For the assignment, you will write a 2-3 page analysis of one musical cue (double spaced, 12 pt Times News Roman font, with 1 in margins). This means you will analyze the music for one scene of a film do not try to do a longer section, or you will not be able to address it in enough depth within the page limit. Your analysis can be presented as a written essay, a podcast, or a video essay.
This cue must not:
Be one we cover in the course (check this against the syllabus and the textbook). It also may not be from a series covered in class or the textbook (this is because such series often have consistent musical themes).
Be one for which youve found an existing analysis online or in print.
Come from a different medium (i.e. it should not be from television or any medium besides film).
Your analysis must:
Make a claim about the music of the scene which functions of film music does the scene fulfill?
Describe the music in detail which instruments do you hear? Is a leitmotif used? Is the music diegetic or nondiegetic?
Explain why this is important/how the music is effective
If youre unsure about how to get started, I recommend repeated watching, and starting your notes by listing what you hear, without trying to analyze it. Identify as many aspects of the music as you can this might mean style, the kind or size of group performing the music, whether there are words, whether it sounds like something youve heard before, or any number of other observations. These observations will be the raw material for your analysis and the claim you want to make.
This is not a music major course, so while I expect you to use the terminology weve learned in the course, I do not expect you to transcribe/write down melodies or do extensive formal musical analysis.
If presenting as written essay: your analysis should follow basic essay structure, giving an introduction (where you make your claim), thematically organized paragraphs backing up that claim, and a conclusion tying it all together.
If presenting as a podcast: your analysis should follow the same basic outline, but also make use of the audio medium. For examples, you might explore the Song Exploder and Soundtrack Show podcasts.
If presenting as a video essay: your analysis should follow the same basic outline, but also make use of the video medium. For examples, you might explore Every Frame a Painting, or other video essay series.
Regardless of your chosen format, your analysis will be graded on:
Content (40% of grade): must address the scenes music with appropriate terminology, detail, and reference to film scoring practices learned in class.
Critical Thinking (40% of grade): must make an original claim about the musics function and synthesize observations to support the claim.
Communication (20% of grade): must be organized clearly and logically, with a thesis statement in the introduction, and a conclusion.
PROHIBITED SHOWS/MOVIES/SOURCES
-Forrest Gump
-Jaws-Social Network
-Pulp Fiction
-Reservoir Dogs
-The Red Violin
-Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
-Kinetoscope, Cinematographe
-Great Train Robbery
-Birth of a Nation
-Jazz Singer
-Blackmail
-Frankenstein
-Gold Diggers of 1933
-King Kong
-Bride of Frankenstein
-Wuthering Heights
-Gone With the Wind
-Wizard of Oz
-Suspicion
-Spellbound
-The Sea Hawk
-Kings Row
-Citizen Kane
-The Man Who Knew Too Much
-Vertigo
-Forbidden Planet
-High Noon
-Its Always Fair Weather
-Singin in the Rain
-Psycho
-Lawrence of Arabia
-For a Few Dollars More
-Planet of the Apes
-Breakfast at Tiffanys
-The Sound of Music
-The Graduate
-Easy Rider
-A Clockwork Orange
-Apocalypse Now
-American Graffiti
-The Omen-Halloween
-The Exorcist
-Carrie -Star Wars: A New Hope
-Raiders of the Lost Ark
-Saturday Night Fever
-Altered States
-Poltergeist
-Chariots of FireMusic videos (posted): Life on Mars?, Ashes to Ashes, Thriller
-A Hard Days Night-Labyrinth
-Glory-Willow
– Batman
– Edward Scissorhands
-The Little Mermaid
-Beauty and the Beast
-Aladdin
-Up
-Dr. Terrors House of Horrors
-Emma
-Under the Skin
-Joker
-Gladiator
-Inception
-Dunkirk
-The Social Network
-There Will Be Blood
-Phantom Thread
-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
-The Shape of Water
-The Fellowship of the Ring
– Up
– Black Panther
-Clueless-Mulholland Dr.
-Guardians of the Galaxy, vol. 2
