Film & Media: Music in Film

This course explores the way a musical soundtrack can enhance a viewers' experience of watching a film. You will consider the development of music in film from the earliest silent movies to the present day. Our tutor, Christopher Budd, is an experienced film composer and writer, and will enable you to analyse and discuss the work of many of the great Hollywood film composers. Using clips from 'King Kong', 'Once Upon a Time in the West', 'Psycho', 'Jaws', 'The Third Man', 'The Day the Earth Stood Still', '2001: A Space Odyssey' and more, you will learn how to discuss the ways in which the music is constructed using technical vocabulary and how it relates to and enhances the action on the screen. Questions you will consider include: how can we read this music? How is it created? how has it changed? You will also be given the opportunity to enjoy and evaluate the work of some of the great British film composers, some sophisticated sounds from across Europe, a bit of Hammer horror and some very silly comedies! No prior knowledge is required, just a love of music and film. Everyone is welcome to join this fascinating course!