Knowing The Score: How Music Makes Movies Come Alive
Five Classes, 2 hr. Lecture
Since the days of silent film, music has accompanied moving pictures in theaters. Whether by single piano or organ, a band or orchestra playing on “cue” from written arrangements, music synchronized to filmed action and dialogue has been an integral part of the movie experience. With the advent of “talkies” and release of The Jazz Singer in 1927, synchronous dialog and singing with a musical score was combined onto a “soundtrack” and there was no turning back. The pianos and organs of the silent era have been replaced by film scores featuring every conceivable type of music from symphony orchestras to the esoteric, indigenous and electronic sounds, decades of pop music. By presenting numerous audio and video excerpts and commentary, the series will explore the history, art and science of film music as seen through the composers’ lens- their fabulous film scores in some of the greatest movies ever shown on the big screen.
Lesson Breakdown
Silent Movies & Music
· A Brief History of Sound Synchronization
· Early Sound Films
· Functions of Music In Film
· Composer Tools & Techniques
· Thematic Scoring
· How Instruments Are Used In Film Scoring
· Musical Movies, But Not “Musicals”
· Ground Breaking Composers & Films
o Max Steiner
o Franz Waxman
o Erich Wolfgang Korngold
2. Explanations: Orchestration, Orchestrators, Arranging & Conducting
· The Newman Dynasty
o Alfred Newman
o Emil Newman
o Lionel Newman
o Randy Newman
o David Newman
o Thomas Newman
· Bernard Herrmann
3. Classical Music In Film
Classical Music in Classic Films
o The Bernsteins
Elmer & Leonard (Films & Scores)
o Alex North
· Great Composers and Films of the 50’s, 60’s & Forward
o Miklos Rosza
o Dimitri Tiomkim
o Maurice Jarre
o John Barry
o Jerry Goldsmith
4. The Italians
· Nino Rota
· Ennio Morricone
· Changing Styles (50’s, 60’s, 70, 80’s)
o Henry Mancini
o Music/Film Montage
o Dave Grusin
· Vangelis: Synthesized Music
· Music Supervision (pop recordings in scores)
o Back To The Future
o Jackie Brown
o Deliverance
5. Recent and Current: Films, Scores of the 90’s & 2000’s
· Howard Shore
· Danny Elfman
· John Powell
· James Horner
· Alexander Desplat
· Dario Marianelli
· James Newton Howard
· Hans Zimmer
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