MUS4001 – Film music
Course description
Course content
This course explores the multifaceted relationships between music and the moving image developed during the history of cinema. We will discuss music’s various functions in the history of film music from silent film, through classic Hollywood film scoring, to more recent approaches that inform and challenge our narrative perception. By investigating the historical, technological, and aesthetic discourses surrounding music and image, this course aims to clarify the ways in which music is capable of communicating what pictures ‘cannot say’, and the extent to which the unspoken rules of soundtracks and film scoring make the combination of music and image the powerful pair that it is.
Learning outcome
By the end of the course, the student will:
- be familiar with the language and experience of sound and music in film
- be familiar with the elements of soundtrack production and its relationship to the moving image to which it pertains
- have developed awareness of historical, commercial, and social factors in the entertainment industry
- have gained skills in aural and visual perception, critical assessment, and reasoning, and applied these skills to written work
- be able to perform a music-image analysis as a basis for discussion of roles that the soundtrack plays in film
Admission to the course
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.
Students enrolled in other Master`s Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with MUS2001 – Film music.
Teaching
The teaching will consist of lectures and seminars, with 8 double period sessions of lectures, 8 hours of seminars, and two individual (or small group) coaching sessions of up to 30 minutes each. In addition, weekly film showings will be arranged. Attendance is obligatory.
Examination
Three-day take-home examination at the end of the semester. Students will be set an assignment in which they will have a choice between three films to analyse (only one film can be chosen). The assignment should be limited to a maximum of 10 pages of approximately 2,300 characters (not including spaces). Bibliography, appendices, and/or diagrams are not included in the page count. The assignment can be written in English or a Scandinavian language.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.