Week 3 Film Music

In the reading it really just talked alot about the different movies that had good music or were popular for that time. What I did learn was when movie theaters started using wide screen and how directors would try to film on 77 or 65mm film instead of the standard 35mm film. I didn't know about the controversy about the theme in first James Bond film. That was hilarious to me, because I love the James Bond movies. I loved how the 1963 movie of Cleopatra was the most expensive film of that time and almost bankrupted the studio. My dad loves western movies and I liked learning that his favorite film, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, is called a spaghetti western. Then what happened to Bernard Herrmann when he was asked to write the score for The Exorcist. He told the director to take out the whole beginning and that his music will save the movie. The director thought no way am I going to use him.
I loved the movies we watched this week except for High Noon. It took me by complete surprise when I heard that the opening song was very popular back then, because that song was horrible. The last time I watched To Kill a Mockingbird was in high school and I never noticed the music in it because I was to focused on whether it was like the book or not. This time I noticed the music though. I loved the movie American Graffiti but only because of the music in it. The movie itself is okay, but I think the music in that movie is what makes it a good movie.
I didn't know anything about a Panatonic note scale and when Dr. Berry mentioned that it is used to represent Chinese people and things like that I immediately thought of the movie Memoirs of a Geisha. I don't know why but it just made me think that he should show a clip of that for an example. The advice for what makes a melody great, I didn't anything about that and now I do just in case I wanted to write a melody. The electronic score for Forbidden Planet was neat but made the movie seem more intense than it really was.

Week 2 Film Music

With the reading this week I loved learning how they made the movie The Bride of Frankenstein sound scary, with the string tremolos and woodwind trills and flutter-tonguing. Learning about a lot more composers was even more interesting to me. Now, that I watch a movie and look for the music credits, I can say I know who Tiomkin is, or Max Steiner. I didn't know that all those old movies I love came out in 1939, like Gone With The Wind and Wuthering Heights and The Wizard of Oz. I thought I knew what film noir was but then I read about it and I was close but learned more about it anyway. I also learned that at first King Kong wasn't going to have music in it but Max Steiner convinced Merian C. Cooper to let him write an original score for the movie.
In our discussions over the week I loved learning about mixing because I have always wondered how they fit in all the sound effects with the music and dialogue along with it. I read about mickey mousing in the book but it really didn't stick with me until we talked about it in class. That is a cool technique. It's almost like you don't really need the sound effects if you have the music going along with what they are doing. I didn't know that the "talkie" films were banned from the Oscars until the 1930's. That was and interesting tidbit. I had never heard of Eric Wolfgang Korngold until this class and I love his music now. The fact that he was only 10 years old when he did "The Snowman" amazes me. He definitely is a child prodigy.
I really liked the movie Top Hat but I think that was just because I like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers. After reading about the movie King Kong and how much music was in it, I actually noticed what they were talking about in the book. In my opinion, I really like the newest remake of that movie better because they showed the relationship that Kong wanted with Ann. They also didn't show Kong as the big bad monkey and I actually think the music they played while him and Ann were together made me think that. In The Adventures of Robin Hood I got to actually hear some of Korngold's work and he does a really good job. I really liked that movie, even though I couldn't help remembering funny scenes from Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

Week 1 Film Music

With the reading I loved how it told of the different composers that wrote the certain scores for different movies or gave the biography for some composers. It was like an interview with the composers. You get a chance to understand what it is they are doing and how they like to do it. I also learned that the Producer is basically in charge and I didn't know that. I always thought that it was the Director. The eleven funtions in film scoring helped me get a feel of what it would be like to compose something for a movie. It would be hard but I think I understand what they have to go through.
Im not a music student so I loved the lecture when Dr. Berry was showing us the different chords and such on the keyboard. I didn't know that most major chords will sound happy and most minor chords sound sad. I didnt know anything about dissonance or consanance. I feel like I understand more about the music I am listening to in the movies we watch now. When we talked about the eleven functions in film scoring, even after reading about them, it helped more to talk about them and get examples and break them down until they are basically only ten. It made me understand them more fully than just reading about them.
I love watching movies and I am one of those losers that if I like the soundtrack I will go out and buy it. I have never seen a silent film in my life though. I think they are alittle boring but I just picture myself back in that time and I can see how those type of movies would be interesting, I guess. Even though after watching Singing In The Rain today I got a better understanding on that time with just silent films. I wonder if there were alot of films that were messed up like that and they had to fix it to make it sound better by a certain time or it would be a flop of a movie. I liked The Jazz Singer but I thought it was alittle weird that it would bounce between talking and not talking. I would get used to them talking and then all of a sudden they would stop. It was strange. Also some of the music didn't fit with that movie, like when Jakie and his dad were arguing and they played music that made me think of a love scene. It didn't fit at all. It was kinda funny.