Film Midterm Essay
Grading
The final will consist of a take-home essay worth 100 points distributed according to the rubric below.
A Complete and correct information about composers, films and cues, thoughtful and original analysis, appropriate use of terminology.
B Complete information about composers, films and cues, detailed analysis, appropriate use of terminology, some inaccuracies in format and or detail.
C Incomplete information about composers, films and cues, insufficient analysis, frequent inaccuracies in format and or detail or misuse of terminology.
D Incomplete information about composers, films and cues, incomplete and poorly worded analysis, gross inaccuracies, lack of relevant terminology.
F Essay includes plagiarized information.
Topic
Compare and contrast the music of three film composers covered in the second half of the semester.
Guidelines
Choose three composers covered in the second half of the semester (see Film Music Notes Part 2)
For each composer, briefly summarize their biography and the background of one selected film score discussed in class, analyzing the role of music in that film referring to at least two specific cues.
For each selected cue, discuss elements such as the instrumentation, harmony, texture, tempo, and function of the music in the scene. Avoid clichs such as upbeat and heavy. A strong essay will demonstrate knowledge of material discussed in class and include some original observations.
Composer names must be capitalized (First and Last), cue titles must be placed in quotations, and film titles must be Italicized and include the year of release. For example: Howard Shore, A Knife in the Dark from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). Refer to composers by last name when using abbreviations. For example: In the second film, Shore brings back the Shire theme.
For each composer, include at least one footnote citation from a source such as the textbook, Oxford Music Online, Score: The Podcast, or academic books and journal articles from ProQuest, or an official website (but not Wikipedia). See the tutorial video How to Cite Articles from Oxford Music Online and Proquest in the Zoom Lecture Recordings folder. Format footnotes and bibliography according to the Chicago Manual of Style.
The conclusion should compare and contrast similarities and differences in the musical approach, training, style, instrumentation, and techniques of your three selected composers as demonstrated in your selected film scores.
The essay should be single spaced in a 12-point font and least 2 pages in length. Include the following section headings in bold, replacing the template information with the names of your chosen composers, films, and cues. It must be submitted as a word document file (.docx) to the link on Titanium by Thursday May 14th at 1:00pm.
Composer 1
Film 1 (Year)
Cue 1
Cue 2
Composer 2
Film 2 (Year)
Cue 1
Cue 2
Composer 3
Film 3 (Year)
Cue 1
Cue 2
Conclusion
-materials discussed in class can be found in pdf file part 1
-Chose the composers from attached pdf file part 2
