Transcript Music in film Lesson

Screen Language
Introduction to Film Music
&
American Graffiti (dir. Lucas, 1973)
Tempo
Volume
Instrumentation
Connotations?
Hitchcock, who had originally planned to
play the shower sequence without
accompaniment, later admitted that '33 per
cent of the effect of Psycho was due to the
music', and doubled the composer's salary as
a reward. Herrmann studiously matched the
black and white visuals of Hitch's
masterpiece by draining the 'colour' from his
orchestrations, stripping away all but the
stringed instruments to create a
monochrome wall of aural unease.
Connotations?
Connotations?
Connotations?
Connotations?
Remember!
No set effect for instrumentation;
context is everything!
Music to provide information to the
audience...
●
Generic locator
Historical
Geographical
Character information
‘People talking without speaking/ People hearing without listening’
Teen Films:
Stereotypes
Settings
Teen issues
Themes
George Lucas: His second feature, belonged
to a new wave of directors labelled ‘New
Hollywood’.
Film was a homage to his teenage memories.
Coppola was the film’s producer
Studios said not about anything, no story,
too much music! Struggled for 2 years to get
it made. V. Difficult.
Music is used to define the emotions,
dreams and frustrations of the group
1962 The film was set before the beatles,
before the Kennedy assassination and before
an unsettling time in US. An age of
innocence...about to be lost both in the
Music is so crucial in depicting the time and
characters and in America at the time.
place.
Vietnam
Narrative structure: Vignettes over 1 period
of time.
Links
http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2014/jun/04/clip-joint-what-a-wonderfulworld
http://filmsound.org/terminology.htm
http://www.timeout.com/newyork/film/the-50-best-uses-of-songs-in-movies
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/mar/18/features.musicmonthly14