**This class will be taught In-Person**
This course surveys the development of the film score for motion pictures from its earliest inception through today. Selected examples throughout its history will be demonstrated in class through film clips and interviews with composers and film-makers. Students will learn the importance of the film score and how it functions to support the aesthetic and narrative elements of the story.
Week 1: overview of 12 main functions of film music and early days (silent film era up to first talkies)
Week 2: overview of production process and discussion of “Golden Age” composers (Max Steiner, Alfred Newman, Erich Korngold, Franz Waxman, David Raksin, etc.)
Week 3: advent of television and the end of the Golden Age (Bernard Herrmann and Alfred Hitchcock)
Week 4: 1960s-80s and new directions in scoring (Jerry Goldsmith, Ennio Morricone, Maurice Jarre, etc.)
Week 5: Famous Collaborators (John Williams and Spielberg, Danny Elfman and Tim Burton, etc.)
Week 6: overview of course and 21st century film scoring (Thomas Newman, Howard Shore, Michael Giacchino, Hans Zimmer, James Horner, Rachel Portman)
