Project: The Topography of Film Music
Rationale
Dear Students,
I am looking forward to seeing your thoughtful representations of film music and accompanying rationale tomorrow. For those who have already embraced this project and started work, keep going! You're almost there! For those who may be starting late today, give yourself some time and space to think and create. How will you share your favorite music with your community? That is the gift of music, it is something truly special that we give to and experience from others. Remember to cite the movie, soundtrack title, director, and composer in your rationale to give credit!
The purpose of the rationale for this project is for you to support your ideas and share what your thought process was with your project. There is no set formatting for writing your rationale, so think of it as a short response to the questions asked in the directions (and the areas of focus on the rubric). Through this rationale I want you to have the opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of film music, use of music vocabulary, and most importantly your creative thinking. What if your sound map was hanging in a museum? What would the placard, notes, or tour guide say about your work to inform the viewer on what they are looking at? This is the function of the rationale.
In my project below, I created a general map of the piece using pencil and added color based on the understanding of the piece. In my rationale I might include the following statement:
"In the middle of my representation, the viewer is drawn to the intense black and red which contrasts the light yellow and blue to the left of it. The transition of themes beginning around 1'15" (time point) marks a dramatic shift in timbre, articulation, and dynamics. The tone is much harsher given the use of percussion and low brass, the articulation pointed and heavy, and the dynamics full and present. Accordingly, I chose black–a color that is scientifically described as the absence of color–to communicate the harsh tone that lacks a pitch center, the red signifies the brass that add a bold outline of pitch to the percussion. The shift from flowing line to angular line and finally pointed triangles at the middle of the painting parallel the shift from legato articulation to marcato. The dynamic at this point is best described as fortissimo or very loud, which is evident from my use of full and dark colors that catch the eye. If I were to play this music on my cello, I would choose a bow placement close to the bridge (almost sul ponticello) and put full weight into the string using my right arm and first finger of the bow hold to create the loud dynamic and marcato accents."
Notice the alignment with the grading rubric:
"In the middle of my representation, the viewer is drawn to the intense black and red which contrasts the light yellow and blue to the left of it. The transition of themes beginning around 1'15" (time point) marks a dramatic shift in timbre, articulation, and dynamics. The tone is much harsher given the use of percussion and low brass, the articulation pointed and heavy, and the dynamics full and present. Accordingly, I chose black–a color that is scientifically described as the absence of color–to communicate the harsh tone that lacks a pitch center, the red signifies the brass that add a bold outline of pitch to the percussion. The shift from flowing line to angular line and finally pointed triangles at the middle of the painting parallel the shift from legato articulation to marcato. The dynamic at this point is best described as fortissimo or very loud, which is evident from my use of full and dark colors that catch the eye. If I were to play this music on my cello, I would choose a bow placement close to the bridge (almost sul ponticello) and put full weight into the string using my right arm and first finger of the bow hold to create the loud dynamic and marcato accents."
I am looking forward to seeing your thoughtful representations of film music and accompanying rationale tomorrow. For those who have already embraced this project and started work, keep going! You're almost there! For those who may be starting late today, give yourself some time and space to think and create. How will you share your favorite music with your community? That is the gift of music, it is something truly special that we give to and experience from others. Remember to cite the movie, soundtrack title, director, and composer in your rationale to give credit!
The purpose of the rationale for this project is for you to support your ideas and share what your thought process was with your project. There is no set formatting for writing your rationale, so think of it as a short response to the questions asked in the directions (and the areas of focus on the rubric). Through this rationale I want you to have the opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of film music, use of music vocabulary, and most importantly your creative thinking. What if your sound map was hanging in a museum? What would the placard, notes, or tour guide say about your work to inform the viewer on what they are looking at? This is the function of the rationale.
In my project below, I created a general map of the piece using pencil and added color based on the understanding of the piece. In my rationale I might include the following statement:
"In the middle of my representation, the viewer is drawn to the intense black and red which contrasts the light yellow and blue to the left of it. The transition of themes beginning around 1'15" (time point) marks a dramatic shift in timbre, articulation, and dynamics. The tone is much harsher given the use of percussion and low brass, the articulation pointed and heavy, and the dynamics full and present. Accordingly, I chose black–a color that is scientifically described as the absence of color–to communicate the harsh tone that lacks a pitch center, the red signifies the brass that add a bold outline of pitch to the percussion. The shift from flowing line to angular line and finally pointed triangles at the middle of the painting parallel the shift from legato articulation to marcato. The dynamic at this point is best described as fortissimo or very loud, which is evident from my use of full and dark colors that catch the eye. If I were to play this music on my cello, I would choose a bow placement close to the bridge (almost sul ponticello) and put full weight into the string using my right arm and first finger of the bow hold to create the loud dynamic and marcato accents."
Notice the alignment with the grading rubric:
- Visual Represention
- Understanding of Dynamics, Articulation, and Color
- Use of Music Specialized Vocabulary
"In the middle of my representation, the viewer is drawn to the intense black and red which contrasts the light yellow and blue to the left of it. The transition of themes beginning around 1'15" (time point) marks a dramatic shift in timbre, articulation, and dynamics. The tone is much harsher given the use of percussion and low brass, the articulation pointed and heavy, and the dynamics full and present. Accordingly, I chose black–a color that is scientifically described as the absence of color–to communicate the harsh tone that lacks a pitch center, the red signifies the brass that add a bold outline of pitch to the percussion. The shift from flowing line to angular line and finally pointed triangles at the middle of the painting parallel the shift from legato articulation to marcato. The dynamic at this point is best described as fortissimo or very loud, which is evident from my use of full and dark colors that catch the eye. If I were to play this music on my cello, I would choose a bow placement close to the bridge (almost sul ponticello) and put full weight into the string using my right arm and first finger of the bow hold to create the loud dynamic and marcato accents."
Example: "Isengard Unleashed" by Howard Shore from The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Assignment and Rubric
Attention Students,
The new due date for this project is Monday, December 4th (or the 5th if that's when I see you first). Don't hesitate to come to me with questions and be creative! If you can back up your decisions in visual representation with your rationale, then you are golden!
The new due date for this project is Monday, December 4th (or the 5th if that's when I see you first). Don't hesitate to come to me with questions and be creative! If you can back up your decisions in visual representation with your rationale, then you are golden!
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Days 5-7: Timbre, Articulation, and Bow Placement
Day 4: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Reading Session
Music from Walt Disney Pictures'
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
(Jack Sparrow • I've Got My Eye on You • The Kraken)
Music by Hans Zimmer
Arranged by Ted Ricketts
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST
(Jack Sparrow • I've Got My Eye on You • The Kraken)
Music by Hans Zimmer
Arranged by Ted Ricketts
Day 3: Magic in Movies
A Musical Discussion through Movement (think Musical Charades)
How can we communicate musical elements without making a sound? Focuses included range and register, dynamics, articulation, and tempo.
How can we communicate musical elements without making a sound? Focuses included range and register, dynamics, articulation, and tempo.
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Day 2: The Leitmotif in Film Music
German for “Leading motif”
“In its primary sense, a theme, or other coherent musical idea, clearly defined so as to retain its identity if modified on subsequent appearances, whose purpose is to represent or symbolize a person, object, place, idea, state of mind, supernatural force or any other ingredient in a dramatic work. A leitmotif may be musically unaltered on its return, or altered in rhythm, intervallic structure, harmony, orchestration or accompaniment, and may also be combined with other leitmotifs in order to suggest a new dramatic situation.”
Arnold Whittall, Grove Music Online
Leitmotif first used to describe Wagner’s work in 1865
Wagner (1813-1883) was a famous German opera composer known for:
- Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring Cycle)
- Lohengrin
- Tristan und Isolda
- Die Walküre
Leitmotif in Film: "Imperial March" from Star Wars by John Williams
Here are three iterations of the Imperial March over the course of Star Wars. This leitmotif has come to represent the infamous villain Darth Vader– think about what changes and what stays the same musically between these examples.
Episode V: A full representation, used to characterize a ruthless villain.
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Episode I: Woven into the end to foreshadow the dark fate of a young Anakin Skywalker.
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Episode VI: Characterizing a villain that has reached his peak and in some ways is vying for the title of "most feared".
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Day 1: Using Music Tools to Understand Film Music
An essential part of good musicianship is being about to talk about music using specialized vocabulary. This can seem like a daunting task; however, you already have a large collection of music vocabulary–you just may not know it. As members of a string orchestra, we are constantly making choices about elements such as:
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We encounter many of these terms every day in the course of our rehearsals, lessons, and personal practicing and as such we have developed a good amount of vocabulary surrounding these terms. If I asked about dynamic contrast in a piece, we could easily talk about forte, piano, crescendo, diminuendo, etc. using these and other descriptive terms (building, soft, bold, exclamatory, the list goes on and on). Think about articulation; we have been playing staccato (short), legato (smooth and connected), and marcato (hammered, marked, heavy). All of these terms and many more are applicable to film music and beyond –think about that the next time you are listening to Taylor's new single or grooving to some classic Michael Jackson in the car!
You don't appreciate what you had until it's gone... Watch these clips and question them.
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What about the music captures your attention?
How does it make you feel?
What musical aspects are apparent in your listening?
How does the music support the story the film is telling?
What emerges from the silence?
How does it make you feel?
What musical aspects are apparent in your listening?
How does the music support the story the film is telling?
What emerges from the silence?