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Syllabus
for:
Film Music
(MUSIC 41)
University
of California, Irvine
Spring Quarter, 2002
| Course # 06063 |
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four units |
| Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1 p.m. – 2:50 p.m. |
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316 Music & Media Bldg. |
| description: |
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“Film Music” is an introductory
survey of the history and aesthetics of film music as exemplified
in Hollywood and European productions from the early 1930s to the
present day.
Topics for discussion will include --
but will not be limited to -- the dramatic function of music as an
element of cinematic diegesis and as non-diegetic underscore, the
codification of musical iconography in the standard cinematic
genres, the symbolic use of pre-existing music in film scores, and
the evolving musical styles of Hollywood composers from the 1930s
through the 1990s.
Special attention will be focused on
the scores of Max Steiner (King Kong, The Informer, Gone
With the Wind), Franz Waxman (The Bride of Frankenstein,
Dark Passage, Sunset Boulevard), Bernard Herrmann (Hangover
Square, Citizen Kane, Psycho), David Raksin (Laura),
and Dmitri Tiomkin (The Thing from Another Planet, High
Noon), and on the use of music in the films of such directors
as Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, and Terrence Malick.
In addition to lecture material,
class sessions will involve the viewing and discussion of numerous
film clips. Assignments will include readings, seven brief reports
on specified films viewed outside of class, and a final paper (2,000
words minimum)
on the role of music in an instructor-approved film of the
student's choice. |
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| instructor: |
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| required texts: |
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| Brown, Royal S. Overtones and
Undertones: Reading Film Music. |
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Berkeley: University of California Press,
1994. |
| Prendergast, Roy M. Film
Music: A Neglected Art, 2d. ed. |
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New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1992. |
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| supplementary reading (see bibliography) |
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| grades will be based on: |
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- A final paper, 2,000 words minimum, on the role of music in
an instructor-approved film of the student's choice. Final
papers must be turned in (in electronic or hard-copy format) by 5 p.m. Friday,
June 14. (25 percent)
- A closed-book mid-term exam based on readings, material covered in lectures, and
responses to film clips shown during the exam period. (25 percent)
- A comprehensive closed-book final exam (25 percent)
- Fulfillment of seven "brief review" assignments,
each of them due the Tuesday following the listing date in the
course outline.
(20 percent)
- Participation in class discussions. (5 percent)
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| Policy on academic integrity: |
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Plagiarism of any kind is a violation of UCI policy
on Academic Honesty, and penalties for plagiarism can be severe.
Students are expected to attribute due credit to the originator of
any ideas or words that are incorporated substantially into a
student’s work. This applies particularly to the citation of
sources for quotations that students include in their writings.
Violations of this policy will be reported to the office of
Academic Affairs for disciplinary action. |
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Course outline: |
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| DATE |
TOPIC |
ASSIGNMENTS |
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readings |
brief reports on (pick
one from each group): |
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INTRODUCTION |
| 4.2 |
Film music theory |
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| 4.4 |
Music
in the theater
History of cinema
Music in “silent” films |
Brown,
pp. 1-37
Prendergast, pp. 3-18 |
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THE
EARLY YEARS OF SOUND FILMS (1929-33) |
| 4.9 |
1929-33
experiments
Film economics in the 1930s
Cartoons |
Prendergast,
pp. 19-34
Brown, pp. 38-66
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King
Kong
(1933)
Of Human Bondage (1934)
due April 16 |
| 4.11 |
The
first big scores |
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THE
EARLY ‘CLASSICAL’ STYLE (1933-40) |
| 4.16 |
The
studio system
Sources of musical
style
Clichés
Genres |
Brown,
pp. 67-91
Prendergast, pp. 35-97
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Stella
Dallas
(1937)
The
Plainsman
(1936)
Rebecca (1940)
Stagecoach (1939)
due April 23 |
| 4.18 |
In-class
screening of The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
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THE
HIGH ‘CLASSICAL’ STYLE (1940-50) |
| 4.23 |
Genres
The "theme"
song
Film economics
after 1945
Breakdown of the "studio
system" |
Brown,
pp. 92-147
Prendergast, pp. 98-133
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Mildred
Pierce
(1945)
Sunset Blvd.
(1950)
Spellbound
(1945)
Laura
(1944)
due April 30 |
| 4.25 |
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REVIEW |
| 4.30 |
Film music theory
Film music vocabulary
Modes of analysis |
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| 5.2 |
mid-term exam |
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THE
1950s and ‘60s |
| 5.7 |
New
styles, new genres
Hitchcock's use of music
European developments |
Brown,
pp. 148-174
Prendergast, pp. 133-179
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The
Wrong Man
(1957)
On the Waterfront
(1954)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)
Doctor Zhivago (1965)
due May 14 |
| 5.9 |
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COMPILATIONS
and QUOTATIONS (ca. 1970) |
| 5.14 |
Feminist
film theory
Semiotic theory
Narrative theories |
Brown,
pp. 175-234
Prendergast, pp. 213-245
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Easy Rider (1969)
American Graffiti (1973)
The Graduate (1967)
Saturday Night Fever (1977)
due May 21
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| 5.16 |
Adorno's
theory of popular culture |
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THE
1970s
and EARLY ‘80s
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| 5.21 |
Eclecticism
Re-birth of the “classic” score
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Brown,
pp. 235-267 |
Taxi
Driver
(1976)
Sophie’s Choice
(1982)
The Exorcist
(1973)
Chinatown (1974)
due May 28 |
| 5.23 |
In-class
screening of Raiders
of the Lost Ark (1981)
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‘80s
and early ‘90s BLOCKBUSTERS |
| 5.28 |
Sound collage |
Brown,
pp. 269-304 |
The Hunt for Red October
(1990)
Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
(1991)
Schindler’s
List (1993)
due June 4
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| 5.30 |
Sound "auteurs"
(Kubrick, Malick) |
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CURRENT
CINEMA |
| 6.4 |
New theories |
Brown,
pp. 305-342 |
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| 6.6 |
Review |
| Exam
period (6.10-14) |
Final paper is due June
14 |
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