MUS355 Writing Assignment
Fall 2018
Due: October 29
For the assignment, you will write a 2-3 page analysis of one musical cue. This means you will analyze the music for one scene of a film – do not try to do a longer section, or you will not be able to address it in enough depth within the page limit.
This cue must not:
- Be one we cover in the course (check this against the syllabus and the textbook).
- Be one for which you’ve found an existing analysis.
- Come from a different medium (i.e. it should not be from television or any medium besides film).
Your paper must:
- Make a claim about the music of the scene – which functions of film music does the scene fulfill?
- Describe the music in detail – which instruments do you hear? Is a leitmotif used? Is the music diegetic or nonmagnetic?
- Synthesize these observations to support your claim
- Explain why this is important/how the music is effective
If you’re unsure about how to get started, I recommend repeated watching, and starting your notes by listing what you hear, without trying to analyze it. Identify as many aspects of the music as you can – this might mean style, the kind or size of group performing the music, whether there are words, whether it sounds like something you’ve heard before, or any number of other observations. These observations will be the raw material for your analysis and the claim you want to make.
Again, this is not a music major course, so while I expect you to use the terminology we’ve learned in the course, I do not expect you to transcribe/write down melodies or do extensive formal musical analysis.
Your paper will be graded on:
Content (40% of grade): must address the scene’s music with appropriate terminology, detail, and reference to film scoring practices learned in class.
Critical Thinking (40% of grade): must make an original claim about the music’s function and synthesize observations to support claim.
Communication (20% of grade): must be organized in essay format, with at least 4 paragraphs, a thesis statement in the introduction, and a conclusion.
