Music in Drama Films 90s-Today

Day: Tuesdays

Dates: October 29 – December 3, 2024

Time: 10:00am-12:00pm

Location: Carleton University

Price: $150+HST

Parking Info & Room Number will be sent by email 1-2 days prior to the lecture date

**This series is not recorded**

Overview

The music that supports the story in a film has tremendous power to enhance and even determine the emotion and impact of a scene. How is film music created and why does it work the way it does? How has film music evolved over time? Join Ottawa composer and film music lover Jack Hui Litster on a deep dive into the award-winning music that has brought to life 10 outstanding drama films over the past 35 years, from around the world.

Topics

Week 1:  Overview – context for understanding how music is used in film. Exploring the composer and director’s process for creating the music for a film, and introducing concepts including melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, motifs, and musical themes.

Week 2: The music of Schindler’s List and Life is Beautiful -Through an analysis of scenes and musical themes, this week’s class compares John Williams’ score for Steven Spielberg’s 1993 historical drama Schindler’s List with Nicola Piovani’s score for Roberto Benigni’s 1997 Italian comedy-drama Life is Beautiful.

Week 3: The music of The Cider House Rules and Forrest Gump – Through a discussion of instrumentation, musical themes and scene analysis, this week’s class compares Alan Silvestri’s score for Robert Zemeckis’ 1994 comedy-drama film Forrest Gump with Rachel Portman’s score for Lasse Hallström’s 1999 drama The Cider House Rules.

Week 4: The music of To Live and Slumdog Millionaire – Through a discussion of Asian film music concepts, instrumentation and scene analysis, this week’s class presents Zhao Jiping’s score for Zhang Yimou’s 1994 Chinese drama film To Live, and A.R. Rahman’s score for Danny Boyle’s 2008 drama film Slumdog Millionaire.

Week 5: The music of Brokeback Mountain and The Social Network – Through an exploration of licensed music, genre, and electronic music, this week’s class contrasts Gustavo Santaolalla’s score for And Lee’s 2005 film Brokeback Mountain with Trent Reznor and Adcus Ross’s score for David Fincher’s 2010 film The Social Network.

Week 6: The music of If Beale St. Could Talk and BlaKkKlansman – Through a detailed scene analysis and a discussion of how orchestral and jazz music can be combined for dramatic effect, this week’s class compares Nicholas Britell’s score for Barry Jenkins’ 2018 film If Beale St. Could Talk, with Terence Blanchard’s score for Spike Lee’s 2018 film BlacKkKlansman.

About the Lecturer

Jack Hui Litster is a music performer, composer, record producer and music educator. He has composed and recorded dozens of songs in music genres including jazz, folk, opera, orchestral, funk, and electronic. Jack is active as a composer in Ottawa, composing, recording and performing for opera companies, dance companies, choirs, films and podcasts. In Carleton’s music department, Jack teaches courses on popular music and film music. Jack’s debut solo album Shining Suns was released in 2022 and is available on Spotify. Hear more at www.jackhuilitster.com