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Posted: |
Mar 4, 2005 - 11:35 AM
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By: |
Thor
(Member)
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I'm going to have a 2-hour lecture on film music at another university next week (about film music's functions), so I need to prepare myself properly with a bunch of examples. Still, I'm baffled by my own inability to come up with good ones. Here's what I need:
1. A typical example of music underscoring dialogue in a classical Hollywood film (i.e. without the music drawing too much attention to itself). I was thinking Anthony Hopkins' final speech in AMISTAD, but perhaps that is too over-blown.
2. Music underscoring a character's point-of-view in a classical Hollywood film, for example his or her extreme focus on a certain item that only the music "explains" (I was thinking LAURA, but I haven't actually seen that film).
3. Music that BREAKS with the Hollywood mode, i.e. displays discontinuity, emotional contrast, goes against character identification etc. (I already have Godard's PIERROT LE FOU on the list)
Any suggestions, good people? Be aware that - perhaps except for #3 - these should be readily available films that I can borrow from the institute's media library.
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Posted: |
Mar 4, 2005 - 1:43 PM
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By: |
SheriffJoe
(Member)
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Thor: In terms of #3, the one that comes immediately to mind, although it is FAR from a classic Hollywood film, is the scene in Needful Things where an Ave Maria is playing through a particularly violent demonic attack. Action that is represented through the music in a counterpoint fashion.
#1: Music underscoring dialogue: My FAVORITE use of this is in Tobe Hooper's classic film POLTERGEIST, where Dr. Ledge is describing THE LIGHT to the family. Haunting, beautiful and a perfect example of what you are looking for.
#2: Keeping with the supernatural theme I seem to have picked up on, I think a good example of music you are looking for, albeit a subtle example, is James Newton Howard's music in THE SIXTH SENSE. If you are looking for music that defines the intangible, such as innocence of a particular character, or gives clues as to a character's place in the film's world, (Bruce Willis' character being dead), then I think this is a particularly apt film to explore. However, the best use of music explaining and identifying a particular object is Jerry Goldsmith's score to MAGIC. Harmonica for dummy...harmonica as dementia.
Hope this helps. I'm sure your students will enjoy the class regardless of which films you ultimately decide to use as example.
SheriffJoe
P.S. It's obvious who my favorite composers are, isn't it? 
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A more recent example for #3 might be the use of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for the siege/shootout during FACE/OFF. I don't know if your lecture is limited to ORIGINAL scores, per se, so this may not help...
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Thor, before I offer some suggestions, may I just say that I am savoring the irony that it would be you asking this.
This is a really intriguing topic, and it looks like you have a really cool basis for a lecture (Pierrot Le Fou indeed!!!  )... would you be interested in transcribing the discussion for us?
Anyway...
1. A typical example of music underscoring dialogue in a classical Hollywood film (i.e. without the music drawing too much attention to itself). I was thinking Anthony Hopkins' final speech in AMISTAD, but perhaps that is too over-blown.
I'm going to cheese out of this one not so much because I don't have suggestions, but because some of the other ones mentioned (The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Poltergeist, Jaws and Star Wars) illustrate this idea pretty well.
2. Music underscoring a character's point-of-view in a classical Hollywood film, for example his or her extreme focus on a certain item that only the music "explains" (I was thinking LAURA, but I haven't actually seen that film).
Perhaps the Scene d'Amour from Vertigo? Or the "Susan Marie Remembers" cue in Snow Falling On Cedars (the courtroom scene). Joe's suggestions were pretty cool too. Laura would work in context of the whole movie, as it is a monothematic score in which everybody's obsession with the titular character is what generates the music (which only exists in her absence until the end of the film). It's really worth checking out the film, too, just for your own sake. I think you'll like it.
3. Music that BREAKS with the Hollywood mode, i.e. displays discontinuity, emotional contrast, goes against character identification etc. (I already have Godard's PIERROT LE FOU on the list)
Pierrot Le Fou is a really good example for this. One of the best scenes for this might be when Belmondo is jacking up the car; the music is playing nonstop, but it cuts out of the sound mix when he's pumping the jack.
Don't let anyone talk you out of that one. The combination of Godard and Duhamel was just magic.
Break a leg!
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The absolute best example I can think of where music effectively underscores dialog is the "Arlington" sequence in JFK, where Mr. X is laying out the whole conspiracy for Jim Garrison. It's a very complicated but powerful dialog-heavy scene that works primarily because of Williams heartbreaking music.
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The absolute best example I can think of where music effectively underscores dialog is the "Arlington" sequence in JFK, where Mr. X is laying out the whole conspiracy for Jim Garrison. It's a very complicated but powerful dialog-heavy scene that works primarily because of Williams heartbreaking music.
I absolutely agree!!!! That scene works wonders thanks to Williams elegiatic music. A superb example and certainly a favourite piece of mine
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I'm going to have a 2-hour lecture on film music at another university next week (about film music's functions), so I need to prepare myself properly with a bunch of examples. Still, I'm baffled by my own inability to come up with good ones. Here's what I need:
1. A typical example of music underscoring dialogue in a classical Hollywood film (i.e. without the music drawing too much attention to itself). I was thinking Anthony Hopkins' final speech in AMISTAD, but perhaps that is too over-blown.
2. Music underscoring a character's point-of-view in a classical Hollywood film, for example his or her extreme focus on a certain item that only the music "explains" (I was thinking LAURA, but I haven't actually seen that film).
I was thinking Double Indemnity for both of these. For the first, there are dialogue scenes of Fred and Barbara talking, first meeting, etc., that are underscored.
There are also the scenes where Fred is narrating his story into the dictaphone that are underscored.
There's a Gerhardt / Nat'l Phil. re-recording on RCA (called "Spellbound"); and a Sedares / New Zealand Sym re-recording (called "Double indemnity") on Koch.
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Posted: |
Mar 5, 2005 - 3:29 PM
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By: |
JSDouglas
(Member)
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Hello Thor. I recently had a similar project, though my brief was to discuss the history of film music and I gave something more like an informal talk than an actual lecture. Nevertheless, here's some ideas for you to consider...
1. A typical example of music underscoring dialogue in a classical Hollywood film (i.e. without the music drawing too much attention to itself). I was thinking Anthony Hopkins' final speech in AMISTAD, but perhaps that is too over-blown.
Previous posters have given some sterling examples of this type (I like the JAWS example best). I used a clip from THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS (Franz Waxman) of the montage sequence involving the building of the "Spirit" which occurs in three parts between which Waxman underscores dialogue scenes with very subdued, and tense, music until it's time for his music to move to the foreground for the montages. It is interesting how Waxman maintains the music's "prescence" where he might otherwise drop out entirely.
2. Music underscoring a character's point-of-view in a classical Hollywood film, for example his or her extreme focus on a certain item that only the music "explains" (I was thinking LAURA, but I haven't actually seen that film).
LAURA works well for this in the scene of Dana Andrews searching Laura's apartment - the music tells us of his infatuation with this woman he's never met. Another example occurs in Korngold's ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD and John Mauceri points it out in the documentary on the recent DVD - the scene between Robin and Marian after he shows her the wounded people he protects and she questions him about why he's doing what he's doing. The music for that scene expresses their growing love though it is not a scene about that love, Korngold is adding that sub-text with his music. Another good example is Herrmann's PSYCHO with the music reflecting the turmoil within Marion as she drives away with the money. The visuals do not communicate by themselves what the music does.
3. Music that BREAKS with the Hollywood mode, i.e. displays discontinuity, emotional contrast, goes against character identification etc. (I already have Godard's PIERROT LE FOU on the list)
This is indeed the hardest to find examples of. Ironically the ones that come to my mind are Hollywood films like TOUCH OF EVIL (where the music emerges from incidental sources rather than scoring), THE THIRD MAN (where the Anton Karas' Zither music is wholly undramatic but gives the film a unique atmosphere) or FORBIDDEN PLANET (with Louis and Bebe Barrons electronic effects providing the film with a very un-traditional sound design).
There you have some of my suggestions. Good luck on your lecture!
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Posted: |
Mar 6, 2005 - 1:25 AM
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By: |
Howard L
(Member)
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re #1: To Kill A Mockingbird when Jem explains the "tree treasures" to Scout. Hey, you may as well use a damn good memorable piece from a true classic. And none of that "calls attention to itself" copout, Thor. But if you want a damn good piece underscoring dialog without as much memorability, then find The Little Foxes and show 'em Birdy's anguished confession. It'll tear everyone apart.
But if you really want something with an added kick, get Citizen Kane and show them the entire breakfast table sequence with Mr. & Mrs. Kane. The music underscores the dialog and then the classic silence as the camera pulls back at the end. For added effect, show the sequence first with the sound turned off. This way your audience will rely on the character's nonverbal facial expressions to try & figure out what's going on. Then when you show the same thing with the dialog & music...it'll kill 'em. Guaranteed.
re #2: everyone should kick themselves for not thinking Jaws. The 'character' is the unseen shark whose presence is defined strictly by underwater camera movement and that unforgettable theme.
And for an alternate take, go for The Best Years Of Our Lives and the airplane graveyard scene with Fred Derry (Dana Andrews) in the cockpit. The music captures duality or even 'triality' in the sense that it seems to underscore Fred's reaching the end of his rope while simultaneously/actually underscoring what turns out to be the purging of his emotions i.e. catharsis, not to mention underscoring all the warplanes having reached their demise as well.
Interestingly, Mr. Andrews was also the one doing all the staring at the Laura portrait.
as for #3: Wow. Tough one. For some reason The Empire Of The Sun's Cadillac of the Sky sequence comes to mind. If I follow you, glorious music underscoring a scene of planes dropping bombs and wreaking devastation would seem most inappropriate, but when you take it from Jim's point-of-view...indeed, what a truly glorious contrast.
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Howard took my idea for Citizen Kane for #1
#2: Casablanca: The first time Rick sees Ilsa at his bar. Steiner throws in a sledge-hammer burst and then as the memories come flooding back, a tortured interpretation of "As Time Goes By."
or
Raiders-The Well of the Souls. A great cue that combines messianic choirs, obsession, mystery and fulfilment as Indiana Jones tries to find the location of that damned ark.
#3: You don't get more cross-purposes than "We'll Meet Again" over the apocalyptic finale of "Dr. Strangelove."
DAMN! I completely forgot "Patton!"
#2-Patton looks out over a plain and starts talking about an ancient battle. "I was here" he says as Goldsmith's trumpets circle in the background. I'll check my disc and tell you where it is, Thor. (28 minutes into the film; Chapter 7 on the DVD I have)
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I don't know if this is exactly what you're going for in #3, but there are two scenes that I've always loved for their use of light music in counterpoint to tense content. First, Spielberg brilliantly uses "Moon River" for the chase scene in the mall in "Minority Report."
However my favorite example is the ice rink sequence in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service." After an hour and a half of tense scenes scored by tense music, John Barry realized the need for variety and wrote a wholly original Christmas pop song, as annoyingly saccharine as possible. It is played over the PA system as Bond is being pursued by the villians and is unforgettably perfect.
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Music that BREAKS with the Hollywood mode, i.e. displays discontinuity, emotional contrast, goes against character identification etc. (I already have Godard's PIERROT LE FOU on the list)
"Goodmorning Vietnam"- "What a Wonderful World" underscores the montage of attrocities and violence to the G.I.'s and citizens during that war.
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