a film that has no recorded sound, common between the 1890s and 1920s

Watch this clip from a silent movie

Same clip with music that is typical of a silent movie

Romantic scene

Comedy scene

Action and drama scene

Task A comedy scene

Chase scene

Chase scene audio

Creating music for this chase scene

1. Creating a 4-beat melody 

2. Adding a simple bass line

3. Moving the pattern to extend the idea

4. Alternating between the two patterns 

Check A

Check B

Check C

Task B feedback audio

Action in early movies

Music

How music shapes film

Tension in early movies

Scoring a silent movie

Representing characters through music

Motivic transformation

This unit explores film music and how composers use music to enhance mood, atmosphere and storytelling. Pupils study common film music techniques and themes, and apply this knowledge by composing and performing music to accompany visual scenes, developing their composition and performance skills.

Film Music

a technique in which the film music copies movement on screen (e.g. ascending notes in time with a character ascending stairs)

a chord containing four notes that is useful for creating a feeling of sudden drama

a combination of notes which create a harsh or tense sound - opposite of consonance

Identify the mickey-mousing in this clip

when the characters run up the stairs, the melody ascends up a scale

when the first character falls off the roof, the melody quickly descends

when the second character jumps down the stairs, the melody ‘jumps’ down

How is mickey-mousing used in this clip?

Silent movie suspense clip

With music

What musical features help to create a feeling of suspense here?

Task A Q.1-3

Task A Q.4

Which chord feels most tense? Chord 1

Which chord feels most tense? Chord 2

Which chord feels most tense? Chord 3

Creating music for a suspense scene: step 1

Creating music for a suspense scene: step 2

Creating music for a suspense scene: step 3

Task B feedback video

a musical idea that is well-known and used often

a repeated musical pattern, often based on chords

a set of notes starting on D which includes Bb as the flattened sixth

Misterioso cliché

Romantic love scene turning into a dramatic action scene

Compare the music in these two parts of that scene: clip 1

Compare the music in these two parts of that scene: clip 2

Listen again to how this performer manages that transition

This is a typical vamp based on a D minor chord

In this example, the tempo speeds up, the key changes and the dynamics change

Task A audio

To transition between the scenes, we need to perform a vamp

Then we can combine the music for the different parts of the scene

Check D

a musical idea that represents a specific character, place or idea

an important genre of theatre and music through the 17th-19th century

rhythms which accent the strong beat (beat 1 in the bar) or mainly land on the beat; they are predictable and repetitive

Heroic-sounding leitmotif

The leitmotif will change to sound more negative and evil

What kind of characters would these suit? Clip 1

What kind of characters would these suit? Clip 2

What kind of characters would these suit? Clip 3

How do the different rhythms change our impression? Clip 1

How do the different rhythms change our impression? Clip 2

How do the different rhythms change our impression? Clip 3

What does changing the pitch change about its character? Clip 1

What does changing the pitch change about its character? Clip 2

What does changing the pitch change about its character? Clip 3

Creating a leitmotif for the hero

Creating a leitmotif for the villain

when a leitmotif is musically changed to represent a change in the story or character

the shape of a melody, including how it ascends and descends and where it is conjunct or disjunct

Film Music

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