Movie Music, the Film Reader argues for a broader understanding of the role of music in film, looking beyond the soundtrack and into the production and replication of a set of values which music and musicians carry with them into the narrative and formal aspects of film. Bringing together material from the areas of documentary, fandom and animation, the Reader comprises an important first collection of writings about film music. Movie Music, the FIlm Reader is divided into four sections, each with an introduction by the editor. The Place of the Song; The Formal Politics of Music on Film; and Crossing Over into the Narrative. Essays in The Meanings of the Score look at instrumental scores, their production and reception, and question the onscreen power of the nineteenth century classical genre. The Place of the Song turns to popular music, asking how the pop score supports the film narrative. Formal Politics of Music on Film considers the subversive power of film music, and in Crossing Over Into the Narrative articles address the use of musicians within film narratives, from rockumentaries to pop-stars-as-movie-stars, such as Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan.
Theodor Adorno, Tim Anderson, UC Berkeley, Philip Brophy, RMIT University. Australia, Kay Dickinson, Middlesex University, Alexander Doty, Lehigh University Hanns