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1. In class we watched the two musical scenes from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It’s hard for me to believe that a movie with out any other music other than the two scenes with songs in it would be so popular. I don’t understand how a song that was randomly put into the movie and was so unrelated would be liked so much by the public. In the scene with the man and woman ridding a bike through a field seems like a very happy clip, and it would seem that the movie would be upbeat; When Dr. Berry told us that the film was about murders, it seemed odd that they would use such happy music, unless the criminals had just committed a perfect crime and were happy about it. There is one part in the scene with the bike riders that I would was really interesting. The two are ridding down a path with trees on the edges, and the director catches glimpse of the two through the trees with the sun shinning through. The shot to me is magnificent.
2. The movies we watched in class this week were, High Noon, To Kill a Mocking Bird, In the Heat of the Night, and American Graffiti. My favorite film out of the four was In the Heat of the Night. I really liked the musical score in the film. The mixture of Rock, Blues, Jazz, and Gospel sounded really good in certain scenes. I had not idea that in certain songs that the musicians were making sounds with their mouths to produce a beat because their noises sounded like a real instrument. In the scene where the criminal is being chased by the police, the music sounded unlike any score we have listened to before. The music was very quick and frantic like the scene. I liked the plot of In the Heat of the Night. It addresses racial discrimination in the time period in the south that was very harsh and unjust, but in the end when the Chief is saying goodbye to Mr. Tibbs on the train, the ignorant Chief seems like he has changed and now understands the foolishness of the before racist beliefs.
3. In the reading, I read about The Planet of the Apes, we also watched a scene or two in class from the movie. I did not realize that musician used a method called Prepared Piano, which is the use of “placing screws, rubber erasers, blocks of wood, and other objects put on or between piano strings when played”. I thought that this technique sounded really good. I am not sure that I would watch the whole movie, but the music seems like it would be enjoyable.

Blog 2

1. This week we watched the movies Top Hat, King Kong, Robin Hood, and The Best Days of Our Lives. My favorite movie out of the four was The Best Days of our Lives. I liked this movie because, like The Jazz Singer, I got caught up in the drama and emotion in the film. I thought the acting was very heartfelt and realistic for being made so long ago. Of course the music also made the film enjoyable. The Americana music in the film was catchy and not as conventional as the pervious films. I also enjoyed watching King Kong, the music in this film really set the mood in certain scenes. For example, whenever King Kong or the Dinosaur creatures started to come near the human characters in the film the music became more dramatic and dark. The was also not a lot of source music, which meant the composer had a lot of work to do. The only time I remember there being source music in the film was when the native people of the island were playing the drums. 

2. In class we talked about Aaron Copland, a composer who is well known for his Americana style. I enjoyed listening to music in films from composers like Max Steiner, but I think I liked listening to Aaron Copland's music more. The samples of music that I heard in class on Thursday were very different from what I was use to listening to in pervious films. Dr. Berry said that the music is more folky and I liked that. It is also interesting that Aaron Copland was gay and he was still excepted in Hollywood. For the time period that he lived in, I would think that people would be too closed minded and not respect him because of the way he lived his personal life. 

3.In the reading I read about the movie Frankenstein which was pretty interesting. While reading about Frankenstein, I was introduced to different terms, for example, String Tremolos, Woodwind Trills, and Flutter-tonguing. All of theses music terms make a movie and the movie's characters have a certain style. The techniques help identify what type of a person the characters is suppose to be in a film. For example String Tremolos are used most commonly in horror films which needs to have music that is dramatic.  Theses techniques are very similar to the techniques used in Jaws that made the movie so scary for the viewers. 

1st Blog

1. The reading in "The Soul Cinema" book is very informative. I have learned different things about the music aspect of film that before reading I knew nothing about. I had no clue a Composer, when working on a score, are so busy. It’s hard to believe anyone could work for 4 weeks straight and only get fifteen hours of sleep, like Max Steiner when he worked on the score for "Gone with the Wind!". I also did not realize that composers made so much money, but after reading about how much work they have to do, the amount is a little more understandable. For example, a composer can make up to $1.5 Million!!!!! In the first chapter, I learned about the 10 functions of music in film. The most interesting, and perhaps the simplest to understand, is in the use of the first function. In the first function an ostinato, which is a repeated pattern, is used. Ostinato is used in scenes such as when the shark in "Jaws" is being represented. The drama that the music brings to the film really helps the scene.
2. I enjoyed watching the first films we watched in class on Monday. It is very fascinating to see film that was created in the 1880s. The idea that something that is so old and is still entertaining people is really great. Despite what everyone else thought, I kind of think that the music that accompanied the two babies in their fighting scene fit the picture... Most people think that the up beat music is not balanced, in that the music only reflects the happy baby and not the sad baby; I think that the happy music fits because sometimes bad people can over power the good people in the world, even though we are only dealing with babies who have not even developed their moral compass.
3. In class we talked about the movies that we have watched so far "The Battleship Ptemkin", "Siegfried", and "The Jazz Singer". My favorite out of the three was "The Jazz Singer". In class, Dr. Berry said that he got caught up in the Mother's dilemma with her son and her husband. I was also caught up in the Mother's emotions. Even though there was not any talking besides the scenes where there was singing and the short talking lines, I thought the story line was heartfelt. I know a lot of people probably thought it was really cheesy and at times it was because it is so dated. I also enjoyed listening to the upbeat melodies in the film that were played in major keys. I can see why at the time everyone loved the film.