The Synergy of Film and Music: Sight and Sound in Five Hollywood Films

181 Pages·2012·0.73 MB·English

by  Peter Rothbart

The Synergy of
Film and Music
Sight and Sound in
Five Hollywood Films
Peter Rothbart
THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Lanham • Toronto • Plymouth, UK
2013
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Published by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
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Copyright © 2013 by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical
means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher,
except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rothbart, Peter.
The synergy of film and music : sight and sound in five Hollywood films / Peter Rothbart.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8108-8758-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8108-8759-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN
978-0-8108-8760-2 (ebook) 1. Motion picture music—United States—History and criticism. 2. Motion
pictures—Sound effects. I. Title.
ML2075.R67 2013
781.5'420973—dc23 2012033467
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
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For my parents, Jane and David, who gave me the tools,
For my wife, Linda, who gives me the reason,
For my son, Jason, who has surpassed my dreams,
and his wife, Debora, who showed him how,
For my granddaughter, Tia, who surprises us all
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Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction ix
How to Use This Book xiii
The Many Roles of Music in Film xv
A Word about Leitmotif xvii
The Process of Music in Film xix
The Films Examined 1
West Side Story 3
Psycho 29
Empire of the Sun 51
American Beauty 79
Altered States 109
Conclusions and Final Words 139
Glossary 141
Bibliography 149
Index 153
About the Author 159
v
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Acknowledgments
Many deep thanks to my wife, Linda, for her quiet and unwavering support and for knowing
when to pull and when to push me; to my parents, Jane and David, who gave me the tools . . . all
of them; to my son, Jason, who will surpass me and may already have; to Debora, who powers
Jason and therefore us to new heights; to Tia, who does not yet know how much she inspires; and
to my brothers, Jon and Larry, who provide constant love as well as cajolery.
Thanks also to Dean Art Ostrander, who displayed patience and confidence that allowed
me to experiment and follow my instincts, though they did not follow the traditional aca-
demic path, and to Ithaca College for providing research and travel grants. Belated thanks to
Stephen Landesman, my first real editor, who taught me that nobility and quality newspaper
work can coexist.
Professional thanks to John Corigliano for generously loaning his score to Altered States
to a naïve but enthusiastic doctoral student in search of a thesis topic; to Lenny Bernstein,
who encouraged an insecure nineteen-year-old bassoonist playing West Side Story at Har-
vard to go pro; and to his friend and my teacher, Sandy Sharoff, who pushed me to release
the music within.
And finally, thanks to the professionals at DreamWorks, the Library of Congress Music
Division, the Columbia University Rare Books and Manuscripts Room, and JoAnn Kane Mu-
sic Services, who so generously gave of their time and resources and thereby recognized the
importance of educating the public about what they do.
COPYRIGHT PERMISSIONS
“Open the Door”
By Benny Carter.
Copyright ©1964 (Renewed) Unart Music Corporation.
Rights Assigned to EMI Catalogue Partnership.
All Rights Controlled and Administered by Emi Unart Catalog, Incorporated (Publishing) and
Alfred Music Publishing Company, Incorporated (Print).
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
vii
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viii Acknowledgments
“Use Me”
Words and Music by Bill Withers.
Copyright ©1972 Interior Music Corporation.
Copyright Renewed.
All Rights Controlled and Administered by Songs of Universal, Incorporated.
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard Corporation.
“The Seeker”
Words and Music by Peter Townshend.
Copyright ©1971 Towser Tunes, Incorporated, Fabulous Music, Limited, and ABKCO Music,
Incorporated.
Copyright Renewed.
All Rights for Towser Tunes, Incorporated, Administered by Universal Music Publishing In-
ternational Mgb, Limited.
All Rights for Universal Music Publishing International Mgb, Limited, in the United States and
Canada Administered by Universal Music—Careers.
International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard Corporation.
“Call Me Irresponsible”
Words and Music by Sammy Cahn and James Van Heusen.
©1963 Sony/ATV Harmony LLC (ASCAP).
All Rights by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, 8 Music Square West, Nashville, TN 37203.
All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.
“All along the Watchtower”
Written by Bob Dylan.
Copyright ©1968 by Dwarf Music; Renewed 1996 by Dwarf Music.
All Rights Reserved.
International Copyright Secured. Reprinted by Permission.
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Introduction
T
he Synergy of Film and Music: Sight and Sound in Five Hollywood Films examines how
music is used in general release movies to advance the plot, underscore character develop-
ment, and enhance the action and drama onscreen. It is written to be an easy reading, infor-
mative, and nontechnical guide for anyone interested in gaining a deeper appreciation of film
through an increased awareness of the role of music. I hope to illuminate the relationship
between the multifarious elements of cinema: dialog, sound effects, drama, screenwriting,
costuming, set design, editing, cinematography, and music. All of these elements combine
to create a successful film.
I will avoid, as much as possible, a technical, historical, or theoretical approach so that the
average filmgoer can more fully understand and appreciate the role and impact of film music,
without getting too bogged down in esoteric theories, technical tricks, and historical anecdotes
that can deflect the filmgoer from the experience of the film itself. After a few introductory
chapters, I will do this by looking at the use of music in five select films.
As is the case with other film music analysts, I will explore the larger narrative and psy-
chological themes of the film, especially when they are supported and revealed by the music.
But I will use a much more nuts-and-bolts approach, focusing on musical and visual moments
in detail, as would composers, sound designers, music editors, mixers, and directors as they
collaborate to develop the film. By focusing on these details, I hope that the reader will more
fully appreciate how the story line is supported (and enhanced) by the aesthetic, syntactic,
stylistic, and technical decisions made by the composer, music editor, sound designer, and the
director, among others.
Toward this end, the margins of each page of analysis contain timecode markings that the
reader can use to correlate my text with exact moments, down to the second, within the film.
This way, you may see and hear exactly what is under discussion at that moment. This will
be demonstrated throughout the book by linking the timecodes in the book margins with the
commercially available DVDs of the films. More on how to use this book will be discussed
in a moment.
By describing what is happening aurally, and revealing its relationship to the visual image
and all of its elements, including the screenplay, I hope to raise the readers’/viewers’ aware-
ness of all of these elements and their synergistic interactions so that they can then begin to
interpret the film’s intent and/or message and further deepen their filmic experience.
ix
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