schedule adjustments, fall 2014

I am teaching MUS 337: Music and Film Sound this semester and have experimented with adjusting the syllabus to create a design that is closer to the forthcoming second edition of Hearing the Movies. Instead of moving chapter by chapter through Part 1, we read Chapter 1's basic narrative and sound-track introduction, then went to early film and the transition years (chapters 10-11). Then we returned to work our way through the rest of Part 1 (chapters 2-4) before studying the classical studio era (ch. 12). After the film form introduction (ch. 5), the music-in-scenes chapters (6, 7, 9) dovetail nicely with the post-classical and contemporary history chapters (13-15).

Here is the schedule (fall 2014):

UNIT 1: Listening to the Soundtrack; Music and Sound in Early Film

28 Aug Course Organization; Music and the Sound Track: a Brief Overview

Reading: HtM, Preface and general Introduction

2-4 Sept Narrative and the Sound Track

Reading: HtM, Ch. 1

9-11 Sept Music and Sound in Silent Film

Reading: HtM, Ch. 10

16-18 Sept The Transition to Sound Film

Reading: HtM, Ch. 11

23-25 Sept Musicality of the Sound Track

Reading: HtM, Ch. 2 

UNIT 2: Music and Film Form and Style

30 Sept -2 Oct Music, Sound, and the Space of Narrative

Reading: HtM, Ch. 3

7-9 Oct Music, Sound, and Time

Reading: HtM, Ch. 4
14-16 Oct Music and the Sound Track in the Classical Studio Era

Reading: HtM, Ch. 12

21-23 Oct Music in Film Form

Reading: HtM, Ch. 5

Music in Main Title and End-Credit Sequences

Reading: HtM, Ch. 6

28-30 Oct Music in Performance and Montage Scenes

Reading: HtM, Ch. 7

UNIT 3: Music, Sound, and Film History

4 Nov The Stereo Sound Track and the Post-Classical Era    

Reading: HtM, Ch. 13

6 Nov No class meeting

11-13 Nov Film Style and the Sound Track

Reading: HtM, Ch. 8

18-20 Nov Music in Character and Action Scenes

Reading: HtM, Chs. 9

25 Nov continued

2-4 Dec The New Hollywood, Dolby Stereo, and the Emergence of Sound Design

Reading: HtM, Ch. 14

Music and Film Sound Today (and Tomorrow)

Reading: HtM, Ch. 15 and Afterword