Week 2

The subject that grabbed my interest the most from the reading for this week was that of the studio system. I enjoyed learning about how each of the different studios were renowned for specific types of movies. Furthermore, I also liked learning how the composer for a studio oftentimes established a distinct music style for a studio. For example, Alfred Newman's creation of the 'Fox String Sound' when he was the musical director for 20th Century Fox. I am sure that his perfectionism and technicality contributed to the studio's reputation for movies with great technical polish.

Although the topic of mickey mousing was addressed in the book as well as in class discussion, I enjoyed noticing it in several of the movies that I watched this week. The Silly Symphonies cartoons were really entertaining and were perfect examples of the use of mickey mousing to reflect the actions. The most notable examples in the cartoons were in dancing skeletons cartoon and the musical harmony between jazz and classical cartoon. I also picked up on mickey mousing of action in Help! starring the Beatles when I visited that class this week. Because of the use of physical comedy in this screwball comedy, mickey mousing assisted in adding humor to the film by highlighting comedic action.

From the class discussion, I enjoyed learning about the effort it takes to synchronize all of the sounds present in a motion picture. The dialogue of the actors, the action sounds and the music to accompany the scene must all be taken into account when compiling and combining the sounds in a film. This balance can make or break a movie. Learning more about these aspects of film make me appreciate so much more the technicians who are oftentimes not remembered. I was further aware of the difficulty of the science behind motion pictures during the documentary that discussed the introduction of color. I'm noticing more and more that movies are an important blend of art and science. The two sides must work harmoniously with one another to have an end result that will be memorable and enjoyable for the audience.

I thoroughly enjoyed each of the movies from this week. Besides seeing my own life story adapted for the film, I thought that King Kong stood out for various other reasons. The distinct leitmotifs of King Kong and Ann Darrow that Max Steiner used to contrast the mighty and menacing character of the giant ape with his delicate love interest and damsel in distress added interesting texture to the music. When the two motives combined, it was beautiful because it helped to emphasize the convergence of these two diverse worlds. One of my favorite aspects of the film was when the subway train was racing toward King Kong as he thrashes New York City because the music mimics the sounds of a real train with dissonant strings for the wheels on the track and brass for the horn. The most obvious use of the mickey mousing technique was in the scene in which the indigenous tribe tries to escape the fury of King Kong. I felt that the film music not only reflected and emphasized the action of people jumping out of their huts and running to safety, but it also gave the natives a voice since the viewers could not understand their language.

One of the other phenomenal movies watched this week was The Adventures of Robin Hood starring the incredible Errol Flynn. As with King Kong, mickey mousing was prevalent and heavily employed in this film especially during the action or fight scenes. Additionally, I was impressed by the idea mentioned in the documentary that stated that Korngold used the key of the actor's voice for the music he composed to accompany a scene with that actor. That technique brought an interesting depth to the score of the film to highlight dialogue during conversational scenes to contrast the more energetic music in the action scenes.

My favorite movie of the week was The Best Years of Our Lives. I really loved this film for several reasons. Not only were the characters multidimensional, but the subject matter was unique and complex because it encompassed the issues being faced by three friends in different stages of their lives with the common link of military service. The film portrayed the problems of the protagonists realistically and honestly, which added to its emotion and relevance. Moreover, the film music was unique because of the Americana style that Friedhofer used to score the film.