- This thesis is an exploration of the use and effects of public domain music in the films of Woody Allen. It argues that Allen's practice helps to re situate an understanding, not only of music in film, but also of music's location within social and cultural hierarchies; it also offers an exemplification of the slippages between modernism and postmodernism, each of which becomes emblematic of larger cultural issues in Allen's films and his filming methods. A series of case-studies illustrates different aspects of Allen's use of music and each study chooses a different group of films to highlight a particular set of issues: how New York City is shaped and promoted musically; how Allen perceives music's 'status' in terms of social class; how music is involved in parody and critique; how conflicts between the perceived (and constructed) statuses of 'popular' and 'serious' art figure as a controlling force in his films; how the construction of the 'Woody Allen persona' is helped by music. The approach taken in this thesis is to examine key scenes of the films in question as a way of showing the function and effect of the music. In addition, I also engage with existing works on film music, demonstrating their limitations and how their claims often fail to account for the way that music is used in Allen's work. This situation is symptomatic of an approach to film musicology that contextualises, only to a limited extent, its subject of study. By taking a director, rather than a composer, as its 'musical' basis, this thesis aims, to a certain extent, to address this situation by offering a strongly-contextualised consideration of music in film.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:571623 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Binns, Alexander |
| Publisher | University of Oxford |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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