Music in Film Chapter 16 What you will learn

 Describe the origins and development of music in the art of film  Identify three ways in which music enhances the dramatic action in a film  Explain how music gives continuity to a film  Describe the process that is used to match music and sound to film Vocabulary

 Scoring  Music director  Soundtrack  Spot  Character themes  Click-track  Empathy  Mag track  Foreshadow  Dubbing  Cue The History of Film

 The beginnings Thomas Alva Edison is credited with developing movie Kinetoscope invented in 1899 is the forerunner to the present day movie camera The birth of filmmaking Early movies had little plot Focus was on the technology Later films told stories Voyage to the Moon (1902) The Great Train Robbery (1903) Music in Silent Films

 Early movies were accompanied by live improvised music and sound effects  Performers had to watch the screen and make the music match the action  1924 - Enro Rapee, a composer of silent film scores, published Motion Picture Moods for Pianists and Organists  Birth of a Nation (1915) by D.W. Griffith was the first film to use a live as accompaniment  Soon the replaced the piano  By the 1920’s the orchestra grew to nearly 100 musicians  Scoring:  Composing music expressly for a film Activity 1, p. 364 CD 10:11

 Hurry No. 2 What makes this music appropriate for a firefighting scene? What evidence can be seen in the music that creates the sense of urgency the composer intends? What other film scenes could this music accompany? The “Talkies”  Edison and others worked to synchronize sound with action  The Jazz Singer (1927) – first talking film, featuring Al Jolson  The Vitaphone solved the problem of synchronization but was difficult to run  Soundtrack:  Perforated strip along the film’s edge containing coded representations of the sound Music in Modern Film

 Musical film – musical is central to the story  Saturday Night Fever (1977)  The story of aspiring disco dancers  Songs were original disco tunes and many went on to become hits  Amadeus (1984)  Tells of the rivalry between Salieri and Mozart  Features classical works as part of the plot and action  Music establishes clearly the feeling of what the story is about  Activity 2, p. 366 CD 10:12-14 Music Enhances Drama

John Williams  How music enhances film drama  Establishing character Character themes: Melodies associated with a particular character that recur throughout the film The Untouchables – has a sinister underworld theme of Al Capone by composer Ennio Morricone The music usually exhibits a style or melody form that overtly suggests traits of the character in question Superman (1978) – Superman’s theme is majestic  (1998) John Corigliano “Anna’s Theme” played by

John Corigliano Activity 3, p. 368 CD 10:15 & 16

 “Superman Theme” – John Williams  “Anna’s Theme” – John Corigliano  Listen to the theme from Superman. Write down qualities of the melody, rhythm, and orchestration that convey the idea of the superhero.  Listen to “Anna’s Theme” and follow the instructions from above.  Compare “Anna’s theme with Superman’s. What are the differences that allow each theme to connect powerfully with the character it helps portray?  What similarities can you identify?