1. The Scheme of Themes
Jeffrey Riehl
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2. THEME
Any music (esp. tune/melody) heard more than once during the course of a film
Includes
Theme songs
Background instrumental motifs
Tunes associated with characters
Other recurring nondiegetic music
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3. MOTIF
“A theme whose recurrences remain specifically directed and unchanged in their diegetic associations
Motifs function as denotative tags for specific places, things, characters in the film
Their use and reference is quite specific
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4. WAGNER AND LEITMOTIF Memory-motifs include three features
It must first be stated in conjunction with a verbal text
It functions specifically to evoke a memory
The memory it evokes belongs specifically to a character in the drama
Wagner was fundamentally concerned to root motifs in denotation
Leitmotifs function in a way that is analogous to proper names
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5. Leitmotif (continued)
Leitmotifs can:
Underscore the obvious presence of a character, place, or thing that is clearly present on screen
Indicate the presence of someone/thing that is otherwise obscure
Indicate the psychological presence of a character or idea (character A is thinking about the absent character B, so we see A while hearing B’s leitmotif)
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6. PRINCIPLES OF CLASSICAL HOLLYWOOD FILM MUSIC
Invisibility
Inaudibility
Signifier of emotion
Narrative cueing
Continuity
Unity
The rules may be broken so long as the break is in service to the other principles
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7. MAX STEINER (1888-1971) Austrian born 1905 moves to England
Outbreak of WWI, he emigrates to US
First film score: 1915, The Bondman
1929 hired by RKO Studios
Basic approach: film music should be a function of the dramatic content of film and not merely wallpaper
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8. Steiner (continued)
His scores function beyond the foreground level by:
Commenting on visual images
Augmenting action
Heightening dramatic impact
Most directors felt that a Steiner score would make a good picture better, and a great film superb
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9. Steiner Quick facts Scored 111 pictures at RKO 25 Oscar nominations
3 Oscar wins
Since You Went Away
Now, Voyager
The Informer
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10. Famous Steiner scores 1933 King Kong 1935 Anne of Green Gables
1934 Age of Innocence
1939 Gone with the Wind
1942 Casablanca
1944 Arsenic and Old Lace
1945 Mildred Pierce
1948 Key Largo
1950 The Glass Menagerie
1952 The Jazz Singer
1955 Battle Cry (last Oscar nomination)
1965 Those Calloways (last film score)
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