“Music best enhances a film by focusing emotion. It can enhance in other more mechanical ways such as setting pace or creating tension but it is the emotional quality of music which best enhances a film. Music can reach an audience emotionally beyond the ability of picture and sound.” John McNaughton (Film and television director)
In this essay I will be discussing the importance and role music plays in a film. A precursor to films and film music there were operas, this essay will discuss the influence of Wagner’s operas and leitmotifs as well as exploring the introduction of programme music during the nineteenth century and the musical intentions that the composers had during that time and how it has influenced film music of today. It will
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He developed Leitmotiv. Leitmotiven were used to create a ‘technical and stylistic fluidity’ (Umich.edu, 2015). Leitmotiven are used for characterisation it is also used to follow characters, ideas and represent objects. A character is given a particular musical passage or theme which was easily recognisable by the audience. Whenever the character is introduced on stage this passage or theme is played, it gives the character an identity. Prokofiev used this technique in many of his works such as ‘Peter and the Wolf’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’. ’Prokofiev made extensive use of “leitmotif”: expressing the dramatic developments of characters and relationships through symphonic developments of associated musical ideas’ (Musicweb-international.com, 2015). In ‘Peter and the wolf’, Prokofiev gives each character a particular instrument. For example, Peter’s theme is played by a violin and the wolf’s theme is played by French Horns. “The leitmotif has long been a standard technique of how film music is used and was especially popular in the era of classical Hollywood films in the 1930s and 40s with composers like Erich Korngold and Max Steiner.” (Junkie, 2012). Erich Korngold uses this technique in his composition for the movie ‘The Adventures of Robin Hood’. The composers of Disney’s ‘Lion King’ and ‘The Great Mouse Detective’ also incorporated this technique into the film score. Here we can see that this technique is …show more content…
They were called Silent Films. Some of the most famous silent films are; Metropolis (1927) and The General (1926). Music was always, from the beginning, essential although it was only added to film after a couple of years. The silent films were often accompanied by the piano, guitar small ensemble or organ. It depended of the size of the theatre or hall being used. The music used for the early silent films were often improvised or the musician(s) classical pieces of the time that worked well with the film. Organists were used even more so than pianists. Some organs were capable of creating unusual sound effects that intensified the effects of film. An example of an unusual sound effect that would have been used is a “galloping horses” which could be used in a dramatic horse pursuit. Some countries like Brazil filmed operas and would have singers perform behind the screen. The very first piece of ‘original’ film music was written by Camille Saint-Saëns, the French composer in 1908 for the film L’Assistant du Duc de Guise (The Assassination of the Duke of Guise). He was asked especially to compose this score. Each part of the score was “carefully cued for the film” (Manvell and Huntley, 1975:22). There was always the argument of whether “Music was to be either a true part of the performance, or merely a polite embellishment to fill the embarrassing vacuum of the silence relieved only by the
The Proposal had music that fit the scenes really well. When people where talking there was subtle instrumental music in the back ground. When the actors where not talking the music was louder with words to fill in the silence quite nicely. The Blind Side had a great mix of music. There was dramatic music to fit the dramatic scenes.
On reading the excerpts from William Axt (Dan Juan) who was the Jazz singer and when I compile it with the score of Louis Silvers also the Jazz singer, I found it to be effective. They both used the technique of the silent movie and these came out effective to the listeners and viewers of their movie. Don Juan on one side composed a silent movie where the records were music score and sound effects. On the other side, Louis Silvers the Jazz singer made a long movie by the use of the Vitaphone. It was primarily silent with several minutes of synchronized sound.
The landmark motion picture The Jazz Singer (1927) was immensely popular because it, as a sound film, ushered in the talking motion picture. As the arts began to highlight new forms and statements previously used in media, they began to diminish the importance of following traditions in society and the invention of sound in movies is just one example of how the 1920s impacted an entire
Tim Burton applies sounds like dark music and sound effects to add reality to the film and to create a type of mood. For example in the introduction of the movie Edward Scissorhands the director Tim Burton incorporates suspenseful music to cause interest and suspense to the viewer. The director adds suspenseful music to draw in the viewer and keep them on the edge of their seats. In the scene where the characters are having a welcoming party for Edward you could hear the sizzling of the meat on the grill, the clacking of glass plates and cups, the chatter on the characters talking, and the sounds of Edward's scissor hands giving the characters haircuts. Tim Burton added this to give the viewer more understanding of the environment and to show
Tim Burton uses music to express the mood of the movie. It helps convey the way you feel in it. Burton uses both diegetic and non-diegetic to set the tone of a scene in a movie. In Edward Scissorhands, non-diegetic sound is used when Peg goes up the stairs of Edward’s castle. The music was dramatic and sinister.
When the inventor died in Edward Scissorhands there was music that projected a sad mood. This helps the audience connect with the movie more and intrigues the audience more. As Edward and Kim were talking there was angelic, happy music that becomes louder as Edward and Kim hug. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, when Charlie finds the money on the ground, Burton uses happy music to project an exciting and magical feeling to the audience. In Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Edward Scissorhands Burton uses camera movements, camera angles, and non-diegetic music to set a certain mood that the audience should feel.
This documentary informs its viewers about what America did, or rather did not do, concerning the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust. The documentary charges America with not doing anything when having multiple chances to help the Jews escape the horrors that they were going to face by the Nazis. Those involved in making the documentary are the ones that are making the charges against America, along with the many people used in the documentary are resources of what America was doing concerning the Jews. This documentary uses many effective strategies and devices to show the audience that the charges against America are in fact true.
Cinema: At the beginning of the decade, films were silent and colorless. In 1922, the first all-color film, The Toll of the Sea, was released. In 1926, Warner Bros. released Don Juan, the first film with sound effects and music. In 1927, The Jazz Singer, the first sound film to include limited talking sequences was released.
Thomas Edison was one of many inventors that tried to add music and speech to films. The year 1927 marked the end of silent film. Engineers at Western Electric came up with the vitaphone, with the backing of Warner Bros. Studio. Soon subtitles were replaced with sound. Movies advanced one way by adding a multiperson camera and lighting crew in 1927.
Tim Burton’s films utilize music to enrich the viewing experience of all of his films. In the introduction of the movie Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton
Throughout the film, Welles uses unusual arrangements of music that creates suspense for the audience. The main thesis of this scene is the myth
The final film technique Tim Burton uses is sounds he uses. The most popular type of sound techniques is the non-diegetic sounds. In the 1989 Batman film, Tim Burton uses a ton of non-diegetic music. In multiple scenes in the movie, often combat scenes, there is dramatic music playing in the background to enhance the tension in the audience. During the scene in Charlie and the chocolate Factory when Charlie won the last golden ticket and he was running home there was non-diegetic happy and exciting music playing in the background.
Baz Luhrmann is widely acknowledged for his Red Curtain Trilogy which are films aimed at heightening an artificial nature and for engaging the audience. Through an examination of the films Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge and The Great Gatsby, the evolution and adaptation of his techniques become evident. Luhrmann’s belief in a ‘theatrical cinema’ can be observed to varying degrees through the three films and his choice to employ cinematic techniques such as self-reflexivity, pastiche and hyperbolic hyperbole. The cinematic technique of self-reflexivity allows a film to draw attention to itself as ‘not about naturalism’ and asks the audience to suspend their disbelief and believe in the fictional construct of the film.
To help explain this analysis I am using the animated movie Wall-E made in 2008 by Ben Burtt as a case study . Ben Burtt is known as “The Father of Modern Sound” (Ciccarellli, 2009) because of his
The piece comprise of many musical instrument particularly string, brass, and woodwinds. The composer also use repetition in composing as the first part is repeated at the end of the piece, but with more sophisticated dynamics and timbre. In my opinion, the piece by Richard Wagner is a very good example for the topic of Basic Musical Concept that introduce many essential parts like referential listeners and structure of