Filmmusic is often composed specially for a film. When analyzing film-music it seems very common to study the function of the music in a narrative context in order to see how it cooperates or relates to this narration. In the present thesis I am investigating the interaction between film and music as two ingredients on an equal level. In short: what happens when a filmmaker chooses music that has already been composed for another occasion, even in another time and a different cultural context? My aim is twofold: first to examine current film analytic strategies, secondly to find new ways of comprehend pre-composed music in relation to its new setting in a film. My interest, thus, is to seek meaning of music in film rather than function. The study calls for an inter-disciplinary approach using theories and discussions from a wide range of subjects: psychology, music therapy, anthropology, musicology in general and semantics. I am examining two films that are similar in their respect to use music that has been composed and used elsewhere. However, in “2001-a Space Odyssey” Stanley Kubrick uses music from the European art music tradition whereas Woody Allen in “Manhattan” uses music from the popular American music repertoire of the 20s and 30s (The American Songbook). The music, by various composers and in various idioms, in Kubrick´s films, works on a fairly abstract level in a sort of counterpoint to the mythological and visionary contents of the film plot. The meaning of the music on the one hand, and film music on the other operates on a deeper level as a result of this confrontation. In Woody Allen´s film the pieces of music represent a culturally and tecknically much more homogenous group. The implicit texts of the songs ( they are never sung) can be comprehended as a commentary on a deeper level by those familiar with this repertoire. Allen´s choice of subject and enacted dramaturgy for his film is very different from Kubrick´s. The chosen music contributes in an independent way to a reciprocal understanding of film and music as two separate but still independent art entities.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-7036 |
| Date | January 2007 |
| Creators | Werner Kjellberg, Petra |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Filmvetenskapliga institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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