Music in Motion Pictures: A Guide Through the Art and Craft of Film Music

Music for films holds a fascinating place in our musical heritage. On one hand, it is often seen as populist and commercial while on the other hand it has displayed some of history’s highest technical and artistic standards. What this shows is that the world of film music is incredibly nuanced. Film music is multi-stylistic, culturally diverse, collaborative, and learning about it sheds insight into exciting shifts that have occurred throughout history. One learns not only about the music when studying a film score but also about the power of story, technology, and changing worldviews. Film music is part of a broader moving picture experience in which hearing the intricacies of music brings about unexpected delights within other sound, narrative, and visual dimensions.

Music in Motion Pictures: A Guide Through the Art and Craft of Film Music equips students with the essential navigational tools to discuss, listen, and analyze film music (fundamentals) and then take them on a tour of the multitude of influences and influencers within film music from its earliest conceptions to the mid-twentieth century. After the fundamental section, each chapter has a focus on a particular composer and film yet, these are always presented within a contextual backdrop for surely, “no man is an island” and this quote is most applicable to film music. The rise of the moving picture studio, developing camera technology, prestige films of the time, genre, and what is often neglected, the influence of the director are all surveyed in Chapters 7–14 to give the reader an interdisciplinary contextualization of film music.

This eBook includes many links to video, print, and sound resources. Transcriptions of melodies are provided by the author and are typically slightly modified. Music majors are welcome to build on the provided notated material with more detailed transcriptions while nonmajors are encouraged to use the notation within their critical listening activities. Each of the historical sections of the book focus on the influences around a particular composer and feature film. Thus, discussions on nonmusical contributions should be welcome to provide a multidisciplinary perspective.