Music F337: Music for Radio and Television First Summer 2003
Topic: Music in Film Sound
Unique # 79210
Meets daily 1:00-2:30 in MRH 2.634
Instructor: David Neumeyer
Office: MRH 3.748. ph. 471-7346. email:
neumeyer@mail.utexas.edu
Web site for this course: url TBA
Hours: 12:00-12:30 and 2:30-3:00 MTWTHF. If you need to meet with me at another
time, ask for an appointment.
DESCRIPTION:
Our object in this course
is to develop skills in analyzing the sound track, music's role in the sound
track, and the relation of sound track and imagetrack (especially relating to
music) on small-scale and large-scale (narrative) levels. The course develops
critical listening and viewing skills at the same time it offers a film-music
history survey. I will give a series of lectures at the beginning of the
semester as a concentrated introduction to the history of music in film; we
will spend the rest of our time building on this information to refine skills
in critical viewing through the analysis of films and film techniques as they
relate to film-music's narrative functions. The broader field, of which musics
in sound cinema, radio, television, and recording are all part, is called
phonography.
I have designed the course
so that you can be successful if you have EITHER background in music history or
theory OR background in film history or theory. As I said in the course
announcement, however, musical background is not a prerequisite. Information and
skills from courses such as Introduction to Film, Music Appreciation, or
Introduction to Music Theory can be helpful, but are not necessary for success
in this course. The main requirement is a willingness to listen carefully and
to articulate what you hear.
TEXTS:
1. Michel Chion, Audio-Vision: Sound on
Screen (New York: Columbia University
Press, 1994). Available at Coop East.
2. Readings taken from George Burt, The Art
of Film Music, and Claudia Gorbman, Unheard Melodies. These readings and other
materials will be available on Electronic Reserves. More information about our
class reserves site, including the password, will be provided during the first
week.
Requirements:
1. Readings and class participation. Because
of the time constraints of this short semester, there will be no assigned
readings other than those identified above. I do not keep attendance, but you
will find it impossible to pass the second exam, and therefore the course,
without regular class attendance because the skills needed are taught primarily
through our class examples and discussions. I also reserve the right to assign
a failing grade to anyone whose attendance is obviously so poor that she or he
has not contributed to the class. I define "obviously so poor" as
"missing a week or more without clearing it with me first."
2. Occasional, one-page ’Äúpapers’Äù written in
class in response to a specific film clip and a music/sound problem. These
papers will be returned the following day with comments and will serve as the
basis for class discussion. I will record the fact that you did the work but
the papers will not be graded. The number of these papers is between 4 and 7
and will occur during the second unit (on Chion).
3. Exam 1 on terms, film composers, studios
(look under "Schedule" below for study guide and sample exam).
4. Exam 2 consists of (1) analysis of a film
scene with music, using specific questions drawn from Chion, Burt, and Gorbman;
and (2) a commutation test (applying and evaluating different kinds of music)
for another film scene. A study guide will be posted by mid-semester, or June
23.
Each exam counts 50% toward the final grade.
SCHEDULE:
Week 0:
Wednesday June 4: Introduction; syllabus.
Thursday 5: Begin "five-minute" history of film
music: ’Äúsilent’Äù film performance practices. Read Gorbman, Unheard Melodies,
Introduction and ch. 1 (Electronic Reserves). Last day of the official
add/drop period.
Friday 6: Continue "five-minute"
history: The Jazz Singer and the
beginning of film sound. Read Gorbman, Unheard Melodies, ch. 2 (ER).
Week 1:
Monday 9: Continue "five-minute" history:
early musicals. Last day an undergraduate student may add a course except for
rare and extenuating circumstances.
Tuesday 10: Continue "five-minute"
history: the ’Äúintegrated musical.’Äù
Wednesday 11: Continue
"five-minute" history: standardization of practices for non-diegetic
music in the late 1930s and 1940s (the ’Äúgolden era’Äù). Read Gorbman, Unheard
Melodies, ch. 4 (ER).
Thursday 12: Continue "five-minute"
history: the treatment of diegetic musics in the ’Äúgolden era.’Äù
Friday 13: Continue "five-minute"
history: music in the early sound films of other countries (1930-1960).
Week 2:
Monday 16: Exam 1. Go to: Guide for Exam 1.
Sample Exam. Go to: Sample Exam. A
self quiz for framing terms is available at Self Quiz. Exam
Answers. Go to: Exam 1 Answers.
Tuesday 17: Continue "five-minute"
history: the 1950s. Last day to
drop a course without a possible academic penalty.
Wednesday 18: Continue
"five-minute" history: the 1950s, completed. Read Burt, The Art of
Film Music, ch. 3. final section
(Electronic Researves).
Thursday 19: Continue "five-minute"
history: stereo, pop scores, Dolby
Friday 20: Complete "five-minute"
history: traditional practices in three recent films (titles tba).
Week 3:
Monday 23: Read Chion, Foreword (Walter
Murch), Preface and ch. 1.
Notes on Chion, Preface and Chapter
1. Go to: Chion,
preface/chapter 1 notes. See a
detailed table of contents for all chapters in this book at Michel Chion,
Audiovision: Sound on Screen: Detailed Table of Contents
Tuesday 24: Continue Chion, ch. 1. Last day
a student may change registration in a course to or from the pass/fail or
credit/no credit basis.
Wednesday 25: Read Chion, ch. 2.
Thursday 26: continue Chion, ch. 2.
Notes on Chion, Chapter 2. Go to: Chion, chapter 2
notes
Friday 27: Read Chion, ch. 3.
Notes
on Chion, Chapter 3. Go to: Chion, chapter 3 notes
Week 4:
Monday June 30: continue Chion, ch. 3.
Class notes for
today. Go to: Class notes.
Tuesday July 1: Read Chion, ch. 4.
Wednesday 2: continue Chion, ch. 4.
Notes on Chion, Chapter 4. Go to: Chion, chapter 4
notes.
Thursday 3: Read Chion, ch. 6 and Burt, The
Art of Film Music, ch. 3 (ER).
Notes on Chion, Chapter 6. Go to: Chion, chapter 5 notes
Friday 4: Independence Day holiday. No class.
Week 5:
Monday 7: Finish Chion ch. 6 and Curt ch. 3; Read
Chion, ch. 10.
Tuesday 8: continue Chion, ch. 10.
Notes on Chion, Chapter 10. Go to: Chion, chapter
10 notes
Wednesday 9: Last class day: Exam 2. This exam
tests skills in critical listening based on Chion; it is not a cumulative final
exam.
Go to: Guide for Exam 2.
Thursday 10-Friday 11: Final examinations for
first-term courses. Our date & time: Friday 13, 7:00-10:00 pm. We do not
have a cumulative final exam and the class will not meet at this time.
NOTICE: The University of Texas at Austin
provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified
students with disabilities. For more information, contact the Office of the
Dean of Students at 471-6259, 471-4641 TTY.
NOTE: The two appendices are now in separate files. Go
to:
George Burt, The Art of
Film Music: Detailed Table of Contents.