Responses about early sound films
Person 1
For this week’s selection of material, I settled on Don Juan, the clip from Hollywood Revue of 1929 “Singing in the Rain”, and the film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. Although there were other films and scores to choose from, these three were the ones I enjoyed listening to the most, because they all incorporate different scenarios and emotions that are conveyed strongly through the music composed. For the short clip of Don Juan, deception was the most prominent theme as the female character was devoted to the main male character at the beginning and the melody reflected that of a simple evening together as a family, before the main male character departed. Then as he leaves, the henchman/servant observes the main female character signaling her secret lover to work his way up the balcony. The tone changes to mischievous and dark, as the henchman/servant catches her in the act of betrayal. Thus, he alerts his master with a lit torch at the high point over the castle. Now distraught, the main character climbs the stairwell and the music projects suspense in his attempt to verify the claims of his henchman/servant. The secret lover is forced to hide, and the main male character is only briefly reassured that the claims were false. Then a load clash of dissonance struck due to him catching a farewell kiss in the reflection of the mirror from the main female character to the secret lover. Now uncertain again, he interrogates her and the music shifts to short builds that fluctuate and convey that the main character is on his way to discovering the truth. At this point, the music is set in place to have audience on their toes. Once the wall is to be resealed, a treacherous uproar begins as the main female character thrusts herself toward the wall where her secret lover was hidden. The music composed accurately depicted the vibe of this situation in the absence of dialogue.
In the clip from Hollywood Revue of 1929, Singing in the rain was shown as several people were literally in the rain singing while in their rain suits. It was all smiles with an upbeat melody. As well a constant high pitch that translated an overenthusiastic feeling where someone would sing in the somewhat mood dampening rain. After listening to this, I immediately thought of any film that referenced this score such as Wall-E.
I really enjoyed watching the film Sunrise, even without dialogue it was a step up from last week’s silent films such as Birth of a Nation. It covers so many different emotions, and how they are experienced individually and while being in a marriage. There were points in the film where the music depicted very dark moments and emotional turmoil. Specifically at 23:50, where the husband visualizes pushing his wife off the boat into the lake. I felt the character had reached a breaking point from the tone of insanity and low chords that were present through present throughout the scene. In combination with the visual narrative, you were left with that overwhelming feeling of speculation over what is going to happen. The same feeling I got when I watch suspense/thriller films such as Seven, where they are trying to catch a murder and as they progress you don’t know what to expect, because it gets darker and darker. In contrast, there are several scenes where love songs are played and the tone is lighter and richer in the marital aspect of this film. At 45:10, the love melody flows while the couple his linked eye to eye past several visual to depict there strong infatuation with each other in that moment. They are even oblivious to the many honks and car collisions caused by there public display of affection in the middle of traffic. I thought it was quite comical and gave me a romantic-comedy vibe for the scene. Another love score plays at 1:13:30, where they are on a boat teasing and being playful with each other. The melody softens along with the pitch to create a gentle nature to scene, as she sleeps on his chest and he has a look of appreciation for being wedded to this woman. Then a storm brews and lightning strikes with high winds almost foreshadowing a tragedy about to happen. Finally towards the end of the film where the wife goes missing, a French horn sounds and low chords clash the tone back to murky and dark. This film covers the whole spectrum of emotions, while also bringing it full circle back to dark tones.
Person 2 :
I chose to analyze King Kong and City Lights because both films are among the most widely recognized and iconic early films of the century, and I thought they would be fun to watch.
In King Kong the scene opens with Anna and Jack on a ship deck. The conversation is light but turns awkward and then romantic after Jack realizes his love for Ann. For this scene the music is pretty and romantic with strings and occasional plucks of a harp. The music abruptly stops when the captain calls out to Jack. The music starts again as the camera is back on Anna and Jack serving to interrupt their romantic love scene. Ann is left alone while Jack attends to the captain and the music shifts to serious and dark, ominous brassy music while we watch members of tribe abduct Ann. There is no music as the ship crew discovers Ann’s disappearance. The scene shifts to the shore where we see tribesmen take her through a giant gate (like in Jurassic Park- cue: Jeff Goldblum) and the music mimics the movement. As they move upward, taking Ann to an alter the music ascends until they reach the top where she is tied up. The music becomes more tense, and emotionally anxious and chaotic with beating on a giant gong until the chief calls for silence and the music and cheering from the crowd abruptly stops. The silence that follows leaves us anticipating Kong as we hear tree-crashing sounds. The gong is beat again and the music starts as a slow march that mickey mouses the slow and terrifying steps of Kong as he approaches the screaming Ann.
Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights is a silent slap-stick comedy where I also noticed lots of mickey mousing, most notably the scene where the Tramp and the millionaire are in his home with without noticing hiding burglars who has previously entered. The synchronized music assists the comedic and well-timed choreography between the burglars, the millionaire, and the Tramp where only the viewer is privy to the happenings in the room. I thought that these two films, where the emphasis is the movement and emotion of the characters, used music in ways to assist the drama in ways that epitomize what I like most about film in music. It served to guide the viewer emotionally without being too cartoonish. Both these films were fun to watch and I liked how Chaplain seemed to merge dance, drama, comedy, and music without any dialogue.
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