MS 272 - Film Music

Music has played an important part of the movie-going experience since the beginnings of the film industry in the 1890s. This course charts the development of music and sound in film, from its origin through the silent movie era and on to the great film composers of the twentieth century and today. We will discuss music’s various functions in the history of film music from silent film, through classic Hollywood film scoring as well as foreign movies from France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, to more recent approaches that inform and challenge our narrative perception. Attention will also be given to the recent development of video gaming and its use of music. Students will learn the fundamental elements of a film score, investigate how a film composer works, and develop a vocabulary for describing and assessing film music.