Popular music in film.docx

Popular music in film.docx

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Popularmusicinfilm

Popularmusicinfilm

Introduction

Thisstudyaimstolookintopre-existingpopularmusicinfilm,it'suseandplacewithinmodernfilmmaking,withexpressinterestindeterminingwhetherornotitcanfairlybecomparedandjudgedalongsidemoretraditionaloriginalscoringtechniquesasanartisticallyviablemeansbywhichtoadddepthandfurtherweighttotheimage,orifitissimplyacheapandeasymeansbywhichtoscoreafilm.InRonaldRodman'sessayTheuseofpopularmusicasleitmotifin1990'sfilm,hestatesthat

“withinthehandsofaskilleddirectorandmusiceditor,theuseofpre-existingpopularmusiccanbeusedtoconveynarrativeeventsandcharactersinawaysimilartoclassicalHollywoodscoring.However,thetwoexistatoppositeendsofamodernist/postmodernistcontinuum.WiththeHollywoodscorebeingvaluedforit'soriginalandfilmspecificuniquenessandthefoundscorebeingvaluedforit'sabilitytoredefineandrecycleit'sselfwhenusedwell,itoffersa“liveagain”feeling,thatallowsthemusictotranscendit'soriginalform,andfindnewmeritwithinthecontextoftheimage“.（Rodman,fromthecompiledessaycollectionChangingTunes:

TheUseofPre-existingMusicinFilm（2005:

135）

Thisstudydoesnotrefertoaspecificquestionrequiringafinalanswer,insteadaimstoexplorewhetherornottheideaofrecycledmusictrulycantranscendit'sselfinskilledhands,andiftheuseofpopularmusicinfilmhasbecomeusedmorewidelyandinamoresophisticatedfashionfollowingit'semergenceinmanyfilmsofthe1990's.Ialsointendonlookingintotheworkproducedwhenartistsmoreestablishedwithintherealmsofpopularmusic,trytheirhandwritingoriginalmusicforfilm,andifthiscombinationoffilmspecific,moretraditionalscoredmusicandthedifferentapproachesthatpopularmusicandthosemoreschooledinit'sconstructioncanbringtothetablewithregardstoanoriginalscore,istrulythedefinitivewaytocreateaninteresting,excitingandtrulybrilliantpieceofworkthatdoeswhatallgoodscoresshouldachieve,toonotonlyenhancetheimage,buttostandstrongonit'sownaspieceofworkinit'sownright.Byexploringtheresearchofotherswithoriginalresearchandthoughtsofmyown,Iintendtocometoapersonalconclusionregardingthematter.

Thisinvestigationisgoingtobebasedaroundtheinitialideathatpopularmusichasavaluableandusefulplacewithinmodernfilmmaking,however,duetoitoftenbeingusedinalazyandnotfullythoughtthroughmanner,ithasbecomesomewhatlookeddownuponwithinthemedium,beingseensimplyasameansforcheaplaughs,apleasantwaytopadoutthebackgroundmusicofasceneandasawaytoaddmoremarketabilitytoafilm.Inlightofthisgenerallyacceptedopinionofpopularmusic'splaceinfilm,andit'sviewinginsuchanegativelight,Iwishtolookintohowandwhythisviewexists,despitecountlessexamplesofitbeingusedtogreateffectwithinafilmandhowinrecentyears,thetrendforrecruitingtheskillsofpopularmusicianstoconstructoriginalmaterialspecificallyforfilmisnotonlythenextstepinpopularmusic'splaceincinema,butit'screativeapex.

Thisinvestigation,throughthecourseofit'sthreemainchapters,intendstolookcloselyatpopularmusic'splacewithinmoderncinema,howithasarrivedthere,whereitcangofromhere,andifitcanbeseenasimportantandusefulasclassicalmeansoffilmscoring.

Iintendonlookingintothefollowingpointsthroughoutthecourseofthisinvestigation:

Chapter1-PopularmusicandModernCinema

Howthegenesisofbothpopularmusicandcinemaareinherentlylinkedtooneanotherandacross-pollinationbetweenthemediumshasalwaysbeeninevitable

Howpopularmusicasscorediffersfromtraditionalscoresinwhatitdoeswithinafilm.

Thepotential（bothpositiveandnegative）thatpre-existingmaterialbringstoafilm,fromit'sabilitytocommentaddextralevelstoafilmthroughit'slyricalcontentandit'salreadyestablishedplaceinthepublicsubconsciousthroughtothehistoricalandsocialabilitiesithasinhelpingdefineerasandpublicattitudeswhennecessary.IshalllookattheuseofTheDoorssong‘TheEnd'inApocalypseNow （FrancisFordCoppola,1984）inordertoexplorethis

Thepowerfulimprintingeffectthatthecorrectpieceofpopularmusicandthecorrectvisualscanhaveononeanother,combininginsuchawaythattheyelevatebothsongandscenetoacompletelynewlevelofmeaning,operatingonmanymorelevelsthantheywouldhavedoneseparately.IShalllookatRoyOrbisons‘InDreams'withinthemoviesBlueVelvet（DavidLynch1982）

Chapter2-PopularmusicasLeitmotif

Lookintohowpopularmusichasadoptedthetraditionalfilmscoringtechnique,leitmotif.

Explorethemannerinwhichpopularmusic'susedenotativelyandconnotativelythroughleitmotifdiffersfromtheclassicscore,howitisnotreliedupontheactualrepetitionofspecificthemesthatconnectcharactersandnarrative,butrathertherepetitionofstylesofmusicortheirsocialcontext.

Investigatetwofilmsthatusepopularmusicasleitmotif,ShaunofTheDead（EdgarWright,2004）andPulpFiction（QuentinTarantino,1992）andhowtheiremploymentofthetechniquedifferstooneanother.

Chapter3-ThePopularMusicianasComposer

Investigate,throughexistingexampleswithinmovies,ofpopularmusiciansbeingeitherbeingusedtowritefilmspecificmusicforcinemaoractuallyconstructinganoriginalscoretailormadeforafilm,andiftheseapproachesheralddifferentresultsandopportunitiestoscoresconstructedbymoretraditionalcompositionmethods.

Conclusion

Discussanoverviewofmyinvestigation,cometoapersonalevaluationofwhetherpopularmusic'splacewithincinemasaudiolandscapeisviableasartisticallyexpressiveandappropriateasamethodofscoring.

Chapter1-PopularMusicandModernCinema

Popularmusic,sincethelate1970'shascometoholdaparticularlyinterestingandpowerfulpositionamongstthemanyvisualmediaformsthatexist,andthoughalargemajorityoftheseformsthathavemutatedandcrosspollinatedasaresultoftheriseofvarioustechnologiesandtheprominenceofpopularmusicasaformofculturalexpression,aremainlyusedastoolsofmarketing（musicvideos,televisionspotsandadvertisements）,itpossessauniquefunctioningpurposewithinthemediumoffilm,“onlyindramaticfilmandtelevisionarepopularsongsusedinordertohelptellasustainednarrativestory-arolethathastraditionallybeenplayedbycommissionedmusicalscore”（Wright,PopularmusicandFilm,2003:

8）

It'shardlysurprisingthatpopularmusichascometobeusedassuchwithinfilm,thoughattheirmostfundamentallevelstheyoperateastwoquitdifferentformsofexpression,thetrajectoriesbothhavemovedalongthroughtheearlytwentiethcenturyshowstrikingsimilaritiestooneanother,toquoteIanInglisinhisintroductiontoPopularFilmandMusic（2003）

“Thegenesisofbothcameaboutasadirectresultoflatenineteenthcenturytechnologicaldevelopments,bothpredominantlyrelyonanewtypeofmassaudiencesharingacommoninterest,bothstartedwithhumblebeginningsasnoveltiestoexpandandbecomesomeofthelargestindustriesintheworldwithcolossalannualturnovers,bothhavebeenapproachedandconsumedfromperspectivesthathaveallowedthemtoevolvefromsimpletoolsofpopularandmasscultureintoexamplesofmorehighandeliteculture“.（Inglis,2003:

1）

Itisnolongerrequiredinmodernfilmmakingtocontainascorewrittenspecificallywiththeimagesandnarrativeinmind,amovie'smusicallandscapeisnowjustaslikelytobeentirelyfilledwithpre-existingsongs（betheypopularormoreesoteric）asitistofeatureamoretraditionalscore,oftenacombinationofthetwowillbeemployedbyadirector.

Inordertogreaterappreciatetherolethatusingpre-existingpopularmusicinafilmcanhaveon,notonlythenarrativeimplications,butthewayanaudiencewillrespondtothemoviegoingexperience,onemustlayouttheinherentdifferencesandopportunitiesthatpopularmusiccanbringwhencomparedtoatraditionalclassicalscore.

Musicwrittenandscoredwithafilminmindisspecificallycateredtotheneedsoftheimagesonscreen,oftenafilmwillbescoredlateinafilm'sproductionschedule,thereforitisnecessarytobendandfittotheconstraintsoftheimage,thecomposerisalmostaslavetothefilmathand,takingfullresponsibilityforfleshingouteverynuanceandemotionthatascenerequires.Theymustadaptandfitaroundwhatis（normallybythetimeacomposerisbroughtonboard）afairlyconcretestructureofhowthenarrativeeventstakeplace.

Ontheotherhand,whenadirectorchoosestousepre-existingmaterialinafilm,thesceneshaveusuallybeendesignedinsuchawayastobendaroundthesong.Pre-existingmaterialcannotbemanipulatedinthesamemannerofapiecetailoredtofitanarrative,however,throughtheuseofshootingandeditingasequencewithmusicinmind,itallowsacertainunityandrhythmtoemergefromthecombinationofthetwo.

Lookingatwhetherornotoneoftheseapproachestofilmscoringismoreartisticallyviableisamorecomplexquestionthatatfirstitwouldappear.

“Themostfundamentalobservationthatcanbemadeaboutmusicinanyaudio?

Visualmediumisthatitenjoysaratherdirectroutetooursubconscious.Humansarebynaturemorevisuallyorientated,wedigestvisualinformationmoreconsciously-andmorecritically-thanwedoauralinformation”（Wright2003:

10）

Sinceit'smusic'suncannyabilitytooverridethelogicalfro