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7/25/01 Music
in Film What
role does music play in Movies? -
adds suspense -
helps with narration
of the story -
introduces/prefaces
story -
entices emotions from
the audience -
helps transition from
one frame to another -
reinforcement of
issues -
symbolic -
reference to a culture -
reference to a
historical moment -
foreshadows an
upcoming frame -
sets tempo of film as
seen in Run
Lola Run -
gives humor -
mood -
tone -
fear -
frame shows actors
dancing to the music -
helps bring audience
into movie by keeping them interested Silent Films
Music was not synchronized to the movies
although the technology to do so existed.
Music’s important for previous mentioned reasons.
Audience must hear something to feel something about the film.
Sound fills up a void. Fritz Lang’s Metropolis
Metropolis
is the twining of two tales, that of Maria and Freder, and that of the
two visages of their city. Iconic Maria belongs to the worker caste that
tends the machines; she takes care of the workers' children by day and
serves as their spiritual leader by night. Freder is the son of the
autocrat of Metropolis -- inoffensive, yet ignorant and pampered. When
Maria escorts the children from the medieval, decaying workers'
catacombs to steal a glimpse of the monumental, futuristic world of
above, Maria and Freder meet, profoundly impacting one another. His conscience stirred, Freder voluntarily searches
out the workers' realm and sinks into it, taking his turn manning the
dehumanizing, exhausting machines. He emerges from the crumbling, Gothic
depths haunted, yet emboldened to confront his father about the workers'
conditions. Unmoved, his glacial father seeks out the
inventor-alchemist, Rotwang, and they conspire to supplant Maria with an
evil robot duplicate -- to supplant hope and patience with riot and
self-destruction. The plot succeeds. Incited by the false Maria, the workers revolt and abandon the machines, wreaking explosions and floods. They surge upward to the surface en masse, to storm the autocrat's steely citadel of power. Meanwhile, Freder has chased Rotwang to a cathedral rooftop and they struggle, witnessed by the workers and Freder's horrified father below. Rotwang falls, and Metropolis' autocrat, who had been sure his son was lost, is reconciled with the workers, and there is promise of a new, more equal synergy between the rulers and the ruled. We
watched Metropolis with five
different sound tracks to see how music helps the movie along. 1.
The
original with no music: the
BIG void didn’t pull the audience into the movie. 2.
With
music: early 20th century song repeated over and over again,
too boring to pull audience in. 3.
Georgio
Moroder 1984: Music was 80’s disco with awkward transitions due to
inappropriate music. Music
needs to be related to the time period. 4.
1996:
music a little better, but song is like #2 movie with little changing. 5.
1999:
the best music with motifs and transitions.
Each storyline had their own version to help bring audience in.
Next
we looked at the 4 different ways the same song Amazing Grace can be used in a movie. 1.
The
TV show Roswell: A close
friend is killed, song used at the funeral.
It brings comfort because it’s so familiar. 2.
The
TV show Homicide: the scene is
a demonstration, song used to set up what will come (foreshadow).
Demonstration for peace turns deadly. 3.
The
movie Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan:
Used at Spock’s funeral. Played
by Scotty on bagpipes after Kirk says Spock (a Vulcan) is more human
than anyone he knew. Since
the song is so human, it just amplifies what Kirk said.
It also lends comfort and familiarity to a scene set centuries in
the future. 4.
The
movie Silkwood: Used to
foreshadow the ending, the character dies.
The actress, Meryl Streep is singing while her character drives
in her car and has an accident. She is murdered and the ending is
cyclical due to memories flashing back.
The cyclical nature of the song transfigures Karen Silkwood into
a martyr for the union cause.
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