Listening to Movies: Decoding Film Scores

Listening to movies in a whole new way. Michael Barndt (music) and Rita Rochte (cinema) introduce classic film clips to demonstrate how this new media learned to combine storytelling, cinematography and film scoring to capture our imagination. Even when films were silent, there was a need to fill that silence. At the height of this period, major producers employed composers and orchestras in grand movie palaces. With the creation of Hollywood studios, classical composers helped to invent a new genre — music to underscore the story of films. View clips of films and learn to focus on the scores referencing a glossary of terms and techniques. With the creation of Hollywood studios, classical composers helped to invent a new genre — music to underscore the story of films. In the decades since, film music has not “evolved” but taken several diverse paths.