Undergraduate Course: Screen Music History: texts and contexts (MUSI10099)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh College of Art |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Students will be introduced to a series of audiovisual texts (such as films, television shows, music videos), as case studies. The music for these texts will be examined in terms of its relationship with the components of sound, image and narrative and in the context of wider social, technological and economic developments. |
| Course description |
This course seeks to introduce students to the key concepts and historical issues that these texts (whether films, television series, music videos) raise via in-depth study. The focus might be on the musical (and other sonic) practices heard during the so-called "silent era" of film history, for example, or the period of transition to synchronized sound in European cinemas, Chinese cinema of the twenty-first century, or contemporary television serials. In all cases, the conceptual framework will be the same: an introduction to audiovisual texts understood in relation to the particular social, technological and economic situation(s) - thus, via a particular historical, and geographical lens; an introduction to relevant subject-specific theories and concepts through which our understanding of these texts may be deepened, such as theories of national identity and/or of race and ethnicity, or of gender and sexuality; the development of critical skills in audiovisual analysis. Where feasible students will be introduced to primary (document) sources.
The course is organised around a weekly seminar and screening.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Students from outwith the Reid School of Music's Degree Programmes should contact the Course Organiser before applying, as students will be expected to have a knowledge of music theory at least up to an equivalent of ABRSM Grade V Theory. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2020/21, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Summative Assessment Hours 3,
Revision Session Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
170 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One essay/project of 2,500 to 3,000 words (or equivalent): 50% - due at the end of teaching
24 hour take-home exam (two sections): 50% |
| Feedback |
"Gobbets" of text will be distributed during the course (e.g. on a weekly basis). Formative feedback will be given regularly on students' analyses of these (analyses and feedback presented verbally during seminars). NB One section of the exam will involve a series of "gobbets" which the students must respond to. Students will thus be prepared for this part of the exam, by having multiple opportunities to provide such analyses throughout the course, with (risk-free) formative feedback given. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 0:05 | | | Resit Exam Diet (August) | | 0:05 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate command of the body of knowledge considered in the course
- demonstrate an ability to read, analyse and reflect critically upon relevant scholarship
- discuss and analyse the use of music in films in a critically-informed manner
- understand, evaluate and utilise relevant primary source material
- develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form utilising relevant evidence
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Reading List
Robert C. Allen, Douglas Gomery (1985) *Film History: theory and practice*. New York: Knopf.
James Buhler, David Neumeyer and Rob Deemer (2016) *Hearing the Movies: music and sound in film history*. New York: Oxford University Press.
Michel Chion (1994) *Audiovision: Sound on Screen*. New York: Columbia University Press.
William Guynn, ed. (2010) *The Routledge Companion to Film History*. New York: Routledge.
Julie Hubbert (2011) *Celluloid Symphonies: texts and contexts in film music history*. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Critically review and consolidate knowledge, skills, practices, and thinking in a subject area. (Generic Cognitive Skills, level 10); Communicate using appropriate methods, to a range of audiences, with different levels of knowledge or expertise (Communication, ICT and Numeracy Skills, level 10). |
| Keywords | film music,music for screen,history |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Annette Davison
Tel: (0131 6)50 2426
Email: A.C.Davison@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Laura Varga
Tel: (0131 6)50 2430
Email: laura.varga@ed.ac.uk |
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