This course is an introduction to the history of music in American cinema. The course will commence with the musical-theatrical antecedents of film music, and will subsequently proceed through the history of film, in a roughly chronological fashion: the music of the “silents,” the “classical” Hollywood scores of the studio period, the incorporation of 20th-century musical techniques in the 1950s through 1970s, the rise of compiled pop-music and rock scores, the use of synthesized and computer-generated music. During the last quarter of the term we will examine some of the modern techniques of film scoring, including the use of popular music, jazz, world and traditional musics, electronic sounds, and symphonic music. We will also examine the use of sound (as distinct from music) within cinema.
Rooster
Onderwijsvorm
Seminar.
A la carte- en contractonderwijs
Not available as modular course or a la carte.
Leerdoelen
In this course, students will be exposed to the different styles of scores associated with film from the earliest days of cinema up to the present time. Students will learn, at least in a non-technical way, how music is used to create and sustain emotion in film; this will be accomplished by exploration of the different musical styles utilized and by learning to recognize what composers are attempting to accomplish.Students will learn to evaluate, make observations about, assess critically, and write intelligently about these soundtracks, and will examine and learn to recognize the important symbiotic relationship between the aural and the visual in cinema. A major component of this course will be the weekly non-class time viewing of a selected film. Students will also be expected to read selections and listen to selected “cues” from soundtracks; all these materials will be available on the course Blackboard site.
Literatuur
*Roger Hickman: Reel Music: Exploring 100 Years of Film Music (New York: W. W. Norton, 2006) ISBN 9780393925746 *Articles on Blackboard.
Toetsing
*Weekly short assignments (“spotting charts”; short written reactions to the films) *10 or 15-minute oral presentation *research paper
Informatie
Dr. Joke Kardux, English dept., P.N. van Eyckhof 4, kamer 204c, Postbus 9515, 2300 RA Leiden; 071-5272236. j.c.kardux@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Blackboard/webpagina
This course is supported by blackboard.