Overview
In this unit you will study the structure of film music from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the 1950s. You will analyse various primary source materials as you study the various stylistic changes that occurred with the film music and contextualise these developments within the important technological, social and political movements of this period.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
There are no requisites for this unit.
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2018
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Self reflection
Additional film excerpt options
The further development of a variety of film excerpts to illustrate film scoring concepts would contribute to better understanding and analysis of these excerpts assessment items.
- Describe the principal stylistic characteristics of film music from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the 1950s
- Analyse the aural characteristics of film music from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the 1950s
- Contextualise the developments in film music within the important technological, social and political movements from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the 1950s
N/A
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 30% | |||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 30% | |||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 40% | |||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 1 - Communication | |||
| 2 - Problem Solving | |||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | |||
| 4 - Information Literacy | |||
| 5 - Team Work | |||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | |||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | |||
| 8 - Ethical practice | |||
| 9 - Social Innovation | |||
| 10 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
| 1 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 30% | ||||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 40% | ||||||||||
Textbooks
Reel music: Exploring 100 years of film music
(2005)
Authors: Roger Hickman
W.W.Norton
New York New York , USA
ISBN: 978-0-393-92574-6
Binding: Paperback
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 6th Edition (APA 6th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
j.smyth-tomkins@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Topic 1: Exploring film and music
Chapter
Reel Music (Hickman): Chapters 1, 2
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Topic 1: Exploring film and music
Chapter
Reel Music (Hickman): Chapters 3, 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Topic 2: The silent film era
Chapter
Reel Music (Hickman): Chapters 5, 6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Topic 2: The silent film era
Chapter
Reel Music (Hickman): Chapters 7, 8
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Topic 3: The early sound movies
Chapter
Reel Music (Hickman): Chapters 9, 10
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Topic 4: The golden age of 1930s film
Chapter
Reel Music (Hickman): Chapters 11, 12
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Topic 5: The War Years
Chapter
Reel Music (Hickman): Chapters 13, 14
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Topic 6: Post war 1940s
Chapter
Reel Music (Hickman): Chapter 15
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Topic 7: Film Music in the 1950s
Chapter
Reel Music (Hickman): Chapter 16
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Topic 7: Film music in the 1950s
Chapter
Reel Music (Hickman): Chapter 17
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Topic 8: Film music at the end of the 1950s
Chapter
Reel Music (Hickman): Chapter 18
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Topic 8: Film music at the end of the 1950s
Chapter
Reel Music (Hickman): Chapter 19
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
1 Written Assessment
Length: 1500 - 2000 words
Task: Complete a film music analysis of the Odessa Steps montage from Battleship Potemkim (1925). A link to the Youtube clip can be found on the Moodle course website. (Textbook reference - pages 94 - 95 and chapters 1 to 4).
Task description:
- Begin with a brief overview of the work of film director Sergei Eisenstein and his innovations in film technique.
- Describe the term 'montage', and how this is demonstrated in this film sequence - the Odessa Steps montage.
- Provide a brief synopsis of the film and where this scene comes.
- Create a plot and music cue list to describe the events in the film clip (the Odessa Steps montage) and the type of music used. You may use the template from page 81 of the textbook and download here.
- Discuss how the musical elements are used with this film clip (the Odessa Steps montage). Using specific examples from the plot and music cue list, consider how the choice of instruments, tempo, volume, rhythm, dissonance are used to:
- establish the varying moods of the montage
- support the plot and the various plot changes
- establish character
- You may use your own words to describe the musical elements, but be as precise and musical as possible.
- Include a reference list and use in-text referencing to acknowledge your information sources.
Week 5 Monday (2 Apr 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 7 Monday (23 Apr 2018)
- Accuracy & depth of treatment of director profile - 10%
- Discussion on the structure of the montage - 10%
- Accuracy of film synopsis and identification of scene - 5%
- Accuracy of plot and music cue list, & use of appropriate descriptors - 25%
- Discussion on use of music to establish the mood, support the plot & establish character - 30%
- Implementation of appropriate presentation and technical requirements - 10%
- Correct use of academic referencing conventions - 10%
- Describe the principal stylistic characteristics of film music from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the 1950s
- Analyse the aural characteristics of film music from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the 1950s
- Contextualise the developments in film music within the important technological, social and political movements from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the 1950s
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
2 Written Assessment
Length: 2000 words
Task:
Write an essay to discuss the use of classical music in five 'talkie' films from late 1920s to the end of the 1930s. This is referring to classical music that has been included in a film score by composers such as Mozart, Beethoven etc. These pieces have not been written especially for the film, and were originally written for the concert hall.
For each of the five films, find one Youtube clip demonstrating the use of a piece of classical music, identifying it by title, composer and timing within the clip. Consider the following points:
- What purpose does the music play at that point in the film?
- How does the music inform the viewer about character, plot, point of view and mood?
- For each film score extract discuss whether the music is diegetic or non-diegetic and how this alters its purpose in the film.
Week 8 Monday (30 Apr 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Week 10 Monday (14 May 2018)
- Accurate identification of five film clips and the classical music used - 25%
- Appropriate discussion of the purpose of the music - 35%
- Ability to synthesise information in a precise and relevant manner - 20%
- Implementation of appropriate presentation and technical requirements - 10%
- Correct use of academic referencing conventions - 10%
- Describe the principal stylistic characteristics of film music from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the 1950s
- Analyse the aural characteristics of film music from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the 1950s
- Contextualise the developments in film music within the important technological, social and political movements from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the 1950s
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
3 Written Assessment
Considering the period from 1945 to 1959, compare and contrast the way film music is used in each of the following film genres:
- drama
- film noir
- thriller
- epic
- horror
- romance
- western
- comedy
- animated feature
For each genre:
- Give specific examples of films and film music for each genre and find relevant Youtube clips that support your argument about how film music is used in that genre in various films and by various composers.
- The examples can be either diegetic or non-diegetic music examples.
- For each Youtube clip provide a Cue sheet guide that links the description of the action to the description of the music. You may not replicate any of the Viewer Guides that are provided in the textbook, but use these as a template for your own analysis.
For each film music example discuss:
- What purpose does the music play at that point in the film?
- How does the music inform the viewer about character, plot, point of view and mood?
- How does this music link to the usual conventions of this film genre?
Review/Exam Week Monday (4 June 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
After the marking of assessment.
- Appropriate introduction and conclusion - 10%
- Appropriate discussion of the purpose of the music within each genre - 30%
- Appropriate choice and discussion of film music examples - 20%
- Ability to synthesise information in a precise and relevant manner - 20%
- Implementation of appropriate presentation and technical requirements - 10%
- Correct use of academic referencing conventions - 10%
- Describe the principal stylistic characteristics of film music from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the 1950s
- Analyse the aural characteristics of film music from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the 1950s
- Contextualise the developments in film music within the important technological, social and political movements from the beginning of the twentieth century to the end of the 1950s
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Information Literacy
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Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
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What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
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What can you do to act with integrity?
