Compare these three horror-chase
scenes and discuss how they serve
the film and their impact on the
audience.
Halloween
1978 John
Carpenter (Play to 4.05)
The Prowler 1981
Richard Einhorn
(Play to 5.13)
Scream 1996 Marco
Beltrami (Play to 3.23)
Which do you feel was the most
effective?
What could be done to improve
each?
What are common traits?
Why are the traits common?
What is their psychological
effect?
Preliminaries
Please
Read:
Text: OTT:
The Film Making Team pgs
3-14
Text OTT: The Script
Meetings, and Screenings pgs
15-20
Psychoacoustic Effects
Cognitive and
Behavioral Effects
of Music
-a cognitive
or behavioral effect
of music elicits a change
of state.
It can cause the
listener to have
increased or diminished
awareness, cognition,
and physical and
emotional
responses.
The "Mozart Effect" -
Cognitive effect
Listen
to this and you will
be smarter
In the spring of 1993 a
psychologist named Francis
Rauscher played 10
minutes of a Mozart Piano
Sonata to 36 college students,
and after the
excerpt, gave the students a
test of spatial reasoning.
Rauscher also
asked the students to take a
spatial reasoning test after
listening to
10 minutes of silence, and,
after listening to 10 minutes
of a person
with a monotone speaking
voice.
And Rauscher says, the results
of this experiment seemed
pretty clear.
"What we found was that the
students who had listened to
the Mozart
Sonata scored significantly
higher on the spatial temporal
task."
music has the
potential to elicit
a small but
significant effect
on performance
(Karageorghis &
Terry, 1997). Music
also provides an
ideal
accompaniment for
training. Scientific
inquiry has revealed
five key
ways in which music
can influence
preparation and
competitive
performances:
dissociation,
arousal regulation,
synchronization,
acquisition of motor
skills, and
attainment of flow.Music in Sport and Exercise : An Update on Research and
Application
Noise
as torture
Sound
torture is a type
of
psychological
warfare used to
break the will of
prisoners using
loud
music or white
noise. While many
of us use music to
escape or even
center ourselves,
it can also be
used as an
instrument of
torture under
the right
conditions. Torture Methods With Sound: How Pure Noise Can Be Used
To Break You
Psychologically
Frequency
(pitch) as a
determinant of
dominance. Whose
your daddy now?
Bolinger,
Ohala, Morton and
others have
established that
vocal pitch height
is
perceived to be
associated with
social signals of
dominance and
submissiveness:
higher vocal pitch
is associated with
submissiveness,
whereas lower vocal
pitch is associated
with social
dominance. Influence
of Pitch
Height on the
Perception of
Submissiveness
and Threat in
Musical
Passages
Homework
1
The
first three
aforementioned
studies may
suggest opposing
conclusions.
Lesiuk
suggests that
there is a
positive
correlation
between listening
to music and
completing a task
and Perham and
Vizard seem to
suggest
the
opposite.
Milliman says it
depends.
However, all
studies require
specific
qualifications.
1. Discuss
these
qualifications and
their implications
in media (1/2
page)
2. Give an
example (URL) of
music that
supports your
opinion of musics
effect on
Productivity,
Cognition, and
Perception of Time
3. Is there
a difference of
importance and
impact between
cognitive and
behavioral effects
of music that is
dependent on the
type
of media to which
that music serves.
If so, why?
IN
CLASS
Discuss the
aforementioned
cognitive and
behavioral effects of
music
and how they serve or
detract from the give
media.
Titanic:
My Heart
Will Go On.
Celine
Dion, James Horner,
Will Jennings
Why
are
songs so
frequently used in
end credits? Music
with Lyrics =
cognitive
diminution:
Interferes with
understanding
underlying story
Portal
2
Advance Video @
10:20: Valve, Mike
Morasky
Music
somewhat
devoid of "change
of state"
information does
not detract from
cognition
necessary in
Puzzel genre.
Gran
Turismo 1:
Game Play
Various @
2:35
Shade, Feeder
Rally
Trophy 1:
Trailer Andy
Brick
@ 0.00
Homework
#2
Quite
a bit has
been written about
the psycho-acoustic
effects of
music.
Research
the topic.
Find a journal
article, study or
relevant publication
that presents a
psycho-acoustic
phenomenon.
Try to avoid topics
specifically related
to media.
Then, find a
parallel example of
that psycho-acoustic
phenomenon
demonstrated in
music attached to 2
currently existing
media sources
The challenge to the composer of
music for media is not only to
understand the behavioral and
cognitive effects of their music
but,
more importantly, to understand
those effects and have the skill
to
write them, on demand, with
purposeful intent.
Writing a piece of music that could
be used in an action sequence is
simple but will hardly compete
in its
ability to serve the intent of
the given media as a piece of
action
music composed with skillful
intent. Writing a piece
of music
designed to enhance a hairpin
turn on a dirt track in a rally
game will
likely be very different than a
piece of music designed to
clarify the
moment in battle the arch enemy
becomes the sympathetic
compatriot.
In order to write with
purposeful (and hopefully
skillful) intent, one
must understand how the music
serves the media. Its not
enough to
just know the psychoacoustic
effects of music. We must
be able to
trigger those effects on
demand. In order to do so
well, you must
be able to answer this question:
Why
is
the music there?
Interpretative
Anchors
Interpretative Anchors help
to clarify and enhance
intent and combat
emotional or cognitive
ambiguity. Most music
that is intentional to media
can be discussed in these
contexts and it will serve
us well to keep them in
mind.
Empathetic: Anticipatory
or Parallel.
Mood matches or
compliments action
Anempathetic:
contradicting or
indifferent to action
Emotional
enhancement:
Increases
depth of emotional
experience
Anthropologically
Significant:
Evokes a social/cultural
precept
Representation of Epoch
Diagetic: Music whose
source is visible
on the screen or whose
source is implied to be
present by the action of
the film
Behaivoral Provocation:
Somewhat
exclusive to interactive
media (games) music can
propel the audience
into predictive behaivors
IN
CLASS
Discuss the
aforementioned
interpretive anchors
as they are applied to
each of the following
clips.
Jaws (1975): Video @
1:06 John Williams
Empathetic
Anticipation:
Not just a nice
day for a swim
In
this early scene
in the movie
director Steven
Spielberg slowly
builds
an uneasy
anticipation.
Children splash in
the water, young
man
searches uneasily
for a little boy
and, of course,
the iconic
oblivious
childs song.
However, it is not
until the
introduction of
the Williams
Jaws theme that we
understand that
anticipation as
utter doom.
It's
a
hot summer on
Amity Island, a
small community
whose main
business is
its beaches. When
new Sheriff Martin
Brody discovers
the remains of a
shark attack
victim, his first
inclination is to
close the beaches
to
swimmers. This
doesn't sit well
with Mayor Larry
Vaughn and several
of
the local
businessmen. Brody
backs down to his
regret as that
weekend a
young boy is
killed by the
predator. The dead
boy's mother puts
out a
bounty on the
shark and Amity is
soon swamped with
amateur hunters
and
fisherman hoping
to cash in on the
reward. A local
fisherman with
much
experience hunting
sharks, Quint,
offers to hunt
down the creature
for
a hefty fee. Soon
Quint, Brody and
Matt Hooper from
the Oceanographic
Institute are at
sea hunting the
Great White shark.
As Brody
succinctly
surmises after
their first
encounter with the
creature, they're
going
to need a bigger
boat.
Psycho
1960:
Opening Credits
Bernard Herman and
the "Psycho Chord"
Emotional
Enhancement.
Before we see the
titles, we know
what is this movie
about.
Phoenix
officeworker
Marion Crane is fed
up with the way life
has treated her. She
has to
meet her lover Sam
in lunch breaks and
they cannot get
married because
Sam has to give most
of his money away in
alimony. One Friday
Marion is
trusted to bank
$40,000 by her
employer. Seeing the
opportunity to take
the money and start
a new life, Marion
leaves town and
heads towards
Sam's California
store. Tired after
the long drive and
caught in a
storm, she gets off
the main highway and
pulls into The Bates
Motel.
The motel is managed
by a quiet young man
called Norman who
seems to be
dominated by his
mother.
The
Godfather
1972 : Luna
Mezz 'O Mare Paolo
Citorello
Orig: Gioachino
Rossini
Diegetic Music in
the Godfather films
helps to paint a
convincing
picture of Italian
culture,
particularly through
Italian folk song
and
Italian opera thus
also serving an
Anthropolical
function.
When the aging head
of a famous crime
family decides to
transfer his
position to one of
his subalterns, a
series of
unfortunate events
start
happening to the
family, and a war
begins between all
the well-known
families leading to
insolence,
deportation, murder
and revenge, and
ends with the
favorable successor
being finally
chosen.
Dr. Strangelove 1964:
Opening Title Sequence
Try a Little
Tenderness,
Harry M. Woods,
Reginald Connelly, and
Jimmy Campbell
arr. Laurie Johnson
U.S.
Air Force General
Jack Ripper goes
completely and
utterly mad, and
sends his bomber
wing
to destroy the
U.S.S.R. He suspects
that the communists
are conspiring
to pollute the
"precious bodily
fluids" of the
American people. The
U.S. president meets
with his advisors,
where the Soviet
ambassador
tells him that if
the U.S.S.R. is hit
by nuclear weapons,
it will
trigger a "Doomsday
Machine" which will
destroy all plant
and animal
life on Earth. Peter
Sellers portrays the
three men who might
avert
this tragedy:
British Group
Captain Lionel
Mandrake, the only
person
with access to the
demented Gen.
Ripper; U.S.
President Merkin
Muffley,
whose best attempts
to divert disaster
depend on placating
a drunken
Soviet Premier and
the former Nazi
genius Dr.
Strangelove, who
concludes that "such
a device would not
be a practical
deterrent for
reasons which at
this moment must be
all too obvious".
Will the bombers
be stopped in time,
or will General Jack
Ripper succeed in
destroying
the world ?
Sim City 4: Wheels of
Progress
Andy Brick
Behaivoral Provocation
The
quasi-minimalist
nature of the score is
derived from the
direction
to be "monotonous
without being boring"
in order to aid the
player in
long periods of
repetitive
actions. Can
this be a derivite
approach to Milliman's
(above) study on
physical
Behavior? Does
the repetitive nature
of the music foster
the repetitive nature
of the
gameplay?
The game allows
players to create
cities and regions of
land.
Players can zone
different areas of
land as commercial,
industrial, or
residential
development, as well
as build and maintain
public services,
transport and
utilities. For the
success of a city,
players must manage
its finances,
environment, and
quality of life for
its residents.
Braveheart:
Diagetic and
Anthropological
Anchors
Simultaneously
William
Wallace
is a Scottish rebel
who leads an
uprising against the
cruel
English ruler Edward
the Longshanks, who
wishes to inherit
the crown of
Scotland for
himself. When he was
a young boy, William
Wallace's father
and brother, along
with many others,
lost their lives
trying to free
Scotland. Once he
loses another of his
loved ones, William
Wallace
begins his long
quest to make
Scotland free once
and for all, along
with the assistance
of Robert the Bruce.
Anthropological
Anchor
: Pipes
(Bagpipes, Highland
Pipes etc) are
the most iconic of
instruments native
to scotland.
Deliverance 1972 Dueling
Banjos:
Arthur "Guitar Boogie"
Smith.
Diagetic Music with
Anthropological Anchor
City Vs. Country Of
particular interest in
this scene is the
significance of "Im
lost"
The
Cahulawassee River
valley in Northern
Georgia is one of
the last natural
pristine areas of
the state, which
will soon change
with the imminent
building of a dam
on the river, which
in turn will flood
much of the
surrounding land. As
such, four Atlanta
city slickers -
alpha male Lewis
Medlock, generally
even-keeled Ed
Gentry, slightly
condescending Bobby
Trippe, and
wide-eyed Drew
Ballinger - decide
to take a multi-day
canoe trip on the
river, with only
Lewis and Ed having
experience in
outdoor life. They
know going in that
the area is
ethno-culturally
homogeneous and
isolated, but don't
understand the full
extent of such until
they
arrive and see what
they believe is the
result of
generations of
inbreeding. Their
relatively peaceful
trip takes a turn
for the worse
when half way
through they
encounter a couple
of hillbilly
moonshiners.
That encounter not
only makes the four
battle their way out
of the
valley intact and
alive, but threatens
the relationships of
the four as
they do and are
asked to do things
they never thought
possible within
themselves.
Now Voyager: Max
Steiner
Emotional
enhancement
and clarification :
In
the final climatic
scene
of Now Voyager,
Charlottes need for
Jerry is fully
manifest. His
acceptance of her
forbidden love is
her only possible
savior.
Jerry's uncommitted
answer "shall we
just have a
cigarette on it" is
clarified as an
afirmation of his
mutual love through
Max Steiner's
beautiful
scoring. Plot
Summary
Forbidden Love
story between Charlotte
Vale
(Bette Davis) and
Jerry (Paul Henreid)
Charlotte Vale
suffers under the
domination of her
Boston matron mother
until Dr. Jaquith
gets her to visit
his sanitarium where
she is
transformed from
frump to elegant,
independent lady.
When she goes off
on a South American
cruise she falls in
love with Jerry,
already
married. Back home
she confronts her
mother who dies of a
heart attack.
Charlotte,
guilt-ridden,
returns to the
sanitarium where she
finds
Jerry's depressed
daughter Tina. Tina
achieves happiness
through her
attachment to
Charlotte and the
two move back to
Boston. When Jerry
sees how happy his
daughter is, he
leaves her with
Charlotte.
BioShock Walkthrough
Video @ 14:00 - End
If I
didnt Care
The Ink Spots 1939
Representation of
Epoch.
Although
much of the score is
in a typically
thriller/horror
genre, there is a
significnat portion
of music that
harkens to epoch of
the game
(1940-50-60) which
itself has stylistic
elements of that
period. BioShock
is set in 1960 in
the underwater city
of
Rapture, planned and
constructed in the
1940s. The city's
history is
mostly revealed via
audio recordings the
player can collect
during the
game.
Homework
#3
Find
3 media
examples of any of
the aforementioned
musical Interpretive
Anchors and
present them in the
next class.
An excellent analysis
of different types of
cadences that are
emblematic in
hollywood film
scores. If you
are serious about
scoring, this is a
must read! Big
shout out to author
and music theorist
Frank
Lehman
20th
Century Fox Logo: Note
the very skilled balance of
mixed modality and a
traditional I-V-I
Brass and percussion for the
Fanfare. Strings and
Winds for the lyrical
statement. Please see
example 1 in the above article
by
Frank Lehman for a much more
indepth explanation of this
iconic cue.
This week's Film Score Theory
Analysis Courtesy of FilmScoreAnalysis
