, or a gunshot. The complexity of these instruments is evident in the descriptions and photos of the organ at the Roxy Theatre Gee ricure 6.3), which had five keyboards, a pedal keyboard, and an array of stops (small levers on the side of the instrument) for changes of color and sounds. Used in both small and large theaters the organ was the most common type of musical accompaniment for films in the 1920's

Synchronized Sound

the music and sound effects—as in Don Juan. The underscoring, created by Louis Silvers, is an adapted score; almost all the music is borrowed from other sources. Silvers selected musical excerpts that support this sentimental tale about a talented young boy named Jackie Rabinowitz who is torn between his, career (under the name of Jack Robin) and his religion. His father is a synagogue cantor and descended from a long line of cantors, and he expects Jackie to continue the tradition. Scenes in his father's house are scored with the solemn sounds of Russian and traditional Jewish melodies. Even the orchestration, with its frequent separation of a solo instrument (often the cello) from the full orchestra creates the effect of a cantor and his congregation.

Underscoring in The Wizard of Oz

the non-diegetic music in The Wizard of Oz is substantial. Although Stothart won the Oscar for Best Original Score, most of his music is adapted from other sources, including Henry Bishop's nineteenth-century song "Home Sweet Home," Brahms's Lullaby, Schumann's Happy Farmer, and Mussorgsky' Night on Bald Mountain. Stothart also makes good use of Arlen's tunes in his score: "Over the Rainbow" reflects Dorothy's dream of a better place, and "If I Only Had a Brain/ Heart/Nerve" represents the three companions. Even the "Miss Gulch/Wicked Witch of the West" theme is derived from a song: its melodic idea was originally intended as a somewhat mocking response to the quartet singing "Off to See the Wizard" as they approached the Emerald City, but it was later removed and given to Miss Gulch.

Classical Film Score

the use of a symphony orchestra, the musical support of the drama, and unity through leitmotifs and thematic transformation

When a leitmotif is altered during recurrence, with alterations such as change of instrument, tempo, or harmony, it is called _____________________ .

thematic transformation

A melody that recurs within a film, usually with special significance to the drama, is called a _______________.

theme

Miklos Rozsa created an unusual sound element in the movie Spellbound by employing an electronic instrument called the ___________________ .

theremin

Technicolor brought bright and vivid color to film presentation. By 1933, it had developed into a superior ______________________________ .

three-color process, using red, blue, and green filters

Zoom

using the lens, the camera brings us closer or pulls us back from an image

When exotic settings are the primary setting of a film, there are important considerations for the composer and director. Which one is not referenced in the textbook?

utilize an indigenous lead actor

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

was investigating possible Hollywood links to the Communist Party. The infamous Hollywood blacklist began in 1947, those who were backlisted included, John Garfield, Charlie Chaplin, Elia Kazan, Clifford Odettes, Lionel Stander, Sam Jaffe, Lee Grant, Hanns Eisler, Sol Kaplan, and George Bassmann were blacklisted

Ludwig van Beethoven

was the dominant musical figure of the early nine- teenth century. Many of his works achieved popular status outside of concert halls along with their inherent emotional associations: the Moonlight Piano Sonata projects a melancholy mood; the first movements of the Pathétique Piano Sonata and the Symphony No. 5 generate a sense of conflict and turmoil; and the second movement of the Symphony No. 7 symbolizes both solemnity and death

Morricone scored a motet for The Mission, a sacred song set to the text "Ave Maria". The music is sung a cappella. A cappella is defined as ______________________ .

without instruments

Eadweard Muybridge toured the United States and Great Britain with a device he called a ________________________________, projecting moving images for distinguished audiences of artists, intellectuals, and dignitaries.

zoopraxiscope

Symphonic Instruments

Strings, Brass, Woodwinds, Percussion. Symphonic instruments have a standard musical color that is produced through the normal process of playing. But there are also a number of special sounds that can be created with unusual performance techniques.

Crosscutting

(One of film's classic clichés is the tension-building crosscutting between some- one in danger and someone racing to the rescue. Crosscutting can also allow for the development of multiple plot strands. Much of the plot of The Empire Strikes Back (1980) involves crosscutting between scenes of Luke Skywalker training with Yoda, Han Solo and Princess Leia avoiding the Imperial forces, and Darth Vader plotting against the heroes. All three strands eventually come together in an extended climax. A creative use of crosscutting occurs at the climax of Inception (2010), where developments in three dream levels are intermixed, Because of the flexibility cutting provides, film can incorporate flashbacks and embrace nonlinear plots much more readily than theatrical drama can.

Brass Instruments

- Trumpet - French Horns -Trombone -Tuba Brass instruments can generate great power and force. They are often heard in marches and fanfares. Movies about ancient Rome usually feature elaborate brass fanfares. At the outset of Star Wars, the trumpets play Luke Skywalker's theme, creating the effect of an opening fanfare, The return of this theme after the brief string interlude, however, is given to the French horns, creating a deep- ex, nobler, and more heroic feeling.

Woodwind Instruments

-Clarinet -Bassoon -Flute -Oboe While the strings and brass are often heard as unified families of instruments, the woodwinds are generally heard either with the entire orchestra or isolated as soloists. The colors of this family of instruments are more varied than those of the strings and brass, and composers employ solo woodwind colors for effective contrast. The oboe and clarinet are particularly expressive and can provide a sense of poignancy in film music.

Percussion Instruments

-Timpani -Snare/Bass Drums - Cymbals - Xylaphone -Piano Percussion instruments are often added to generate excitement or add color to the orchestral sound. In Seven Days in May (1964), Jerry Goldsmith cre- ates a terse musical score by limiting the music to percussion instruments, suggesting the military setting of the story. Scenes in Birdman shift from re~ alism to fantasy with the sound of drum-set riffs linked to a street musician. Also considered a percussion instrument is the piano, whose presence in the traditional symphony orchestra is less common. The piano is capable of pro- ducing many colors, as can be heard in jazz numbers (the closing credits to Big, 1988), works in concerto style (Exodus, 1960), and modern musical sounds (The Hours, 2002).

String Instruments

-Violin -Viola -Cello -String Bass - Harp The principal string instruments are usually played with a bow, which gives the sound a great deal of flexibility. Strings can play lyrical love themes or agitated combat music. Their versatility can be heard in Psycho and The Red Violin (1999). Both films employ an orchestra consisting only of strings, but the color effects are dramatically different. String instruments can also be plucked by hand. This plucking sound is also heard with the harp, a string instrument often used to suggest elegance. Because of its association with heaven, the harp is sometimes heard when someone—for example, Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi (1983)—is dying.

Mood

A movie may be funny, sad, whimsical, profound, optimistic, or dark, or possess any of countless other emotional qualities. This quality is called mood or tone. The mood of the film can run counter to its story and theme. For example, Django Unchained (2012) shows excessive violence and deals with serious is- sues of revenge and slavery. Yet, the overall mood, often supported with Tarantino's choices of music, is generally lighthearted, and the contrast creates what is called black humor. Directors have a number of tools they can employ to create specific moods. Among the most powerful are the visual elements and music. The overall mood is often suggested at the onset. When a film begins with a title and credits, mu- sic and visual elements can anticipate the general tone for the ensuing narrative. The music accompanying the opening credits of Gone with the Wind (1939), Psycho (1960), and The Graduate (1967) establishes appropriate moods for those films. In Citizen Kane (1941), the absence of music during the opening credits helps to create a sense of seriousness, which underlies the entire drama.

Period Film

A movie set in a defined historical era. term that suggests attention to details of costumes, scenery, and manners. Films such as Amadeus (1984) and Shakespeare in Love (1998) provide us with fascinating glimpses of the past. Plots are sometimes set in historical eras that underwent rapid change, thereby creating a sense of uncertainty and even chaos. Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (1957) is set during the years of disillusionment following the Crusades, and Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954) takes place during the decline of Japan's feudal system. Similarly, Kirk Douglas, portrays one of the West's last cowboys struggling to adjust to modern America in Lonely Are the Brave (1962). In all of these stories, the vision of changing traditions has a clear parallel with contemporary American life.

Theme

A musical theme is a melody that recurs within a given work, usually with special significance to the drama. Some themes, such as Elmer Bernstein's energetic theme for The Magnificent Seven (1960), have no specific meaning and represent the general spirit of a movie. Other themes are more specific and refer to various aspects of a story. The theme in Example 2.5 represents Tara, the plantation that belongs to Scarlett O'Hara. John Williams's motive from Jaws is associated with the shark. These themes are known as leitmotifs, a concept that will be explored more fully in the next chapter.

Non-Linear Plots

A plot that incorporates either logical or illogical jumps in time

Antagonist

A principle antagonist who generates conflict that sets a series of complications in motion. The interplay between these two key figures often creates the basic tension of the story, as in the classic stories of Sherlock Holmes and his arch nemesis, Professor Moriarty.

Linear Plot

A story that maintains a strict chronological timeline

Voices

A wide variety of colors can be achieved with human voices. Among the factors contributing to vocal color are voice types (male or female; soprano, alto, tenor, or bass), how many singers are heard (a soloist or a chorus), what text is being sung, and what performance style is used. In considering performance style, think of the vast difference in vocal color between a performer of Italian opera and a performer of Beijing opera, or the difference between the voices of Celine Dion and Tom Waits. There are many memorable uses of voices in film music, including the strong male chorus in Sergei Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky (1938), the demonic full choir in John Williams's The Phantom Menace (1999), and the haunting song "Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2002).

Chord

An important harmonic term is chord, which denotes the sound of three or more pitches at any given moment in a musical work.

Synthesizer

Another early pioneer in electronic sounds was Wendy Carlos, who abandoned the electronic studio in favor of the synthesizer. After establishing the popular appeal of the instrument with the album Switched-On Bach, Carlos used the synthesizer in the score to Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971). Since that time, the synthesizer has greatly transformed the sound of film scores. Vangelis won an Oscar for his synthesized score to Chariots of Fire (1981), in which he used the synthesizer to reproduce the sounds of traditional instruments. But the synthesizer can also create new sounds such as those heard in Vangelis's Blade Runner (1982). In combination with computers, the synthesizer remains a valuable tool for its ability not only to replace acoustic instruments, but also to create new musical sounds

Subjective POV

At times, the cinematographer may let us see through the eyes of one of the characters. In Jaws (1975), we see dangling legs from the underwater perspective of the shark. In Birdman, the audience frequently sees through the eyes of the protagonist, whose imagination in- cludes a street drummer backstage in a Broadway theater. In most instances, subjective POV is used only briefly, allowing the audience to know what a character observes, such as a written note or a critical detail.

Key

Both passages and entire compositions with a tonal area are referred to as being in a key, such as Mozart's Symphony in the key of G minor or, more simply, Mozart's Symphony in G Minor.

Cinematography

Film shares a number of characteristics with both photography and painting. Like the photographers, cinematographers need to consider the shot's composition, the camera's proximity to the subject, and the camera angle, lighting, and lenses. Unlike their counterparts, cinematographers also need to deal with movement, both of the subject and of the camera. The following are some of the more common terms for movements of the camera.

Half Steps

In Western music, the octave is divided into twelve equal intervals called half steps. From these twelve pitches, two seven-note scales have been created, using a combination of whole and half steps. These scales are commonly referred to as major and minor.

Point of View

In cinematography, point of view (abbreviated as POV) refers to the perspective of the camera eye.

Flashbacks

Interruptions in the chronological flow of the story, often bringing new insights to the current situation by showing events from the past.

Fugue

Is characterized by extended passages of imitative counterpoint.

Character

In its most general sense, a character is simply someone in a story. We admire some characters for being ideal heroes like James Bond, but we are also attracted to other characters that are more like ourselves or people we know. Among the techniques that contribute to characterization in film are the character's actions, physical appearance, and language; the camera technique; and, of course, the music.

Chromatic

In music written since the early twentieth century, it is not uncommon to abandon these two seven-note scales and employ melodies and harmonies using all twelve pitches found in the octave. Such harmonic treatment is called chromatic

Gone With The Wind Disjunct Motion

In the title theme for Gone with the Wind (CxamLe 25), the first phrase contains four two-measure motives. The motives have a similar shape; each begins with a wide leap upwards (disjunct motion) followed by a descent. The use of motives has two purposes. First, it helps make the tune more memorable, and second, the motive can be isolated and developed on its own. Listen to a recording of this theme. After the initial statement of the melody, there is a contrasting section in which you can hear that the motive continues to play a prominent role, building tension as we wait for the expected return of the main theme.

Harmony

Is the element of music that is created when two or more pitches sound at the same time. Harmony is an essential aspect of Western music (after 1400 Cz), but it is unusual in music from non-Western cultures.

Shot and Cut

Is the length of film from when the camera begins rolling until it stops, and the precise moment when one shot ends and another begins is called a cut.

Orchestration

Many composers initially write their music at the piano and then assign the various musical ideas to voices and instruments, a task that is called orchestration.

Tuneful or Lyrical Melodies

Melodies composed for instruments can have a greater range and variety of contours. Instruments are capable of the large ranges and wide leaps necessary for disjointed melodies, as in the Star Wars theme (Example 2.4). Some instruments can also play an endless string of notes without breathing, creating melodies that lack clear phrase structures. Instruments are versatile enough to play melodies in a vocal style as well, with limited ranges, conjunct motion, and regularly recurring phrases, as with the Hobbit theme

Beats

Musical time may have a floating, unmeasured character, or it may be structured on a series of recur- ting pulses called beats

Omniscient POV

Often, narrative films are shot in this POV. Often set at a distance from the action, the camera moves at the will of the director. Through this relatively objective point of view, we are allowed to see the action as an observer, and hence often know more about a situation—the identity of the antagonist, what is around the corner—than do the principal characters.

Pitch

Pitch is the term for how high or low a musical note is.

Episodal Plot

Rather than moving through a series of complications, an episodic plot presents a succession of events that do not build directly from one to the next. These episodes often function as brief subplots, and their ordering is, seemingly random. An example of an episodic plot is Apocalypse Now (1979), adapted from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. The beginning and end of this film are clearly connected, but Captain Willard's river journey during the middle of the film contains numerous unrelated episodes. Changing the order of these events would not impact the plot as a whole, which is a clear indication of an episodic story. Narratives involving travel—Don Quixote, Gulliver's Travels, Huckleberry Finn—frequently have an episodic structure.

Setting

Refers to both the location and the time frame in which a story takes place, can have an important influence on a narrative. The settings in small towns and suburbia in films such as the Twilight series (2008-2012), Fargo (1994), and American Beauty (1999) contribute to the mood and impact of these diverse stories. In movies such as Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Birdman (2014), and Do the Right Thing (1989), the sights and sounds of city life are es- sential to the unfolding dramas. By way of contrast, the vastness of outer space and uninhabited planets provide stark contrasts for the heroic efforts to survive in Interstellar (2014).

Rhythm

Rhythm is the element of music dealing with time. Musical time may have a floating, unmeasured character, or it may be structured on a series of recur- ting pulses called beats. Floating, unstructured rhythm is more common in non-Western musical cultures, but it can be found in Gregorian chant and occasionally in later Western music. The playing and sustaining of a single low pitch when a character enters a room is a cliché suggesting danger. In quite a different circumstance, the long sustained pitches in Interstellar (2014) suggest the vastness of space and the length of their travel.

This term refers to both the location and the time frame in which a story takes place.

Setting

Dissonance

Some chords sound beautiful and restful to the ear, while others are harsh of a chord clash with each other. The resultant sound is especially effective for dramatic moments. When looking at PSYCHO's score, the lower three notes of the chords create a traditional harmony. But the top note clashes with the bottom one, and the resultant dissonance establishes the dark mood of the story about a disturbed psychological state.

Orchestrator

Someone who specializes in orchestration, an orchestrator, can provide valuable assistance to a composer by suggesting possible instrumental combinations for a given passage and by completing the time-consuming job of writing out individual orchestral parts.

Epics

Tend to have a long string of complications that lead to a number of climaxes while conveying a larger story of a person's life or a major event. Another common variation of the standard structure is the omission of the resolution. A chilling effect can be created by abruptly ending at the climax, leaving the audience in shocked disbelief, as in the final moments of Bonnie and Clyde (1967).

Clef Sign

The first symbol on the staff. This symbol designates pitches on the staff and tells us whether the basic range is high or low

Pan shot

The horizontal movement of the camera around a fixed axis

Theme

The central idea underlying a given story. If the plot gives us the basic actions of a story, then the theme provides us with its intellectual meaning. The most highly regarded films tend to deal with serious issues, such as religion, patriotism, and morality. Underneath the hilarious physical comedy of City Lights (2931) are the poignant themes of selflessness and the beauty of love. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) teaches us about prejudice with a dual story of racism and fear of someone who is different. Among more recent movies, WALL-E (2008), Avatar, and Interstellar (2014) all have strong messages about the future of our planet without serious environmental controls, although their surface content is radically different.

Closed Cadences

The endings that seem to be incomplete, similar to commas. Those that are clear and complete, like periods and exclamation points, are closed cadences.

Montage

The exact definition of this term varies, but for our purposes montage refers to a section of film comprising a number of brief shots edited together in order to show a series of events in a condensed manner. The juxtaposition of these multiple images emphasizes their relationship, both similarities and differences. Montage is an effective device forshowing travel, the passing of time, and the frenetic chaos of battle. Frequently a montage is accompanied by music.

Staff

The musical staff has, five horizontal lines. The higher a note appears on the staff, the higher the pitch.

Measure

The other helpful technique for following written notation is to count beats. A single vertical line appears at regular intervals on the musical staff; it defines a basic temporal unit called a measure (or bar).

Contrapuntal or Counterpoint

The presence of two or more equal melodies is called a contrapuntal texture or simply counterpoint.

Monophonic Texture

The presentation of a single melodic line without any other musical material is called a monophonic texture. This texture is not common in film music. It is, heard mostly as a brief contrast, often used for dramatic effect. A single wood- wind instrument slowly playing the principal theme from ET. the Extra Terrestrial suggests childlike simplicity. In The Empire Strikes Back, a sense of fear and power is created when the Darth Vader theme is suddenly intoned in unison by the full symphony orchestra. A monophonic texture can also be used to suggest the distant past~for example, the singing of Gregorian chant to suggest the Middle Ages—or non-Western areas of the world, where monophonic textures are more common.

Protagonist

The principal character. It is primarily through his or her eyes and experiences that we follow a story.

Editing

The shots created during production are joined together.

Tempo

The speed of the beats. A fast tempo generates excitement and can suggest conflict, while a slow tempo indicates calm and might accompany a love scene. For Inception (2010), composer Hans Zimmer uses music with different tempos at the same time to suggest the simultaneous levels of action within the various dream states.

Syncopation

The strongest beat is heard as the first of the group. For the most part, melodic material supports the established meter. But it can also contradict the given pulse by creating accents on weak beats or between beats. This rhythmic effect is called syncopation. In American popular music, the placement of notes Just before or after a pulse creates a rhythmic conflict that generates a fresh, energetic character.

Music's 5 basic elements

Three of these elements deal with the organization of pitch—melody, texture, and harmony. The remaining two elements—rhythm and timbre—deal with the properties of duration and color.

Mis-en-scene

This term encompasses aspects such as lighting, costumes, and décor, the relationship of these elements to each other, and how they are photographed. For the casual moviegoer, visual elements may be secondary to the story, and indeed, they are often intended to be unobtrusive. But visual elements have an enormous psychological impact on the viewer and can play a critical role in the presentation of the plot, the development of the characters, and the perception of the theme. Like the photographers.

Tonic

Through this process we identify the central pitch of a passage of music known as the tonic. Most of the melodies that you know come to a satisfactory ending on a tonic pitch. Harmonically, the tonic is defined with a relatively mild dissonant chord called the dominant- seventh that resolves to a tonic chord. This is the basis for most older classical music and in jazz and rock as well. To Western ears, it just sounds normal.

Functional Harmony

Traditional Western harmony, what is often called functional harmony, depends on dissonances and their resolution. The movement from dissonance to consonance suggests conflict and resolution.

Tonal

We call music with a central pitch tonal

Triad

When a chord has three pitches

Disjunct

When a melody contains a significant number of large intervals

Narrative Film

When a movie tells a story

Texture

When listening to melodies in film music, we usually hear a musical accompaniment in the background, subordinate to the principal tune. But there are also moments when we can hear a melody without any other musical sounds, and passages in which two or more equal melodies are played. The relationship of a melodic line to other musical material in a given passage is, called texture.

Pizzicato

When string instruments are plucked by the finger

Imitation or Imitative Counterpoint

When the melodies are similar to each other, such as "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," the texture is called imitative counterpoint, often abbreviated as imitation. Most often imitative counterpoint is encountered when two or more musical instruments alternate playing a brief musical motive. Though contrapuntal settings of longer themes are unusual in film music, they can be dramatically effective, as in the scene from Jaws when the boat follows the shark: the imitative counterpoint suggests a chase.

Crane shot

a camera on a crane allows for vertical and some horizontal movement

Tracking shot

a camera on a dolly or truck moves horizontally with the action

Conjunct

a melody that moves primarily in small intervals

Motive

a small melodic idea that can serve as part of a larger melody or stand on its own

Melody

a succession of pitches that is heard as a unit. The term sometimes suggests that the unit is easily recognized and somewhat memorable, in which case one can also use the word tune. The shape or contour of a melody contributes greatly to its nature and impact on the listener.

Many plots involve a principal adversary, who generates a conflict that sets a series of complications in motion. This character is known as the _____________.

antagonist

A subjective POV let's the audience see through the eyes of one of the ____________________ .

characters

Causal Plot

contains four principle sections: 1. Exposition: the background information necessary for the story to unfold. 2. Complications: a series of events stemming from a conflict, each complication leads to to the next, generally building in dramatic intensity. 3. Climax: the moment of greatest tension, when the complications come to a head 4. Resolution (or denouement): the end of the story, in which the complications are resolved, and the loose ends are tied together *Examples include Star Wars and The Godfather

The four principal sections of a causal plot contain:

exposition, complications, climax and resolution.

Bass Clef

indicates a low range

Tie

indicates that these two pitches will be heard as one note.

A story that maintains a strict chronological timeline is said to have a ____________ .

linear plot

When a movie relates a story, it is considered to be a ________________ .

narrative film

Elements of Film

narrative, cinematography, sound, mise-en-scene, and editing

Elements of Drama

plot, character, setting, theme, and mood.

A film is given its final shape through the editing process and the addition of sound effects and music. This is called ________________________ .

postproduction

Range

range (the distance between the highest and lowest note of a melody),

Phrases

rests in melodies

A period film can be defined as ____________________________ .

set in a defined historical era

Time Signature

tells us how many beats there are in a measure (the top number) and what type of note receives a beat (the bottom number). Knowing how many beats there are ina measure and counting along with the music are useful tools in keeping your place, especially when the music moves quickly.

Dutch angle

the camera is tilted so that the image is seen at an angle

Octave

the distance between a pitch and its repetition in a higher or lower range. In Western music, the octave is divided into twelve equal intervals called half steps. From these twelve pitches, two seven-note scales have been created, using a combination of whole and half steps. These scales are commonly referred to as major and minor.

Intervals

the distance between one pitch and the next

Tune

the melody that is easily recognized and somewhat memorable

Plot

the structure of a story. The plot provides the basic framework for the drama and for the temporal unfolding of the artwork. Two basic plot structures are commonly encountered in Western fiction—causal and episodic.

Tilt shot

the vertical movement of a camera around a fixed axis

Treble Clef

treble clef, which indicates a high range,