Film Music		Composing for the Films Theodor W. Ardorno & Hanns Eisler Continuum, 2007 $32.95 pb This classic account of the nature of film music aesthetics was first published in 1947. Its value comes from a unique combination of talents and experience enjoyed by the book's authors. Eisler's time at Hollywood gave him a particular insight on the technical questions which arise for composers when music is used in the production of films; while Adorno was able to contribute on wide aesthetic and sociological matters as well as specifically musical questions. Above all, the authors envisaged the book as a contribution to the study of modern, industrialised culture; and, in this respect, it has a particular importance to the whole area of cultural studies.
Film Music		Film, a Sound Art Michel Chion Columbia University Press, 2009 $57.95 pb French critic and composer Michel Chion argues that watching movies is more than just a visual exercise-it is a process of audio-viewing. The audiovisual makes use of a wealth of tropes, devices, techniques, and effects that convert multiple sensations into image and sound, rendering-instead of reproducing-the world through cinema. The first half of Film, A Sound Art recasts the history of film as the evolution of a truly audiovisual language, considering developments in technology, aesthetic trends, and individual artistic style. The second half explores the intersection of auditory and visual realms. With restless inventiveness, Chion develops rhetoric to describe the effects that arise from audio-visual combinations, recasting how we think of sound film. He claims, for example, that the silent era (which he terms 'deaf cinema') did not end with the advent of sound technology but continues to function underneath and within later films. Expanding our appreciation of cinematic experiences that range from Dolby multitrack in action flicks and the eerie tricycle of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining to the way actors from different nations use their voices and words, Film, A Sound Art showcases the vast knowledge and innovative thinking of a major theorist.
Film Music		Film Music Peter Larsen Reaktion Books, 2007 $59.95 pb Just hearing a few notes from certain songs can bring a movie back to life -whether the Doors’ “The End” from Apocalypse Now, Simon and Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson” in The Graduate, or John Williams’ scores to such blockbusters as Jaws, Star Wars, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. But what is the relationship between film and music - where does the film begin and the music end? Taking off from a variation of that question - whether music accompanies a film or a film illustrates the music - Peter Larsen probes the complex relationship between the two. He charts the history of music in film, exploring along the way the role that music plays in the narrative and psychological functions of film. Examining such classics and blockbusters as The Big Sleep, American Graffiti, North by Northwest, and Blade Runner, Larsen uses these case studies to demonstrate how scores and soundtracks can expose unexpected new facets of a film. A wholly accessible examination, Film Music will be an essential read for music scholars and film buffs alike.
Film Music		A History of Film Music Mervyn Cooke Cambridge University Press, 2008 $39.95 pb Mervyn Cooke provides a comprehensive and lively introduction to the major trends in film scoring from the silent era to the present day, focussing not only on dominant Hollywood practices but also offering an international perspective by including case studies of the national cinemas of the UK, France, India, Italy, Japan and the early Soviet Union. The book balances wide-ranging overviews of film genres, modes of production and critical reception with detailed non-technical descriptions of the interaction between image track and soundtrack in representative individual films. In addition to the central focus on narrative cinema, separate sections are also devoted to music in documentary and animated films, film musicals and the uses of popular and classical music in the cinema. The author analyses the varying technological and aesthetic issues that have shaped the history of film music, and concludes with an account of the modern film composer’s working practices.
Film Music		Lowering the Boom: Critical Studies in Film Sound Jay Beck and Tony Grajeda (eds) University of Illinois Press, 2008 $44.95 pb As the first collection of new work on sound and cinema in over a decade, Lowering the Boom addresses the expanding field of film sound theory and its significance in rethinking historical models of film analysis. Introducing new methods of thinking about the interaction of sound and music in films, the contributors consider the ways in which musical expression, scoring, voice-over narration, ambient noise, and avant-garde film sound affect identity formation and subjectivity.
Film Music		Lights, Camera, Soundtracks: The Ultimate Guide to Popular Music in the Movies Martin Strong 2008 $70.00 pb This title surveys over 50 years of rock 'n' roll movies, musicals and performance films. The book identifies the top guns involved in each film, provides a storyline, rates the film, and reviews its soundtrack. From pop and rock musicals, like the classic Elvis Presley vehicle Jailhouse Rock and the recent Tenacious D showpiece The Pick of Destiny, to performance films and documentaries like Woodstock and Dig!, all manner of rock and popular music film is here. Special mention is also made of the rock and pop luminaries who have written film scores, such as Peter Gabriel, Nick Cave and Ry Cooder. This is the ultimate, indispensable book for film and music lovers alike.