Lecture 9 and 10: The 1960s Flashcards
1
Q
The 1960s
A
- turbulent period in American history
- cynicism starts creeping into culture
- end of 1963 = President JFK is assassinated
- very shortly afterwards, conspiracy theories began to appear
- civil rights
becomes a major factor in Western culture - African American communities coming together and demanding for rights
- generational gaps
- baby boomers = first generation in a while to see the world quite differently
2
Q
Films in the 1960s
A
- early 60s are an extension of the 1950s
(sword and sandal films) - by mid 60s the Production Code is abandoned, films become more explicit
- movies aimed for the baby boomers
- counter-culture = hippies
- cultural revolution of the late 60s results in films with a strong sense of irony and cynicism
- the 60s are probably the biggest change in film since the transition to sound
3
Q
Rise of the independent production
A
- freelancers are contracted film to film
- costs escalate
- while orchestral scores are still produced, cost factors lead to many smaller ensembles of popular music scores
- you can use the music to promote the film
- popular music is also becoming more and more influential
baby boomers a - 1950s = rock and roll is getting more mainstream by the 1960s
- 1964 = Beatles popularize guitar based music
4
Q
Changing of composers
A
- end of the careers of Steiner, Newman, Tiomkin
- rise of American composer such as Jerry Goldsmith and Elmer Bernstein
- second wave of european composers
- French = Maurice Jarre
- English = John Barry
- Italian = Ennio Morricone
5
Q
Ennio Morricone
A
- born 1928 in Rome, Italy
- received a Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as an Academy Award for “The Hateful Eight”
- best known for association with Italian Director Sergio Leone and the “spaghetti western”
- over 400 film credits with a wide range of styles form popular music to avant-garde
6
Q
Spaghetti Westerns
A
- films made in the 60s through to the 70s
- main people making the film were Italian, and the film was set in the American west
- filmed in Spain
- American actors would say their lines in English, while the local actors say their words in Spanish and are dubbed over
- American West as more realistic = actors were made up to look grotesque, none of the characters are really good
7
Q
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
A
- 1966
- story = the Ugly is wanted for many crimes, reward for his capture
- the Good turns him over and collects the money, but comes back to rescue him and then go to the next town to collect the reward
- use of sound effects, voices, and electric guitars
8
Q
John Barry
A
- 1933 - 2011
- classical pianist/trumpet
- turned to pop music in his 20s
- sound derived from the Big Bands and some influence from rock
- by early 1960s is a well-known British pop musician
- style defined by clear, tonal melodies
- to support the melody, he usually adds a counter-melody
- block orchestration = one section has one job
9
Q
John Barry - Works
A
- won 5 Academy Awards including Born Free (1967), Out of Africa (1986), and Dances with Wolves (1991) - music examples = You Only Live Twice (1967), Out of Africa (1986)
10
Q
Dr. No - Film Facts
A
- 1962
- James Bond
- Monty Norman = original composer
- Barry went on to compose the music for 11 James Bond films
- adjust volume to fit main theme to the score
- music in the theme = electric guitar
11
Q
Dr. No - Lawsuit
A
- Norman was having trouble and had written only a little bit
- James Bond theme earned him almost 2 million dollars
- what is believed to happen = John Barry received one simple line, and then added on his theme
- however, Monty Norman won the lawsuit because he wrote the underlying line of the theme
12
Q
Film music in the 1960s
A
- in addition to the increasing impact of popular music, atonality and avant-garde styles are also becoming more prominen
- modernism = rejection of the past in favour of the new
- in music = movement from the earlier part of the 20th century to throw out common practice and come up with new ideas
- part of modernism is to create any rules you like, but once you created the structure they have to stick
13
Q
2001: A Space Odyssey - Facts
A
- 1968
- director = Stanley Kubrick
- score compiled from classical music
- this approach would not work in other more conventional films
- when there is music, he generally uses no other sound
- combination of tonal music from late 19th century (Strauss - Blue Danube Waltz) and atonal music from the 20th century (Ligeti)
14
Q
2001: A Space Odyssey - Movie Summary
A
- starts several million years ago
- humans are on the verge of extinction
- alien intelligence appears that is extremely from the future
- once the early humans touch the monolith, their brains have been rewired, allowing us to learn
- flash-forward to the 1990s, they find the monolith on the moon
- concepts of intelligence, the definition of humanity
15
Q
2001: A Space Odyssey - Scene 1
A
- no narrative development, no sound effects
- just about seeing life in the future
- The Blue Danube Waltz
- tonal music occurs when we see humans doing normal things
16
Q
2001: A Space Odyssey - Scene 2
A
- humans approaching monolith
- music by Gyorgy Ligeti
- dominated by human voices giving a presence, but not particular music or theme
17
Q
Stanley Kubrick and the score
A
- auteur
- hard to work with
- had a habit of using compiled music in his films
- in order to keep costs down, they told Kubrick that Alexander North would be the composer
- North works for 6 days straight, and has to be hospitalized because he was working so hard
- however, none of his music was in the film
- Ligeti was only told afterwards that his music was being used
18
Q
Jerry Goldsmith - Early Life
A
- 1929 - 2004
- born in Los Angeles
- studied with Rozsa at USC
- the first composer we are discussing in class that decided early on to work in film
- came out of television
19
Q
Patton - Facts
A
- 1970
- war movies made at the end of the 60s are very different from the 40s/50s
- the enemy is increasingly depicted in the most realistic way
- sparse score (less than 40 minutes) for a 3 hour film
- Goldsmith reserved music to scenes where he thought it could add something significant
20
Q
Patton - Music of the character
A
- music focuses on American general George S. Patton
- portrayed as a great man, but a flawed man
- he gets three separate themes for the different aspects of his personality
- the great warrior, man who leads his troops across the world = tonal, consonant march
- religious, Protestant = chorale, hymn
- firmly believed in destiny and reincarnation = use of electronic processing, trumpet with an echo
21
Q
Patton - Scene analysis
A
- scene = North Africa
- reincarnation theme, cloud of sound
- scene = March through Europe
- shows a German officer writing numbers of missing, wounded, and dead
- shows the price of Patton’s success
- music quickly goes from tonal to dissonant
22
Q
Alien
A
- 1979
- composer = Jerry Goldsmith
- director = Ridley Scott
- scene = ship crew is told that there is a distress signal to check out and explore an old alien spaceship
- blend of tonality and modernism
- sound that represents humans = flutes (playing low in the register, fragile)
- surrounding the flute is dissonant noise = violins, building note that ends in an echo
23
Q
Planet of the Apes - Facts
A
- 1968
- composer = Jerry Goldsmith
- social and political critique
24
Q
Planet of the Apes - Social and political critique
A
- the film is about the social unrest of one of the most disruptive decades of the 20th century (1960s
- danger of nuclear war, civil rights, generation gap
- science fiction is ultimately about society
- Taylor later comes to see the value of humanity, defending his own people after he see the world of the apes
- fear of communism = “Where there’s one, there’s another, and another, and another”
25
Q
Planet of the Apes - Instrumentation
A
- blend of orchestral instruments with elements such as animal horns and mixing bowls
- one of most influential modernist film scores ever written
- extremely dissonant, and deliberately slow, harsh
- the score is very conventional in terms of how the music is organized (themes)
26
Q
Planet of the Apes - Scene 1 (The Takers)
A
- music for the astronauts is atonal but strongly organized
- clear, even rhythm supported by snare drum
- music for unseen takers is chaotic = woodwinds, log drums
- disorganized in comparison to the astronauts
27
Q
Planet of the Apes - Scene 2 (The Crossing, Part 1)
A
- no clear organization, more sound than music
- use of electronic echo, metal sheet, ram’s horn
- violins play the same note, than the note pulls apart out of tune
- captures the idea that they have no idea where they are going
28
Q
12 Tone music
A
- Arnold Schoenberg (2nd Viennese School)
- 1923 = development of tone rows
- moving away from major/minor tonality, common practice
- treat all 12 notes with equal importance
- the arrangement of the 12 notes becomes the core of your piece
- you cannot repeat a note until all 12 notes have been used
- once you get to a note, you can play it as many times as you want
29
Q
Planet of the Apes - Scene 3 (The Crossing, Part 2)
A
- main theme = collection of 4 sets of three notes, then a metal sheet, another 4 sets of three notes
- doesn’t matter if you hear the structure, as long as you follow the form
- opening credits also uses the tone row
30
Q
Planet of the Apes - Scene 4 (Reveal of the Apes)
A
- ram’s horn = associated with the apes
- not in tune, sound of terror
- based on tone row
31
Q
Planet of the Apes - Scene 5 (End of the Movie)
A
- the Crossing theme
- as the theme dies away, something changes at the end of the film
- no music in the end credits, just the sound of the waves
- withholds any sense of release, comfort
- dissonance eventually becomes familiar
