Film Music

1
Film Music

• GCSE

2
History of Film Music

• Early 1900s silent movies
• - silent movies soon become very boring and
  people started adding their own music to them
  usually on a piano or organ.
• Performing live along with movies became the
  start of film music

3
Growth of an Industry

• 1927 first recorded sound track heard was from
  the movie The Jazz Singer featuring Al Jolson
  this included songs and some fragments of speech.

4
A Growing Industry

• By the early 1930s music for film was beginning
  to change dramatically
• Developments in recording techniques allowed
  music to be added to film with greater ease

• Opening titles become like musical overtures to a
  film introducing us to main elements or themes
  of music.
• Similarly with closing titles reinforcing the
  mood of the end film and reminding us of main
  themes

5
Classical Music in the World of Film

• During the 1930s film makers began to borrow
  music from various famous composers. Such as
  Tchaikovsky and Strauss.
• A later and very famous example of this would be
  the open sequence from 2001 A Space Odyssey
  music originally composed by Richard Strauss.

6
Patriotic Films

• 1940s dramatic increase in film production
• Many produced to increase spirit of nations at
  war
• Music for films becomes very dramatic and
  patriotic.
• Music from the film 633 Squadron by Ron Goodwin
  become very famous

7
The Musical

• Musicals were also growing in popularity at this
  time (40s and 50s)
• Film versions of musicals were becoming big
  business
• Walt Disney cartoons started to be made in
  feature length

• Note also films where the music come first and
  pictures later the most famous being Disneys
  Fantasia
• Famous musical that have been turned into films
  include West Side Story (Bernstein), Oliver
  (Bart), Little Shop of Horrors (Menken) and Evita
  (Andrew Llyod Webber)

8
Modern Film Music

• Film and film music come in many different styles
  (developed from 60s) each style has its own
  unique features

• Styles include
• Horror
• Thriller/Action
• Science fiction
• Fantasy
• Famous composers of film music today include John
  Williams, James Horner and Danny Elfman