Browsing by Subject "Film music"
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Item Between the ears : acoustiographic representations of character interiority(2011-05) Newton, Alex Michael; Buhler, James, 1964-; Neumeyer, DavidThis essay aims to explore acoustiographies of the interior and interpret the cultural impressions that they perpetuate. While I do consider the conventional iconographies of headphones and full-body suits (e.g., spacesuits) that filmmakers employ as tools to focalize a character’s internal subjectivity, acoustiographies often supersede or occur in lieu of such visual symbols. While the acoustiography of “leakage” symbolizes the disparity between the self-perception of the self and the social perception of the self, that of “head sound” aims at placing the audience inside the head of a given character by positioning the point of audition as if it were emanating from the character’s head. Leakage is a diegetic sound that is somewhat obscured or filtered by some barrier blocking the sound’s full frequency emission, whereas sound effects or music seemingly sounding from inside a character’s head, as for example through headphones, represent head sound. These acoustiographies of leakage and head sound play a crucial role in the filmic expression of a character’s interiority, which they accomplish through their ability to physically represent interior space, but also figuratively represent a character’s subjectivity.Item Genre in context : toward a reexamination of the film musical in classical Hollywood(2015-08) McDonnell, Cari Elizabeth; Neumeyer, David; Buhler, James; Schatz, Thomas; Carson, Charles; Almen, ByronThough no single history of the Hollywood musical exists as such, a historical narrative nevertheless emerges from the extensive body of scholarly work on the genre. Most studies of the American film musical have used as texts a limited canon of films. Though these studies have illuminated many stylistic and critical constructs at work in the film musical, they have also presented an incomplete picture of the historical development of the musical in classical Hollywood. We need to contextualize our critical understanding of the American film musical by broadening the scope of films we study and by investigating the cultural and industrial circumstances in which these films were produced. The purpose of this study, then, is twofold: I offer a historical context in which to conduct critical examinations of the Hollywood film musical, and I provide examples of how this historical understanding can inform further investigations of the genre. By far the most attention in the literature is given to MGM musicals, particularly those produced by the Freed unit in the 1940s and 1950s, with RKO’s Astaire-Rogers films in the 1930s trailing not far behind. Yet almost every other Hollywood studio, whether major, minor, or independent, made cycles of musicals during the studio era. Paramount Pictures, through its Bing Crosby and Bob Hope Road films, provides a significant contrast to the MGM Freed unit among the large studios in the prosperous 1940s, while Walt Disney Productions, through its animated musicals in the 1950s, offers a rare example among independent studios during the dismantling of the studio system. Taken together, these two case studies present a cross-section of production and reception practices through the height of the classical Hollywood era and into the immediate postclassical period. I will use these two prominent cycles of film musicals to examine the dynamic relationship that existed between the industrial and cultural conditions of the entertainment industry and the film musical's aesthetic style and content. This study will work alongside the existing literature to create a more complete and historically grounded understanding of the American film musical in the classical Hollywood era.Item Musical topics in the comic book superhero film genre(2013-08) Young, Matthew David; Buhler, James, 1964-The comic book superhero film has become a mainstay amongst Hollywood blockbuster films. However, despite their popularity and financial success, the genre has only recently begun to receive scholarly attention. In particular, there has been little research on what traits distinguish and define the genre, and even less on the music which accompanies the films. This scope of this dissertation can be divided into three parts. First, it is a study of the superhero film genre. I provide a historical overview both of the superhero comic, as well as its filmic adaptations -- delineating the semantic and syntactic traits of the superhero film genre and the ways in which it adheres to and differs from its encompassing genre of the action film. Second, it is a study of the music for superhero films. By examining the musical themes of superhero films over time, I establish what musical parameters are held in common amongst superhero films -- namely, what contributes to the comic book sound. Finally, it is a study of topic theory, and in particular, how topical analysis can function within, and enrich the study of film music. By expanding on topical theories established for the study of classical music, I further systematize the topical study of film music, using superhero films as a model for demonstrating the potential for new musical topics to be uncovered through the topical analysis of film music.Item Popular music and audiovisual editing in contemporary action films(2018-05) Watts, Catrin Angharad; Buhler, James, 1964-; Drott, Eric; Turci-Escobar, John; Lewis, Hannah; Stilwell, RobynnCurrent approaches to pre-existing music in film focus on the ability of the lyrics or intertextuality to support the narrative and character development of a film, often at the expense of other musical characteristics (Inglis 2003, Lannin and Caley 2005, Powrie and Stilwell 2006, Reay 2004, Wojcik and Knight 2001). While this approach accounts reasonably well for popular music in classical Hollywood cinema, it is considerably less successful in explaining the role of popular music that is deployed similarly to composed scores, such as in contemporary action film. In this dissertation, I explore how the musical characteristics of popular music, such as hooks, timbre, rhythm, and texture, are connected to the audiovisual editing and kinetic action of action film. In Shaun of the Dead (2004), for instance, the protagonists pummel the zombie pub landlord in time with Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.” An analysis of the lyrics would highlight the song’s comedic function, but this analysis would not account for how music determines the rhythms of visual editing or the choreography of kinetic action. My analyses of introductions, trailers, and action sequences exemplify these important connections between popular music characteristics, kinetic action, and audiovisual editing in order to propose a new way of understanding how popular music functions in contemporary action films.