Blog #4 The Final Frontier... I mean, Post.

In this past week (the final week of January Term) we have ventured into the land of electronic music, namely, the first film with a totally all-electronic score. Premiering in 1956, Forbidden Planet is giving the honor of ushering in this era. The score "electronic tonalities" Louis and Bebe Barron created was actually nominated for an Academy Award! This film and it's scoring undoubtedly opened the door for other films using electronic music. A few years later in the 1970s, John Williams (composer of the score of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, among other films) brings back the idea of big symphonic scores for films. His score of Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a brilliant addition to his portfolio. Williams creates a form of communication between humans and aliens by employing a five note leitmotif consisting of Re, Mi, Do, Do and Sol. Interestingly enough, because of the sheer importance of Williams' composition to the film, he was present every day for the fifteen week postproduction phase. Speilburg, the film's director, would actually construct the scene based on what Williams had composed! That almost never happens in the film music industry!

Poltergeist was another one of the interesting films we watched this week, even if the final few scenes scared the crap out of me. The music brilliantly leads you astray from time to time, letting you believe that you are safe in suburbia while you are, in fact, on top of a cemetery that in going to start fighting back. Goldsmith, the composer of the score, eerily combines nursery song sounding piano with ominous dissonance in the orchestra for Carol Anne's theme. The silence in Poltergeist is used brilliantly as well. You don't have the music to tell you what to feel and it puts you on edge more so than any sort of dissonance would. The Matrix was the third film we watched this week. What made this film so interesting, music wise, is the face that the composition is wall-to-wall. Even if there are no notes being played, there is always some sort of sound design added. The most striking of those moments is when Neo and Trinity storm the building where Morpheus is being held captive. Everything from the footsteps of the soldiers to gun fire and the fall of shell casings is perfectly placed in a "rhythmic ballet". There were no truly melodic lines until the moment when Trinity declares her love for Leo, making him The One.

The final film of the course, and one of my personal favorites, is Up. My favorite musical moment in the movie, by far, is when Mr. Fredrickson going through his morning rituals and the 'Habanera' from Carmen is playing. To me, it seems to be the most inappropriate music to be playing at the time, but it breaks the tension and I find it absolutely hilarious! What I find most interesting about the score for this animated jewel is the constant use of the theme presented at the very beginning of the movie. It weaves its way through the entire plot line and credits, barring storm and action scenes! Brilliant!

I had a great time, Dr. Berry! Kudos to you!

Movie Marathon!

We have watched a number of films this week, including The Best Years of Our Lives, High Noon, In the Heat of the Night, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and American Graffiti. Each film has its own particular musical feel. High Noon, for instance, has a very Americana feel - reminding the listener of the works of Copland. The Day the Earth Stood Still, however, has a more atonal sound, unsettling the viewers and forcing them to pay attention to the plotline. The dissonance present in its score (the likes of which would not be well received in a concert hall) promise the coming of some great, climactic event. The use of syncopation also builds up the tension in the film, throws the viewers / listeners and pulls them to the edge of their seats. The orchestration of this score is possibly just as alien to its listeners as the visitor from space is to the people of Earth. It is written for thirty brass instruments, four harps, four pianos, electric bass, electric violin, and two theremins. One of my favorite scores from this past week is High Noon. The score is brilliant as it is, with tones sounding for the ticking of the ever present clock (Interestingly enough, the pitch for the clock always started off on the pitch that is last left off at.). The crowning glory of the score is that there are no violins! Good on you Mr. Tiomkin! Prejudice apart, the lack of violins was a brilliant move on the composer's part. It reduced the cost of putting the music together and portrayed the correct imagery. The richer tones of the violas, cellos, and basses made the score darker, which fits better into the overall idea of the film. I also very much enjoyed the fact that the song sung at the beginning of the film gives away the entire plotline, and when one of the major plot points happens, the corresponding section of the song is played as the folks of the not so sleepy town do their business. The viewer knows what is going to happen thanks to the song, but he or she is still on the edge of her seat in excitement towards the end of the film.

Sorry it took so long to get this up properly, Dr. Berry. Internet blog sites and I don't seem to get along too well and I've been out of town where I wouldn't fix anything. Have a wonderful and restful weekend!

Who needs snow days when you can watch movies in class?

I have spent a lot of time this past week escaping from the ice and snow by watching various movies and television shows. In the spirit of this class, and because it is quite interesting, I started paying extra attention to the music that always seems to be present in the most touching, or most harrowing, situations. I also thought quite a bit about where the sound effects were coming from and how they were integrated into the general sounds of the show/movie. One of the shows I spent a great deal of time watching was Dr. Who. In doing some research on the music and sound effects of it, I discovered something I found incredibly interesting! One of the main sound effect of the show - the sound the TARDIS makes as it vanishes from the time and place it is in - is made by the scraping of keys up and down the strings of an old, gutted piano, and playing that recording backwards! I also learned that the incidental music for the revived series, composed by Murray Gold and Ben Foster, is performed by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. You were right, Dr. Berry! British orchestras make the best recording groups! I wonder if Gold and Foster own the rights to the score, or if the production company does?



I have been so in awe this past week with the sheer magnitude of the scores of the films we have seen in class, and how well these scores are integrated into the films. Take Casablanca, for instance. When the scene is taking place outside of Cafe Americain, the music makes the tension in the air audible and often has an Middle Eastern feel to it. When the scenes enter the Cafe, however, the music becomes cheery jazz meant to chase away the worries rife among the refugees who only wish to leave Casablanca. The music never seems to fit the mood until Sam plays As Time Goes By for the leading lady - it is then that the music begins to turn more tense and mood appropriate. One thing I particularly noticed in Casablanca was that when the dialogue is happening, the music is more piano, less noticeable. But when the dialogue is through, the music comes to the forefront again. That must have taken an unimaginable amount of detailed work to make the orchestra match so well with the dialogue in the film. Amazing! It was much the same in Top Hat and The Adventures of Robin Hood.

I think that one day, I should like to be a studio musician - that is, if everything isn't taken over by Finale MIDI files. It must be incredible to constantly play new music and to know that you are a part of something that could potentially reach millions of people. I should get to work then!

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