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.

Citizen Kane

The music in Citizen Kane served to set the mood for each scene and it joined the scenes together during flashbacks. When the film first started the music was very low, quiet, dark, and foreboding. Instantly the audience knew that the plot would be somber and dramatic. The first real scene then was of Kane uttering his last word "rosebud" and then him dropping the snow globe and dying. The music quickly changed then to almost a fanfare while the headlines from the newspapers discussed his death. This change in musical tone also helped the audience to understand how the newspaper worked in Kane's life. The music was like a fanfare because he was the unloved hero so it was right that the music advertising his death would be dramatic, loud, and almost triumphant.

The film's music was mostly underscoring that ran throughout most scenes. It was not wall to wall music, but the music was very prominent. The use of underscoring when the scenes changed to flashbacks really helped to make the film cohesive. The underscoring in these scene changes also really helped to set the mood for each flash back.

One thing I noticed in this film was a lot of use of piano. The piano was used for diagetic music but the underscoring also seemed to rely heavily on the piano. The romantic scenes used flutes, clarinets, and the piano; as a result very few strings were used.
Overall, the music in Citizen Kane functioned very well in setting the tone of the scenes as the movie progressed and in creating continuity among the flashbacks.

Double Indemnity

Double Indemnity was created in the film noir style. This style appeared around 1946 and it is characteristically dark and pessimistic. Some of the other distinctive elements are that there are very few music cues, low instrumentation, an unusual orchestral sound, dissonant harmonies, and the occasional use of jazz as diagetic music. Double Indemnity used almost all of these characteristics and the effect was a very dramatic and suspenseful movie.

The opening credits began with very dissonant chords done in the low register that gave the music a very dark, foreboding sound. Throughout the rest of the film, the music never became much lighter. The melody used in the opening credits reappeared every time evil was portrayed which was often when Mr. Neff was talking about murder in the flashbacks. The film noir characteristic of jazz diagetic music was also used in Double Indemnity. When Walter went to talk to Phyllis about "getting off of the trolley car" there was jazz music that could be heard that was coming from a radio up the street. Walter even talked about it asking where the music was coming from, and then later when he closed the window because he couldn't handle it.

One interesting way the music was used in the film was for the flashbacks. When Mr. Neff was talking in the office on the recorder, there was no music, but when the scene changed to the flashback a very quiet, gentle violin melody began to play. This was very helpful in alerting the audience when there was going to be a flashback.

Overall, Double Indemnity was a comprehensive portrayal of the film noir style.

The Sea Hawk

One musical technique that Korngold used in The Sea Hawk was foreshadowing. Near the beginning of the movie, Queen Elizabeth looked at a picture of the Spanish King James and the music became very dissonant and menacing. Later the audience learns the reason for this shift in music, when King James demands that Queen Elizabeth arrest all English sailors. At that point in the movie, Elizabeth was very mad at James for his assumption that he could control her and the music definitely mimicked these feelings. James's picture was actually removed from the wall so that Queen Elizabeth did not have to look at him anymore. The musical shift in tone when Elizabeth first looked at the painting really did not make sense until King James tried to use his power to control the Queen. I thought this use of music for foreshadowing purposes was very creative and well executed.

Another technique that Korngold used in The Sea Hawk was underscoring that became diagetic music. In the scenes where Capitan Thorp comes to court to see the Queen after he sinks the Spanish ship, the music starts out as underscoring, but as trumpeters and buglers are seen trumpets become much more prominent in the music and it is understood that the characters can hear the trumpets. The one problem though is that there is still a full orchestra accompaniment that the audience can hear, but we assume that the characters cannot. This happens several times because trumpets are used to announce people to the Queen. On the ship Korngold made the diagetic music more obvious because he added the rest of the orchestra after the diagetic music was finished. However, in court the music was never just trumpets, it was always a full orchestra the trumpets just became louder to symbolize that they were diagetic.

I also really liked when the underscoring portrayed Captain Thorp's thoughts. When he first started falling in love with Maria the underscoring was gentle and romantic whenever he thought of her or talked to her, but when his crew was teasing him his glare was accompanied with a harsh change in melody and tone to show his irritation at their jokes. The music quickly resumed its gentle melody though because his thoughts did not stray long from Maria.

Overall, the music made The Sea Hawk a very powerful and engaging movie.

Gone With the Wind

The most notable music in Gone With the Wind is Tara's theme. Every time Scarlett gets back to Tara the music is triumphant, upbeat, and hopeful. Scarlett is almost always struggling when she returns to Tara, but the use of trumpets in Tara's melody reminds the audience of Scarlett's love for Tara and her determination to succeed. Tara's theme does not stay triumphant for long when Scarlett realizes just how much has been lost in the war, but the sense of pride that the melody evokes does not waver. Scarlett is frantic when she first gets home after fleeing Atlanta, but she is still determined to stay and make Tara profitable again. The very last scene best depicts Scarlett's love for Tara through the music because Scarlett this time is devastated; Rhett left her and she has hit bottom, but Tara's theme is very boisterous and expectant in the last scene. This tells the audience that Scarlett will make it because her love for Tara will help her through anything.

The rest of the music throughout the film was very important for moving the action forward and for foreshadowing events. One scene that I thought was very poignant was the battle scene with all of the fallen soldiers. The use of the "Dixie" while showing the dead men, and then transitioning to "Taps" was a very strong use of score music. "Dixie" is understood to represent the South, and "Taps" is very powerful because it's always used at a soldier's funeral so the combined use of these songs made the scene very moving.

Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein

The movie Frankenstein used very little music throughout the entire film. There was no underscoring at all, which at times made the movie seem undramatic. The lack of foreboding or ominous music also made the characters seem like they were often overreacting to the situation because the audience was not as involved in the tension. The opening credits of Frankenstein did have music though which set the tone for the entire film. The music was done in minor chords and it was loud and foreboding. The very first scene also had music, but the sounds were ominous church bells in the distance. There was a long period without any music that lasted for close to 45 minutes. Then towards the end diagetic music could be heard in the form of church bells when Henry was getting ready for his wedding, and street musicians who were playing for the dancers. The use of music helped to enhance the mood of these scenes. However, since the music was coming from a source it didn't stop when the mood changed, so the joyful church bells sounded out of place when Henry and the town were looking for the monster.

The almost constant use of underscoring in The Bride of Frankenstein was a drastic contrast to Frankenstein. The underscoring really helped to draw the audience into the action of the movie, and it made the tensions and trials seem stronger and more important than the struggles that were experienced in Frankenstein. The music created a mood with a sense of danger, fear, and impending doom. It also helped the audience to understand what the monster was thinking. When the monster was angry the music was loud, low, and in a minor key. In the scene with the blind man, the music was soft and light leading the audience into a sense of security that the monster was not going to harm the blind man. The overall tone of the music in The Bride of Frankenstein was much lighter than in Frankenstein. Even the opening credits had a hopeful melody. There were also many times throughout the movie where the music was triumphant sounding, and whenever the monster first saw a girl the music became sweet, wistful, and romantic.

Overall, I preferred the use of underscoring in the movie. It might have been because I am so used to watching movies with underscoring that I depend on it, but I didn't feel like Frankenstein was more relalistic without the underscoring because then it seemed overacted. After watching the two movies back to back I was really surprised to find how important music is to a film. I have never paid very close attention to the score of a movie, but after not having much of one in Frankenstein, I really appreciated it in the sequel.