Exam 1 Key Terms Flashcards
Rhythm
an organized pattern (arrangement of durations) of musical sounds occurring over time
Beat
a unit of musical time, often perceives as a regular, underlying pulse
Accent
the stressing of a note by playing it louder than the surrounding notes
Meter
a recurring pattern of strong and weak beats, in relation to which rhythm proceeds and is perceived
Tempo
the speed of music
Dynamics
the volume of sound, the loudness or softness of a musical passage (terms piano used for soft, forte for loud)
Pitch
the relative highness or lowness of a sound
Interval
the difference between two pitches, sounded either in succession or simultaneously
Melody
a musical pattern that combines a sequence of pitches and rhythms occurring over time
Motive
a short fragment of melody or rhythm used in constructing a long section of music (a short musical fragment reused in multiple ways)
Theme
a clearly defined longer melody that is developed or altered throughout a composition
Harmony
the simultaneous sounding of different pitches.
Chord
a grouping of pitches played and heard simultaneously
Consonance
intervals or chords that sound stable and free from tension
Dissonance
intervals or chords that sound relatively tense and unstable
Texture
blend of various sounds and melodic lines occurring simultaneously in a piece of music
Tone Color (Timbre)
The sound quality of a particular instrument, voice, or combination of instruments or voices
Audiovisual Contract
film viewers intuitively accept the notion that image and sound mutually influence one another
Synchronization
appropriate temporal linking of sound to image; aids the impression that sound emanates from the world of the screen, an effect that is essential to orienting our relation to the screen
Added Value
the additional information or aesthetic shaping that the sound track brings to the image track
3 Components of the soundtrack
Speech/Dialogue, Sound Effects, Music
Diegetic
music in the story of the world
Non Diegetic
music that is not part of the story world
Clarity
when the music helps the audience understand the story
Fidelity
helps preserve the nuances of the music
Source Music
music in the story of the world
Underscore
music that is not part of the story world
Fantastical Gap
the liminal space between the diegeis and the non diegetic
Empathetic Music
the mood of the music follows the emotions in the scene
Sweetening
a sound effect manipulated so that it seems to violate the conditions of reality
Synch Point
a very local temporal coordination of sound and image
Stinger
a sudden and sharp accent to emphasize an action; most often applied to music
Anempathetic Music
the mood of the music contradicts the emotions in the scene
General Definition of SF
considers humanity, science and the imagined results of their union
Novum
the scientifically plausible innovation at the center of a science fiction narrative
Cognitive Estrangement
the sense that something in the fictional world is dissonant with the reader’s experienced world
Science Fiction and Social Concern
the effects of technological advancement on humanity
Sense of Wonder
a feeling of awe triggered by an expansion of one’s awareness of what is possible, brought on by science fiction
Suture
the sewing together of the narrative and the film that creates a unified subject position
Musical Topic
conventional musical figures that evoke, represent, or signify a particular mood, place, emotion, or some other character train in the narrative
Responsibilities of Music In SF
Creating a familiar experience for the viewer, signifying the difference at play in the fictional world
Leitmotif
a musical theme, developed within a film or franchise
Nickelodeons
storefront theaters that showed a series of short reels with limited live musicians (usually just one or a few)
Picture Palaces
Large theaters created for film showing with a large organ and place for orchestra
Types of Musical Exoticism in SF
electronic, avant garde, exoticism based on appropriation
“Playing the picture”
when musicians were encouraged to play music that supported the narrative of the film
Inter title
slides within a film that have text to express an emotion/piece of dialogue
Music cue
a short, discrete piece of music presented alongside other music cues to create a longer soundtrack
Music Anthologies
books that contain the music for a specific moving picture
Gottfried Huppertz
composer for Metropolis who used leitmotifs and musical topics and pre existing music
Cue Sheet
lists of compositions, with their placements, sent out by studios or their agents as suggestions for theater musicians
Special Score
scores distributed to theaters to play along films, for more ambitious films
Fritz Lang
director of metropolis
Vitaphone
phonograph (speaker) that is coupled to the projector
Movietone
Optical sound recording on the film itself
The 7 Roles of Music In Hollywood Cinema
invisibility, Inaudibility, Signifier of Emotion, Narrative Cueing, Referential Cueing, Connotative Cueing, Continuity
Max Steiner
composer of king kong, used elements of classical hollywood style
Mickey Mousing
close synchronization within a shot or short series of shots, where music closely mimics screen action, cartoon style, blurring the boundary between music and sound effects
Compilation Scores
an underscore created from pre existing music or songs, instead of music composed specifically for the film
Music Library
collection of generic recorded music cues for use in film and television
Ed Wood
director of plan 9 from outer space
Gordon Zahler
composer of plan 9 from outer space
Theremin
instrument created by leon theremin that creates a UFO type sound
Orchestrator
instrument created by leon theremin that creates a UFO type sound
Louis and Bebe Barron
sound engineers who worked on creating avant garde modernist techniques
Living Circuits
homemade circuits that were modified to manipulate the speed and order of music
Electric Tonalities
what electronic music was legally called
Gene Roddenberry
creator of star trek
Alexander Courage
composer of star trek main theme
Functions of TV Music
Reveille - announcing the show, Denoting form, Continuity, Setting, spectacle
Tracking Scores
music cues that are re used within a series to create continuity across the program
Tracked Scores
music composed specifically for the whole program
Stock Music
generic topical music composed for the studio’s library, to be used across the studio’s programs as needed
Cue Sheet (after silent film)
a list of music cues in a television program or film that also provides each cue’s composer, original episode, and the length used in the current episode; created for record keeping purposes
Jerry Goldsmith
acclaimed composer who composed Planet of the Apes and employed a pseudo serialism approach
Readerly
every piece of information is provided to the viewer
Chromaticism
a musical style that employs all of many of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale much of the time. Remains in the tonal system
Writerly
open to interpretation and reinterpretation
Pseudo Serialism
imitates the angular and atonal characteristics but does not use all 12 pitches and or does not use them in a specified order
Atonality
a musical system that treats all twelve notes of the chromatic scale equally with no tonal center
Serialism
a musical style that places all twelve notes of the chromatic scale into a (non sequential) row
Extended Techniques
musical techniques that involve playing with fists and palms inside a piano
Anthology Series
a television series that presents a different story, usually with a different cast, in every episode
Kaiju
genre of japanese monster movies with themes ranging from nuclear to environmental
Ifukube Akira
composer of original gojira/godzilla film
How Gojira’s roar was created
rubbing a leather glove coated in pine tar resin against the strings of a double bass
Requiem
a musical service or composition in honor of the dead
