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As mentioned in the text, some film music has been arranged into suites. Listen to one and see what kinds of images are evoked while you hear it. After you have finished this listening experience write a short story dealing what you imagined while hearing the suite. How close was your image to the one intended by the original artists? Some suggested listening pieces are Leonard Bernstein's "On The Waterfront" and The Red Violin Chaccone by John Corigliano. |
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John William's film scores to the Harry Potter series have been compared to Wagnerian operas. As part of a research paper describe Wagner's use of leitmotive (you can start by visiting http://www.rwagner.net/e-frame.html) as heard in "Der Ring Des Nibulungen" and continue by tracing a similar technique in the John Williams score. |
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King Kong (1933) is regarded as being the first movie with a completely original soundtrack (score by Max Steiner). Watch the video and discuss the ways in which the music lends continuity to the film. What traditional musical techniques do you hear Steiner using? |
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From Fred Astaire, through Elvis Presley and on to the Bee Gees, many movies introduced popular songs. Do a web search for a film score that has been on the top 100 for more than four weeks and write a short paper that outlines the film, the score and its success. |
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In addition to being a great dancer, Fred Astaire was also a wonderful singer who introduced many of the great American songs in his films. Whether working with Irving Berlin or George Gershwin, Astaire's talent for having a song come right out of the dialogue is impeccable. Pick one of the following films and address the ways in which Astaire sets up the musical selections: Funny Face (George Gershwin, 1927); The Gay Divorcee (Cole Porter, 1932); Top Hat (Irving Berlin, 1935); Shall We Dance? (George Gershwin, 1937); Holiday Inn (Irving Berlin, 1944) and Blue Skies (Irving Berlin, 1946). |
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"Hollywood Rhapsody: Movie Music and its Makers 1900 to 1975" by Gary Marmorstein (Schirmer Books, 1997) is a wonderful resource of information for this topic. Pick a chapter in the book and write an essay on what you discover. |
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