Topic title: Film Music
Year group: 8
When taught: Easter until the summer
What are we learning?
- The language of instrumentation, texture, rhythm and melody that is used to guide our emotions and story telling in film music and beyond.
- About tonality focusing on key signatures, major and minor scales and dissonance
- Writing effective melodies for characters and emotional states known as leitmotifs.
- Writing music to fit specific timings.
Why is this important to know?
- Learning to use the instruments of the orchestra to communicate specific moods is key to being a composer in the modern world. Composers use these skills to write pieces in multiple areas of life including film, tv, video games, adverts and even in politics.
- Being able to listen to an interpret this musical language is key to consciously understanding what advertisers are trying to do to you.
- It allows pupils to compose using more moods interacting with major, minor and dissonant tonalities.
- Unlike in popular and classical composition styles, a film music composer needs to be able to change time signatures, key signatures and instrumentation incredibly quickly to fit what is happening on the screen. Learning techniques for being able to do this opens up modern composition as a whole and can allow pupils to write expressively.
Where does this link into our past and future learning?
- In Year 7 pupils looked at the instruments of the orchestra and typical styles of music that each family of instrument plays. We build on this knowledge and continue our learning with recognition of individual instruments and how the work together.
- In Year 8 we have looked at chord sequences and major scales, blues scales and common popular music structures. We have looked at effective melody writing and phrasing. These skills will all be built upon in our film music compositions.
- In Year 9 we look at popular music, fusion styles and composing for musicals. Having control of tonality, texture and structure are key with producing effective compositions and performances. Pupils have looked at perfect and imperfect cadences in our Song writing project, we will now introduce interrupted cadences in the film music topic to create surprise within a composition.
- In the rest of key stage 3, key stage 4 and going forward in their musical futures, being able to compose is key to them being able to express themselves. At GCSE and A level composition is 30% of their examined content and preparing pupils for this is key to everyone being able to access music at these levels. Film music is one of the options for stylistic writing for the GCSE music set briefs and can be used as the free composition styles right through into A level. For all pupils regardless of whether they carry on taking music academically it gives them the tools to be able to approach these skills on their own. Composing for film, tv, advertising, computer games and politics is a key area of the British creative industry.
How will we be assessed on this topic?
- Pupils will be assessed on the effectiveness of their compositions. The specific marking criteria can be seen on the attached Film music topic and assessment sheet. Broadly they will be assessed on the effectiveness of their leitmotifs, choices of chords, keys and cadences and the structure and timing whilst communicating the appropriate moods to fit the film.
What makes a strong piece of work in this topic? What are teachers hoping to see?
- That the melodic line is created from a combination of leitmotifs and incidental mood music.
- That the melody and chords fit well together and are appropriate for the mood and placement within the attached film.
- That pupils have considered the scales and keys they are using to create appropriate moods.
- That the piece follows the structure of the film, considering hitting the timings of the main cues. That the leitmotifs come back and transform to fit the appropriate mood and instrumentation.
- Pupils need to consider the textural build up of suspense and release throughout the piece and their ‘mixing’ including the dynamics, articulation and technological effects.
What key words are there in this topic?
What can I try if I want to stretch and challenge myself on this topic?
- Have a go at adding in extensions to your chords (6ths, 7ths, 9ths)
- Have a go at using augmented and diminished chords. Have a go at using as many of the other techniques as possible.
- Consider writing multiple parts in some sections to create a polyphonic texture.
What wider reading can be done on this topic?
Listen to and play a variety of film music leitmotifs. What makes them effective. Can you have a go at thematic transformation (changing the leitmotif slightly to change the mood of the character or place that it belongs too).
Watch some of the documentaries below:
‘Score: A film music documentary’ on YouTube
‘John Williams on ET’ on YouTube
The ‘Sound of Cinema’ series on the BBC (also on YouTube)
Supporting document/links:
