Music Film & TV Lecture Notes PDF

Music Fim and TV Diegetic Music Diegetic Music - music can be heard, played, or manipulated by the characters. ➤ Examples - The character might turn on a radio in the car. Or go to a club where music is playing. ➤ The cantina scene in the original Star Wars is an example of diegetic music As seen...

Music Fim and TV Diegetic Music Diegetic Music - music can be heard, played, or manipulated by the characters. ➤ Examples - The character might turn on a radio in the car. Or go to a club where music is playing. ➤ The cantina scene in the original Star Wars is an example of diegetic music As seen in the clip above, the music is dictated by the storyline (Marty being on stage with a band), and the characters react to it. The music is from within the world of the story—and has the potential to change that world as well Non- Diegetic ➤ For a piece of music to be non-diegetic, it has to exist separately from the characters. The music exists solely for the audience and is typically used to influence their emotional reaction to a scene. ➤ underscore accompaniment music commentary music interpolated music and perhaps most commonly, background music ➤ Most film music is non-diegetic music, one of the most familiar instances being the music for the shower scene in Psycho Back To Future NON-Diegetic More prominent part of films in the genres of action and fantasy, where the suspension of our disbelief is especially crucial. Hence the lavish scores of such film series as Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. The Golden Age of Hollywood The Golden Age 1930’s-1950’s 1.) Unique period in the history of film- exploding with creativity. 2.) The music matched the artistry of the films themselves. 3.) Composers primarily came from backgrounds of concert music 4.) Almost exclusively write orchestral pieces Max Steiner Regarded as “The Father of Film Music” 1.) Extensive use of leitmotif in his 1933 score for King Kong 2.) Created by German operatic composer Richard Wagner 3.) Leitmotif is a technique where specific instruments or musical themes are assigned to individual characters or events 4.) In future decades the use of the leitmotif has become standard in film music Erich Korn Gold An Australian-born composer Credits include 1.) The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) 2.) The Sea Hawk (1940) 3.) Greatly influenced John Williams's work of Star Wars in (1977) Alfred Newman Newman Composes over 250 films 1.) Including “Mask of Zorro” 2.) Served as the director of music at RKO Studios (Radio Kieth Orphheum) 3.) He’s the father of composers -Thomas Newman (American Beauty) -David Newman (Ice Age) -The Uncle of singer-songwriter Randy Newman (Toy Story) Bennard Herman Best known for his longtime collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock especially in his iconic work on “Psycho”(1960) 1.) In later years Herman worked with New Hollywood directors such as Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver) Brian De Palma (Sisters) 1950’s Film Music Lecture A Street Car Named Desire 1.) Composer Alex North 1951 2.) Features Hybrid symphonic jazz score 3.) A major step forward for film, and music, moving Hollywood film scoring away from its prior exclusively Europen Sound 1952- High Noon 1.) Features the song “Oh My Darling” 2.) Following the success of “Oh My Darling” studios begin asking composers to write original songs for their films 3.) Both for promotional purposes via radio play and –later on – for revenue in the form of soundtrack albums. Elevator to the Gallows Miles Davis's contribution to the French noir film is notable for a few reasons: 1.) Jazz score in its purest form, having been scored with a trio of musicians improvising to the screen 2.) Whether or not you have seen the film you are very likely to associate jazz or the trumpet with film “Noir”, and this film is a big reason why 3.) Lastly, Miles Davis's work on Gallows makes him one of the earliest African American film composers paving the way for later artists like -Quincy Jones - Herbie Hancock -Terence Blanchard To follow his footsteps 1960’s Film Music Lecture Considered Classic Western Scores 1.) Elmer Berstien’s score for the Magnificent Seven (1960) 2.) Ennio Morricone’s work on Sergio Leone’s Dollar Trilogy (1964-1966) - A fist full of Dollars - For a Few dollars more - The Good, The Bad and the Ugly These Two Composers do their part to keep Jazz Relevant in Film and TV 1.) Henry Mancini- The Pink Panther Film Series (1963-) 2.) Lalo Schrifrin - CBS’s Mission Impossible (1966-1973) John Barry Defines the sound of spy films with his symphonic-jazz hybrid scoring of the popular James Bond Film Franchise. Lawrence of Arabia Music by Maurice Jarre 1.) The lush score creates the template for all future desert soundtracks 2.) By fusing exotic Middle Eastern scales with sleeping string melodies. The Graduate 1.) The soundtrack was created almost entirely by licensing songs that had nothing to do with the film itself 2.) The Film’s only original song Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” was a number-one hit 3.) This practice has continued influencing Hollywood's film music approach for decades. 4.) The income opportunity of soundtrack sales in combination with the fact that it’s cheaper (at the time) to score a film with songs makes this method a highly attractive strategy for studios 1970’s Film Music Lecture Synths and John Williams Two concurrent, divergent directions 1.) Incorporating synthesizers 2.) Return to classic scoring Dark Star Director/Composer John Carpenter 1.) Synthesizer score introduced a brand new vocabulary or computerized arpeggios and other technology 2.) Past soundtracks required an ensemble of instrumentalists to perform the music 3.) A single individual can program an entire synth score Star Wars- John Williams With his movie score, he single-handedly revives the sound of the golden age of Hollywood 1.) The film’s soundtrack becomes one of the highest-selling non-profit organizations 1980’s Film Music lecture More synths more fun Flash Dance (1983) Foot Loose (1984) Elsewhere, orchestral scores play second fiddle, to the original songs featured like “Ghost Busters” Ray Parker Jr “Back to the Future” Huey Lewis John Williams Continues the Golden Age Tradition with the scores for Superman (1978) ET (1982) Indiana Jones (1981- 1989) The 1980’s sees synthesizer heavy scores because of the leaps in digital technology especially sampling and computer based sampling Escape from New York (John Carpenter 1981) The Terminator (Brad Fidel 1984) Blade Runner (Vanglis 1982) Tron (1982 Wendy, Carlos) Jerry Goldsmith -Star Trek film series (1979 Onward) Explores the possibilities of fusing orchestral sound with electronic Danny Elfman Begins his decades long collaboration with director Tim Burton on Pee Wee’s Big Adventure Batman Simpsons Hans Zimmer 1.) Makes his mark on the sound of Hollywood Films with score of Ridley Scott’s Black Rain which soon becomes a popular temp track for action cinema. 2.) Zimmer continues to be influential thanks to his extensive and innovative use of technology and hyper collaborative approach to music production 1990’s Music Lecture As film scoring has grown into a distinct art from movies, it has continued to incorporate almost every genre of music imaginable. 1.) Symphonic scores remain popular many projects bypass orchestral music together. 2.) The proliferation of synthesizers in the 1980s and later digital audio workstations and virtual instruments in the 1990s and 2000s has lowered the barrier to entry for aspiring film composers. 3.) Capturing a previous time period with music and instruments for this era. 4.) Musicians from non-symphonic backgrounds continue to successfully make their own marking film industry including Rock Stars like - “Nine Inch Nails” Trent Reznor - “Radiohead” Jonny Greenwood Wendy Melvoin & Lisa Colman Are an Emmy Award-winning musical composing duo based in Los Angeles 1.) They both started their careers in one of the most successful rock bands of the 80s Prince & the Revolution. 2.) They continued to work as a duo and released five original albums as well as pursuing a career path in scoring feature films and television. 3.) Since 1955 box office hit Dangerous Minds, Wendy & Lisa have set a sucessful track record scoring films such as “Soul Food”, and “Something New”. 4.) TV series “ Crossing Jordan”, “Nurse Jackie”, “Mercy”, and the Emmy-nominated NBC Series “Heroes”, “Touch”, “No Tomorrow”, and “Shades of Blue” Mica Levi 1.) Article from 2017 2.) Talks about her film score for “Jackie” 3.) At the time, it was going up against “La La Land” for the best original score at the Academy Awards. 4.) Mentions her first score “Under the Skin” 5.) First woman nominee in 16 years and only the 5th in history 6.) Studied at Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London -Never finished -Went on the road with a pop experimental band Miriam Cutler Cutler is a Los Angeles-based film composer, scoring and performing music for over 20 years. 1.) She began her musical career as a songwriter and a clarinet player 2.) Due to her love of Jazz, she has co-produced albums by the likes of Joe Williams, Nina Simone, Marlena Shaw, and Shirley Horn. 3.) Known for her work on Love Gilda. RGB and Dark Money.