Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

From the first scene in the Lord of the Rings the music was present almost constantly. The underscoring was not always obvious or obtrusive many different times it was extremely quiet in the background. It was also apparent from the start that Howard Shore was using a full orchestra. At many different times the music also sounded very fantasy-like or almost angelic. This was first noticed when Sam, Frodo, and Gollum started on their journey at the very beginning of the film. Another aspect of the music that I noticed was the elfin theme. In the first scene when Gollum finds the ring and kills the other man because of it there is music in the background that sounds like singing and it seems to reappear whenever the elves or ring are making a dramatic movement. The music overall was very dramatic and it accented the action of each scene. When the battles were about to start the music would start very softly and then gradually get louder as the fighting became more imminent. The use of French horns, low brass, cellos, and trumpets created a darker more dangerous melody. At the end then too when Frodo was waking up in the bed surrounded by his friends the music was very joyful and hopeful. It reminded me of springtime. The use of instruments like violins, clarinets, and cheerful trumpets made the music even more jubilant.

Big Fish

The first thing I noticed about the music in Big Fish was its fantasy-like quality. The use of strings and gentle woodwinds created a romantic, hopeful, and almost childlike tone. If a fairy tale could be told through music, this score was that music. I also immediately noticed that the music was only present when a story was being told. When real life was being shown there was no music until a story started, or an aspect of a story was shown. An example of this is when the son was skimming the pool. While he was skimming the music started and all of a sudden he saw a huge catfish in the pool.

The music was also very fitting for each story. The fish story had a flowing smooth melody, while the story about the witch with the glass eye had a more haunting suspenseful melody. Also the use of popular songs helped to show time and place as time progressed in the stories. An example of this was when the song "All Shook Up" was played during the war scene in Japan. Also the music in Spectre the first time was very country and folksy which gave the setting a homier feel and it helped the audience to know that it truly was a nice happy town.

Overall, the music was very well done, and the use of a full orchestra contributed to the fantasy motif. The use of the music to separate the stories from real life also helped the audience to understand what was happening in the movie.

Malcolm X

The music in the film Malcolm X was very interesting. When the movie started the music was swing music with some jazz and blues. The swing music helped to set the time and place for the movie because the audience immediately placed the setting in the 1950's. The jazzy music that was used for underscoring made the characters' actions seem even more risqué and dangerous.

The music changed then when violent acts started to happen. When the house was burned the music became very dramatic and a lot more percussion was used. Then when Malcolm was in jail the music was very slow and gentle, not at all jazzy or swing style. By the middle of the film the music had become very dramatic and was following the action of the scenes. I think this was demonstrating that Malcolm had grown up. The jazzy, swing style of his youth showed that he was willing to take chances and he didn't care about what others thought, but the dramatic music once he was grown showed how he was becoming affected by the world around him and his problems had gotten bigger than just girl trouble.

There were a couple times during the movie when music with lyrics was used, which was a newer idea in film scoring. Arguments had been made against using lyrical songs in a film because the lyrics overshadow the action, but I felt like the songs with lyrics really added to the movie because the lyrics helped to emphasize the characters' thoughts and feelings. The scene where I thought the lyrics really enhanced the film and acted as foreshadowing was when Malcolm and his family were driving separately to the meeting house where he was giving a speech. The song "It’s a long time coming" was playing loudly because there was no dialogue happening, and the song really created a sense of foreboding and sorrow in the scene.

Overall, I thought the music really played an important role in the film. The music seemed to tell its own story that ran parallel to the action on screen.

The Mission

The first thing I noticed about the music in The Mission was its use for setting the time and place. The very first sounds we hear are "native" sounds that are played on either an alto or a bass flute. The sounds are very short and staccato which gave them the exotic, native motif. This helped the audience to understand that the music was based in a remote location most likely in a jungle.

The music throughout the move was very romantic sounding which was possibly used to make the setting seem tranquil. The score also had a lot of sequencing. This was especially noticeable when Rodrigo was trying to climb up the mountain while pulling the armor behind him as his penance. The sequencing was effective because it helped to move the scene forward without distracting from the action. The repetitive notes also helped to emphasize the repetitive actions that were being taken by Rodrigo as he climbed up the mountain and then fell back down a little.

In several emotional scenes, the music seemed to do the talking. When the church was built the was almost no speaking for the montage scene but the music was very uplifting and it was sung in a different language that made it even more effective because it seemed to be sung by the people in the scenes. The song was very triumphant and happy and the effect of the music was more powerful than words could have been.

Overall, the music was very effective when setting the location of the movie and it often helped to enhance the onscreen action. There were times when I felt like the romantic, fully orchestrated music was not relevant to the scene, but my opinion of the music's relevance changed as the film progressed. It was only in the first few scenes that I didn't understand why the music was so concert like and romantic because by the end I came to expect it sense the music represented the innocence and peaceful atmosphere of the mission.

Star Wars

Star Wars was created during the postmodernism phase and more specifically the neoclassic phase. Neoclassicism was marked by a return to the classical period. The full orchestra was used again, the music had a post romantic style, there was constant underscoring, and there was use of leitmotifs and themes. There were also some romantic elements including the theme of a mysterious past and the sights and sounds that were used to create an emotional response.

The first element I noticed in Star Wars was the wall to wall underscoring. After recently watching Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid I was surprised at how much music there was in Star Wars. I also noticed that the music was again using the full orchestra and that all of the pieces had a distinct melody. Unlike the music used in 2001: A Space Odyssey, the music in Star Wars was very concert like and harmonious. The music used throughout the film also aided the action on scene without being too dramatic or clichéd. During the fight scene on the space ship at the end the music was pretty constant with only a few dramatic pauses, but it was very quite and in the background. Occasionally the music did become louder as the scene would get more dramatic and the notes would become more staccato, but overall the effect that music had on the scene was very powerful without being over the top. I really feel like the music used in Star Wars was the best example of film music we have heard so far. The music increased the drama, helped us to understand a character's feelings through leitmotifs, and the music was beautiful. While listening to the film I felt like the entire score could easily have been played as a symphonic concert.

2001: A Space Odyssey

I did not like the film 2001: A Space Odyssey when I watched it in high school, and I thought that after watching it again this time while focusing on the music I would appreciate it more, but I still did not like any part of this movie. Although the theme is very well known and a well written piece, the music overall is not melodic or in any way an asset to the film. While the space ship is traveling to the moon there are random waltzes playing, which are very pretty pieces but they seem to have no relevance to the action. I did not feel that the "Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies" had anything to do with a spaceship. Also all of the music used in the film was stock music. I checked on the DVD case and a composer was not even credited, leading me to believe that the music was all borrowed from other composers. When the main theme or random waltzes were not being played there was a lot of noise made by a synthesizer. I would not call this music necessarily because it had no harmony, melody, rhythm, or key. It sounded at many times like an orchestra was warming up. There was also a great deal of time where there was no music which was almost better because the music seemed so out of place. There was a scene too where the one man was floating off into space where there was absolutely no sound at all, not even diegetic sounds. Overall, I did not think the music enhanced the movie or benefitted it in any way except for the beginning and ending scenes when the main theme was played.

Vertigo

The music in the film Vertigo is what made the movie a thriller. Without the music it would have been a very boring movie. There was very little action and nothing in particular made the movie suspenseful or dramatic except the music. Overall, the melodies throughout the film had a darker tone and they were dramatic because of an underlying rhythm. There was also a lot of sequencing which created a suspenseful atmosphere. To heighten the tension in the scenes there was a large range of pitch used which created a clashing effect. For example the melody when John was following "Carlotta" in the cemetery was very high pitched, but then all of a sudden a very low rhythm developed under the melody. The use of dissonant chords suddenly in a repetitive sequence also created tension and drama. Near the end of the movie there were also a lot of fast rhythms used as a base line that made all of the action seem more desperate. Hitchcock also used mostly strings in the music, but they were always sounding desperate not smooth and lyrical like you would expect them to sound.

The first thing that I noticed though with Vertigo that I didn't expect was the use of underscoring. After having heard about Hitchcock's dislike for underscoring in Lifeboat, I assumed that he used very little underscoring in all of his movies, but Vertigo was almost constant underscoring. There were a few instances of diagetic music, the first on being near the beginning when John is bothered by the music he hears in Midge's house. There were also a few scenes without music, mainly when John was talking to Midge, but in general the music was almost constantly heard.

Overall, I thought this was one of the best examples of what music can do for a movie because the film could have been very slow and anti-climatic, but with the constant music full of dramatic, frantic chords and rhythms the film was very intense and suspenseful.