Music in Film and Television

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• various traditional forms of music and the moving image, including scores for dramatic films, film musicals and pop video.
• the dominant theoretical approaches that have been taken to music and the moving image.
• the history and traditions of production in film and television music, particularly those of European and American film and television.
• some techniques and approaches that might be used in the analysis of music in film and television.
• the aesthetic affordances of music in combination with the moving image, as illustrated by certain key audiovisual texts.

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• discuss the various techniques and conventions associated with musical accompaniment to film and television programmes.
• evaluate and draw upon a range of scholarly and audiovisual sources in order to formulate, structure and justify your own arguments.
• critically examine particular uses of music in film and television.
• trace the impact of production processes and traditions on film and television music formats.

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• describe the processes central to music in film and the soundtrack more generally.
• transcribe sequences of film with music into a tabulated format.
• listen analytically to music in film that is often not an object in the foreground of the film experience.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• analyze the details of audiovisual texts.
• demonstrate the ability to listen to, contribute to, and lead discussion in group environments of varying sizes.
• work independently, making effective use of library, archival and Internet resources and demonstrating efficient time management.
• select, organise and deploy ideas and information in order to formulate cogent arguments and express them effectively in written and oral forms.
• work productively with others and give an effective oral presentation using a variety of visual aids that engages and informs its audience and generates further debate.

The module syllabus will typically include:

• Sound and terms
• Classical Hollywood cinema and incidental music
• Classical Hollywood and other traditions of incidental music
• Classical Film Musicals
• Post and Pop Musicals
• Pop Music Cinema and Rock documentaries
• Songs and Music Culture in Films
• Music and Television
• Music Video
• Music in Video Games
• Digital audio-visual culture and beyond

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include

• lectures
• seminars
• screenings

Learning activities include

• preparing and delivering presentations
• independent study and research

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Steve Cohan (ed) (2004). Movie Musicals: The Reader. Routledge.

Rick Altman (ed) (1992). Sound Theory, Sound Practice. Routledge.

Jeff Smith (1999). The Sounds of Commerce. Columbia University Press.

K.J.Donnelly (ed) (2001). Film Music: Critical Approaches. Edinburgh University Press.

Kay Dickinson (ed) (2004). Movie Music: The Reader. Routledge.

K.J.Donnelly (2006). The Spectre of Sound: Music in Film and Television. BFI.

Ian Conrich and Estella Tincknell (eds) (2006). Musical Moments. Edinburgh University Press.

Michel Chion (1994). Audio-Vision. Columbia University Press.

Jamie Sexton (ed) (2007). Music, Sound and Multimedia. Edinburgh University Press.

Assessment strategy

Assessments designed to provide informal, on-unit feedback

• Discussion of essay work
• Feedback on presentations
• Tutorials

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External