SIGN UP TODAY! CALL OR EMAIL TO SECURE YOUR SEAT
Instructor: Lisa Szeker-Madden – 250-220-5263 lisasm@uvic.ca
Duration: 8 weeks (Tues, 7 – 9pm), February 7th – Apr 3rd
Tuition: $216
Movies and music have always gone together. Before there were voices in film, there was still musical accompaniment to enhance the movie. With instruments alone, the mood and action of a scene could be greatly enhanced by music. Music underlines, links, emphasizes or interprets the action, becoming part of the dramatic pattern of the film’s structure. Recurring musical themes can be tied to characters, important objects or scenes, and can change and develop in the same way as the things to which they are attached. Sometimes music can complement the action. Sometimes, it can provide ironic commentary.
Studying the use of pre-existing Classical music in movies is particularly exciting, because much of this music already comes with contextual baggage. One must consider the original context in which the music was written, and then examine how it’s used in its new context. What if the same music is used in another movie? Consider the use of Wagner’s The Ride of the Valkyries in Apocalypse Now and The Blues Brothers. All three are depictions of heroism, but of different types. Why does The Ride of the Valkyries in Apocalypse Now leave a bad taste in your mouth, but make you bust a gut in The Blues Brothers? These are the types of things that this course will explore. With the tools from this course, participants will be able to watch movies in a new way, with a more critical understanding of the ways that music works in film. No previous musical knowledge is necessary to fully benefit from this course, only curiosity…and popcorn!
The Ride of the Valkyries
“Once you have considered these initial examples, bring your observations, questions, and curiosity, and I’ll see you at 7 pm on Feb. 7th. I’ll bring the first round of popcorn!”
- Lisa Szeker-Madden
