Hot subjects—Communication Arts 613: ‘The History of the Hollywood Film Score’
Sept. 26, 2007
New courses bring fresh perspectives to the undergraduate experience
While many students started a new schedule of old classes this fall,
some ventured into new academic territory never offered before in a
formal course. From physics to communication arts, faculty across
UW-Madison have created new and innovative courses to keep up with
today’s hot topics and teach subjects in unique ways.
This series profiles four new courses that have piqued the interest of undergraduates.
Behind every great film lies a great soundtrack. Sometimes, it goes unnoticed. It just floats along in the background, adding emotion or suspense. Others are memorable and deserve as much merit as the film itself, such as the deep, precautionary bah-dum’s accelerating as the shark nears in the movie “Jaws.”
Communication Arts Professor Jeff Smith will take a bite out of film scores in a new course offered this semester, “The History of the Hollywood Film Score.” The music-minded communications art course will cover the evolution of film scores, major composers and the use of new technology in the field. Unique to the communication arts curriculum, this course, according to Smith, requires his students to think counter-intuitively.
“We don’t really go to the movies to listen to music,” he says. “But without it, the film experience wouldn’t be complete.”
Combining technical music knowledge with a history of pop culture classics, the course begins with old Hollywood composers like Max Steiner (“Casablanca,” “Gone with the Wind”) and arrives at modern-day legends like John Williams (“Star Wars,” “Jurassic Park.”) The course meets on Monday evenings and includes a weekly lab, during which the students watch selected films.
Like a pop culture PB&J, Smith created the class by sandwiching his love for film and ridiculously large music library between the pages of a course syllabus. Smith says that his colleagues suggested that he use his musical background in his teaching. He says that music can help shape and guide a film beyond the script.
“Film stories tend to be so common as a visual medium to convey an emotional message, but music can tell us what the character is feeling or thinking without having to say a word,” he says.
Through this course, Smith wants his students to take with them a new perspective on the film experience. With a tinge of a personal understanding, Smith says that after taking this course, “the students won’t ever watch films in the same way again.”