1. Film Description: Title of Film: ____________________________________________

1. Film Description:
Title of Film: ________________________________________________
Release Year: ____________
Total duration in minutes: _____________
Film Genre: ____________________________________________________________
Dominant language: __________________________________________
Country (of production): _________________________________
Director: ______________________________________
Composer(s): __________________________________________
Other Important Music Contributors: _______________________________________________
2. Brief plot summary of film:(75-100 words)
3. Describe (as best you can) the overall nature of the music in terms of its:
Style(s)/Genre(s) (50 – 75 words)
For example: Late 19thcentury romantic, Mid 20thcentury jazz, 1960’s rock and roll.
Orchestration (instrumentation) (50 – 100 words)
For example: Conventional orchestra, small jazz ensemble (bass, drums, piano, saxophone), conventional rock band (drums, electric bass and guitar, organ.)
Does the music (at any time during the film) relate to and/or support the film’s geographic location, time period, genre, the status of the characters? (50-100 words)
Any distinctive qualities/attributes of the music? Or not?
For example: Conventional, conservative, tonal film music score, representative of the time, with a heavy emphasis on strings. Or, highly distinctive through composer’s use of electronic instruments, mid-20thcentury musical idioms such as chromaticism, serialism, extensive use of percussion.
4. List any apparent music themes noting:
Musical qualities of the theme:
For example “theme is a short melody played on the trumpet” or “theme is always played on a piano” or“theme is a sad melody consisting of rising pitches played by strings” or “theme is a rousing, rhythmic rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In”.
Give each theme a name and description:
For example “The Main Theme appears first in the opening credits. It sets the tone of the drama in so far as it has a very somber feel.”
For each theme that you identify, indicate as best you can how many times it is used:
For example: “Main Theme appears 3 times – used in the opening titles and when our main character reaches her goal. It also appears at the end of the film.
Indicate for each theme if it changes when it re-appears or if it remains pretty much the same.
For example in Spielberg’s “Jaws” the musical theme for the shark remains pretty consistent throughout the film – same rhythm, orchestration/timbre.
(up to a 500 words)
5. Discuss the film’s music in relation to Claudia Gorbman’s VII Principles of Composition (her Rules of Narrative Film Music), giving a different example from the film for each rule. (An “example” is a description of a scene with a description of the music in relation to the rule/principle.) In the off chance a given rule has no examples in this film offer your best opinion as to why.
Invisibility
Inaudibility
Signifier of Emotion
Narrative Cueing
Continuity
Unity
A Given Film May Violate Any of the Above Principles, Providing the Violation is at the Service of the Other Principles.
(1000 words)