A2
To find inspiration, examples of good practice, we (briefly) investigating the moving image culture in historical context with examples of silent films, talkies, studio systems and important musical styles.
[ add: picture: silent films with live music ]
At first, the music that went with these films was taken from anywhere, classical favourites, popular songs, folk song or cafe music. There was little or no attempt to give the music a dramatic importance, it was there to enliven the audience's experience. (Davis, 2010, p5)
A2,A3,A4
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To clarify, the term silent film doesn't mean that there is no sound, just that sound and film is not synced with with technology.
To think about. Imagine that you make music to a silent film from the 1920s today! Would you stick to the style from that era or perhaps experiment with something completely new, modern or perhaps a fusion of the two, your style. A2
Technology advanced and allowed the marriage of sight and sound.
Tech 1 - Phonograph
Tech 2 - Audion Vacuum Tube
>3.30
and here. Tech 3 - Vitaphone and Talkies
The first movies where people were talking are called talking pictures or talkies.
Interesting:
Some film-makers refused to make talkies because:
Some believed that talkies lacked the artistry of silent films.
Sound has spoiled the most ancient of the world's arts, the art of pantomime, and has canceled out the great beauty that is silence. ~ C. Chaplin
Conversation on this topic can be found here, a movie about Chaplin's life, 'Chaplin' (1992) played by Robert Downey Jr. here and Chaplin writing about his rejection of the talkies here.
Also, Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World condemns talkies. Read more about this and the future cinema with 'smell' here. Full article can be accessed through your ARU library account. Have you used the digital library?
Tech 4 - Dubbing
Rercording technology developed and allow good quality sound to be recorded separately to the film. When music, dialogue and sound effects are mixed together is dubbing.
This new technology [dubbing] made the process of including music in films much more flexible and less expensive, and by the early 1930s, directors and producers began to accept that the film's underscore was a critical component. (Davis, 2010, p15)
Tech 5 - Stereo
The stereo was introduced by Columbia's Studios in 1931 and surround sound in 1952 by Fred Waller's Cinerama system with 20th Century Fox. The surround system cost too much to be implemented in many cinemas, however, it has shown how much different the sound experience can be to a home TV setting. A1-4
Interesting:
Music in films 'had to be seen' as well. Producers felt a need to explain the music with some visuals so they made the music diegetic. Music with a scene played in a cafe or nightclub was easily justifiable, however, a wandering violinist in a forest playing a romantic melody while the actors are kissing looks a bit weird to our eyes nowadays. Producers felt that the audience wouldn't accept music that is not visually present in the movie. Of course, this wasn't always the case, some directors were experimenting...
More on audio technology developments can be read in 'The History of Sound in the Cinema' here article.
This period of time is also called the 'Golden Age of Hollywood' and was the most productive time in the history of film - many films were made. The ideology of studios, "If it works, do it again!", was implemented in 'in-house music studios to streamline music production. Many people went to movies at least once a week in America, so there were many movies to be made. Often a composer had only five days to compose a whole score - today a film music composer could have about eight weeks for one movie.
When is your deadline?
Well-trained European composers flew to America, many times escaping the Nazis. (Were European composers better trained than American ones?) Contemporary music wasn't used in films as it was a bit too alien to the audience - the music of Stravinsky, Bartók, Schönberg wasn't familiar to people who went to cinemas. Classical music's harmonic structures are easier understood by middle-class people who were visiting the movies the most. Musical themes, leitmotif started to be attached to characters - repeating motives reinforced the audience's understanding of the plot. The music in general was romantic, lush (Davis, 2010).
What are the most popular types of movies in the cinemas nowadays and who are the audiences?
Films with interesting sound:
Max Steiner: Casablanca
An example of moving from diegetic to nondiegetic music in one scene. >2:20
Producers introducing contemporary classical composers e.g. Stravinsky, Bartók, Schönberg to their films. There were more experimentations with dissonance, atonality, popular, jazz and rock ideas.
From the beginning of the 60s, people started owning TVs at home. This wasn't good business for film studios and cinemas. For a few years, studios didn't allow their movies to be shown on TV. However, later they gave up and started producing TV shows, sit-coms in their studios.
Also, this was the time when theme songs became more significant in films as studios could collect royalties when the music was played on the radio. They could also sell records, the soundtracks of the movies. Some examples: The Pink Panther (1936), Batman (1960), Dr No - James Bond (1962), Bodyguard (1992).
Films with interesting sound:
Citizen Kane (1941) by Orson Welles, music by Bernard Herrmann
>1.00
, short 5-15sec musical cues instead constant background music. More about this in this essay. Trailer to the movie. A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) by Elia Kazan, music by Alex North
... North's score combining blue-tinged jazz melodies and harmonies with increased dissonance levels, melodic angularity and economical chamber textures, thereby encapsulating four of the most important film-score trends that increasingly asserted themselves during the 1950s" (Cooke, 2008).
East of Eden (1953) by Elia Kazan, music by Leonard Rosenman
>30s
.Ben Hur (1959) by William Wyler, music by Miklós Rózsa
>20s
.The Graduate (1967) by Mike Nichols
The film, which began the trend of using pop lyrics to suggest a character's otherwise unvoiced preoccupations represented the first attempt to integrate multiple non-diegetic songs with a linear narrative (REF needed).
Clip here >30s
and here, trailer here.
Forbidden Planet (1956) by Fred M. Wilcox, music by Bebe and Louis Barron
>
.Birds (1963) by Alfred Hitchcock, music by Bernard Herrmann
Multitrack recording and overdubbing made life easier and provided room for creativity.
Films with interesting sound:
Jaws (1975) by Steven Spielberg, music by John Williams
>40s
, article here.John Williams has made our movie more adventurous and gripping than I ever thought possible (Steven Spielberg).
Star Wars by Steven Spielberg, music by John Williams
>
with Ben Burtt and the secrets of Star Wars' sound design. Films with interesting sound:
Chariots of Fire (1981) by Hugh Hudson, music by Vangelis
>
, documentary here.Can you think of films with wordmusic and pop influence orchestra?
discuss
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Could you prepare short presentations with films paying particular attention to sound/music in this period? +points
Consider investigating lists like this or even this.
Have chosen one film yet?
Who has some work (A1) to show to the class?
Find cues in material for A2.
Film as dream, film as music. No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls. ~ Ingrid Bergman
Never let your wife prevent you from buying equipment. A car will not buy a synthesizer, but a synthesizer can buy a car. ~ Hans Zimmer