Film Music Exam 1

Richard Wagner

19th-century German opera composer whose revolutionary idea, GESAMTKUNSTWERK, redefined the beginnings of film: the unification of music, drama, and art

Leitmotifs

Wagner's musical themes, ___, represented various characters and aspects of the story (music drama)

Plot Character Setting Theme Mood

What are the five elements of drama and film?

Plot

The structure of a story, providing the basic framework for the drama

Casual, Episodic

Two basic plot structures exist: ____ and _____

Exposition Complications Climax Resolution

What are the four elements of casual plot?

Exposition

The background of the story

Complications

A series of events stemming from conflict and building in intensity for scenes

Climax

The moment of greatest tension

Resolution

The end of the story, where complications/loose ends are resolved

Flashbacks

_____ may occur in a film to bring new insights to the current story being told

Linear

If the story maintains a strict chronological timeline, it's _____

Protagonist

The principal character in a story is known as the

Antagonist

The principal adversary to the protagonist is the , who usually sets conflicts or complications into motion

C

Which of the following is NOT an example of a protagonist?

A. Frodo

B. Indiana Jones

C. Gollum

D. Luke Skywalker

B

Which of the following is NOT an example of an antagonist?

A. Norman Bates

B. E.T.

C. Miss Gulch

D. Darth Sidious

Setting

The location and time frame where the story takes place

Suburban

Some settings are ___, reflecting American life

Ex. American Beauty (1999), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and Halloween (1978)

Period Films

_________ utilize the elements of a defined historical era, with specific detail to costumes and scenery

Ex. Amadeus (1984), The Age of Innocence (1993), Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Theme

The central idea underlying the story

Propaganda

Other films' themes can be too obvious and obtrusive, and dismissed as ___

Religion, patriotism, morality

Many of the greatest films in history tend to deal with serious social and cultural issues, including _______, _______, and _______

Ex. To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) and Apocalypse Now (1979)

Mood

The quality of film - it may be funny, sad, whimsical, profound, optimistic, dark, or rebellious

Nonfiction and Narrative

What are the two types of films?

Nonfiction

Depicting the documentary, propaganda, factual, and instructional categories

Narrative

Presents stories, and most are considered fiction

Genres

Narrative films are based on ______, categories based on similar stories and other conventions

Action/adventure

Animation

Common categories include:

Comedy, Drama, Horror, Musical, Mystery, Romance, Science Fiction, Western

What are the 8 film genres? (in alphabetical order)

Cinematographer

Takes moving pictures, and his art is coined into cinematography

Point of View

The perspective of the camera eye

Omniscient Point of View

A narrative film is shot, often set at a distance from the action, and the camera moves at the will of the director

Subjective Point of View

The cinematographer lets us see through the eyes of one of the characters

Film Editing

The film is given its final shape, where the shots created during production are joined together

Cut

When one shot ends and another begins

Melody

The tune of a composition; a succession of pitches heard as a unit

Disjunct, conjunct

Melodies can be ____ or ____

Disjunct

Moving in large intervals

Conjunct

Moving in small intervals

Phrases

A succession of notes containing a musical idea, coming to rest at points of cadences

Motive

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

Ex. John Williams' Jaws theme - two low notes to represent the terrorizing shark

Texture

Relationship of a melodic line to other musical material in a passage

Homophonic, monophonic

Texture can be ______ or _______

Homophonic

A dominant melody with accompaniment

Monophonic

A single line without any other musical material

Ex. Darth Vader theme, principal theme from E.T./Gregorian chant in Middle Ages, etc.

Harmony

Two pitches produced at the same time simultaneously

Chord

Denotes the sound of three or more pitches at any given moment

Consonant, dissonant

Chords can be _____ or ______

Consonant

Beautiful and pleasing to the ear

Dissonant

Harsh, disturbing chords that often are employed to heighten the drama/suspense/terror in films today

Rhythm

Element of music dealing with time, concerning a series of recurring pulses called beats

Tempo

The speed at which pulses are heard

Meter

Beats will be grouped into regular patterns of strong and weak pulses - these patterns are known as

Timbre

The color or tone quality produced by voices, instruments, or various combinations of the two

Orchestration

Composers who write the score at the piano, and then relegate those musical ideas to voices and/or instruments

Music

What often comes secondary to dialogue and sound effects?

Function Placement Unity Borrowings Styles

Listening and isolating musical effects is difficult upon first listen. What are the five topics?

Digetic Music

Heard as part of the drama itself

Ex. When musicians are performing at a party or concert, or when a radio is playing in a film

Non-Digetic Music

Much of the music heard in films has no logical source in the drama itself; generally used to guide the audience emotionally and psychologically through the film's waters

Ex. Orchestra, jazz band, rock group, or singers

Cue

A passage of underscoring from its entrance to its end; the beginning may coincide with other effects, or the dramatic entrance or abrupt stopping of music can have a strong emotional and dramatic impact on the audience

Film Music

Either original or borrowed; original music is created specifically for the film itself

Adaptation

Borrows a complete passage from another source, including melody and accompaniment

Ex. Scott Joplin's rags in the movie The Sting (1973)

Postromantic Ethnic Modern Popular Historical

What are the five basic musical styles in film music today?

Postromantic, modern, popular

______, _______, and _______ are the most common genres in films today

Modern

Generally refers to something from 1913 forward, and music predominantly by concert composers in a new experimental style

Ex. Copland, Schoenberg, and avant-garde composers of the 1950s and 60s who preferred electronic experimentation

Ethnic

Non-Western culture music that suggests an exotic location

Ex. Asian music in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Running Counter to the Action

The music may not run in concurrence with the dramatic action, and indeed just the opposite of it

Ex. Triumphant sound of music in the final slaughter scene of Glory (1989) and sacred organ music in view of Michael's slayed foes in The Godfather (1972)

Thematic Transformation

Helps to create variety and gives support to dramatic situations

Ex. Vader in Return of the Jedi (1983) has a shot at redemption, and his theme played in the low brass, then morphs to the woodwinds, strings, and harp, suggesting a change in character/transformation before his death

Edward Muybridge

Eccentric artist; one of the first photographers to develop a shutter for the camera, which helped to capture motion

Melies, Porter

________ and ________ are the pioneers of narrative films

Georges Melies

Obtained his own camera-projector and began showing Edison films during the show; he made over 500 films, where he explored camera techniques of slow motion, dissolves, fade-outs, and superimpositions

Edwin Porter

________'s The Great Train Robbery is considered to be the first major American narrative film in 1903

1905, Pittsburgh

The first Nickelodeon was established in what year and in what city?

D.W. Griffith

One of the pioneers of the field, ________ became the first true auteur of film

The Birth of a Nation (1915)

D.W. Griffith worked closely on the composition of original scores for his films, including his first masterpiece, _____________ (___)

Intolerance (1916)

D.W. Griffith's film _________ (_____) was a financial disaster

Organ

The ______ became the most common movie theater instrument

Musical Ensembles

_____________ in theatres expanded

Adaptations, arrangements, newly composed music

Silent film music was divided into which three categories?

Victor Herbert

Irish-American cellist, composer, and conductor who produced the musical score for The Birth of a Nation

Joseph Carl Breil

The composer of The Birth of a Nation who created a 3-hour musical score in which he used all three types of music

Original Music

____________ in The Birth of a Nation is perhaps the strongest component

7, Riverside, January 1st, 1915, 50

At the premiere of The Birth of a Nation, Breil used a __ piece orchestra in _________, California, on _______, ____, reportedly played by an orchestra of ___ members, plus additional vocal soloists

1933, musical score, sound effects

The ____ reissue of The Birth of a Nation had Griffith cutting over an hour of the film, and subsequently added a recorded _______ and ________

Theaters

In the 1920s, _______ were the largest employers of musicians in the world - most were organists or pianists

Movie Places

Theaters were known as ____________, which included the Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, the Roxy in New York, and Radio City Music Hall

The Roxy

________ was described as the largest theater since the fall of the Roman Empire

William Axt

Musical director for the Capitol Theatre, who also maintained close ties with Hollywood's MGM studio, which took over Capitol's 30,000 musical scores; worked on MGM's greatest silent films

Erno Rapee

Hungarian-born, conducted orchestras at the Roxy, Rivoli, and Capitol theaters; served as music director at Radio City and continued to compose film scores into the 1930s for Warner Bros.

Hugo Riesenfeld

Directed orchestras at the Rialto, Rivioli, and Criterion; he created many scores for the classics Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923), and Les Misérables (1925)

Louis Gottschalk

Prominent nephew of the American composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk; composed scores of early films based on The Wizard of Oz story in 1914, and for many of D.W. Griffith's works

Don Juan

The first feature to break the sound barrier

The Jazz Singer

The first narrative with spoken dialogue; centers on a vaudeville performer, with several segments of live music to be inserted into the narrative, and featured Al Jolson

Louis B. Mayer

The Academy Awards were an extension of ___________'s creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927

1928

The first Academy Awards ceremony was held in ____

Blackmail (1929)

Alfred Hitchcock's brilliant tale of suspense, rape, and murder; included both silent and sound scenes

Hallelujah (1929)

The first film by a major studio to use an all-African-American cast

The Blue Angel (1930)

Launched the career of German movie star Marlene Dietrich as a seductive singer in a cabaret

Productions and Dramatic Works

What are the two types of musicals?