FORL 3160

 Reimer

Minutes-5 JUN 02

Class begins with the announcement that professor Reimer has brought in a collection of Ingmar Bergman movies if anyone needs them for their second freewrite.

The topic of discussion for the class 5JUN01 was music and dance in film, and the different ways they were used. The class first came up with ideas of how music could be used in film. These were:

Mood

Foreshadowing

Suspense

Characterization

Resolution

Movement/ syncopation

Emotion

Contrast

Irony

Humor

Setting

·         Era

·         Place

Story

Professor Reimer then described how music was used in the Italian film La Strata, and how a simple tune was used to represent the transfer of emotion or mood from one character to another. The first films we actually looked at were two different trailers for the film Stalingrad, and how in one of the trailers a sad, romantic soundtrack was used to portray the movie in one light, and a more chaotic, driving soundtrack was used to portray it differently in the other. This was done to generate appeal among different demographics that might not otherwise show interest in a war movie.

We also looked at Gold diggers of 1933, a musical that in the end used a number as social commentary on the amount of homelessness and poverty in the U.S. during the great depression, especially with respect to soldiers that had fought in the first world war.

The next film we looked at was The Big Chill, where music was used to first set the mood, as part of the movie (being played on an organ in a church). Over time though, the music gradually moved completely out of the movie itself and became specifically the soundtrack, being heard only by the audience. The song itself, You Can’t Always Get What You Want by the Rolling Stones, had its own meaning, in that the movie was about a group of aging ex-hippy/ Vietnam vets who have been brought back together due to the suicide of a friend. The song is therefore used to at least relate to the setting, the Rolling Stones were very popular during the Vietnam era, and the song itself deals with loss and redemption.  In addition the music offers a continuous melody over scenes that last in reality over a long period.  That is, the music track  acts as a bridge for the visuals, helping them flow more smoothly.

The next film we looked at was Fritz Langs Metropolis, and how four different soundtracks conveyed four different moods. The first soundtrack was a dark, somewhat gothic sounding track. The second track was accurately described by one student as sounding like the background from a Little Rascals episode. The third was a more ethereal piece that was described by one student as being very earthy and organic sounding, and the fourth was the track done for the 1980’s re-release that was done by Giorgio Moroder, who was a disco producer that did movies on the side. (He also did the Turkish Prison film Midnight Express). The last track was much more pop-friendly with some industrial elements. It was probably closest in composition to the first soundtrack, but did have a vocal track on top of the instrumental one.

The class then went on to look at Dance in cinema and the different ways it could be used. Dr. Reimer indicated that there were two primary types of ways dance could be used. The first of which was displayed in the Fred Astaire The Gay Divorce, where the dance exists despite the camera, and the music being danced to is being heard only by the audience, and is not coming from a source inside the scene. The impression given by this usage of dance is that it would be going on whether the camera was there or not, and is characterized by the very limited use of editing. Here the dancers are important.  The second example we looked at was Flashdance, where the dance as we see it would not have taken place had the camera not been there. More complex cinematography and mise-en-scene, as well as heavy editing characterize this usage of dance. Here the film creates the dance and thus is the focal point. The source of the music also came from inside the scene, in this case it was a turntable. The third film we look at was The Tango Lesson, where it is not quite obvious if the dance is of the first type or the second type.   The music could be coming from the ship, in which case it would be more like Flashdance,  or it could be coming from outside of the scene, in which case it would be more like The Gay Divorce. In Tango Lesson, the camera moved with the dancers, letting the audience move with them, thus involving them in the dance.

The class was ended with an announcement that the questions for the film Carmen would be available on the web within an hour, and that those students who normally don’t like dance be patient with the next day’s film.