Leitmotif

Within any film, the score has a major impact on the final production. No matter how impeccable the plot is, the casting choice, and the special effects are, the movie will not have quite the impact that the director envisions, unless if there is a perfect score used in a film. Although it is often overlooked by many, including me sometimes, music within movies is crucial to further the mood and energy in a scene. In the film Raiders of the Lost Ark there are many scenes that are full of action,…

Siegfriend the Dragon-Slayer). This opera expanded on the thematic transformation of Liszt with something called a leitmotif. There are many heard throughout the operas, including the death leitmotif, the rhine river leitmotif, and the sword leitmotif. There is a clear progression from Beethoven’s organicism to Berlioz’ idée fixe to Liszt’s thematic transformation to now the leitmotif. This is representative of what the New German School stood for: taking great German influences and adding to…

Throughout history there are significant moments that will shape and impact the future. Whether it be a war influencing politics, or an athlete changing the game of his or her sport, these moments can take place anywhere and at any time. For the film industry, one of the most important and groundbreaking films ever made was Star Wars, directed by George Lucas. Star Wars instantly became one of the most popular films once released, creating a fanbase that will continue for many generations. Lucas…

A tragedy is defined by the downfall of the antagonist. The development of a character trait whose expression leads to dire consequences, known as a tragic flaw, is the technique used in drama to instigate the aforementioned downfall. Because the main plot of Shakespeare's Hamlet revolves around the killing of King Claudius some may consider that Prince Hamlet's tragic flaw is a bloodlust, "I should have fatted all the region kites / With this slave’s offal" (II.II.509-10). Though, it must be…

Compare and Contrast Goldfinger (1964); Musical Score by John Barry vs Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981); Musical Score by John Williams During the 1960s, popular music played an important role in filmmaking, garnering larger audiences due to the appeal of this genre but also due to the fact that psychologically, people tend to associate the music they are hearing with real life events or emotions. From 1960-1967, film scores began to change. No longer would we see the traditions of the 50s, where…

themes are sung by heroic German voices throughout his productions. Richard used themes and music called leitmotifs to define his characters and plots developing a system that is still in use today. Notable modern composers such as John Williams, who wrote the music for ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and ‘Star Wars’, is one such person. Darth Vader is probably one of the best known uses of leitmotif, everyone knows Vader’s music. ‘Ride of the Valkyries’ is showcased in Francis Ford Coppola’s war epic…

lyrics and music. The Track shifts from extraordinarily heavy and livid to mourning and lyrical in just a few moments. This song incorporates a few different leitmotifs. The first one again is the Dies Irae. This starts after Todd’s lyric “but not for long”. The Dies Irae is clearly heard in the piano played very staccato. Another leitmotif is when Todd is singing the lyric “and my Lucy lies in ashes”. The melody that Todd is singing is the beggar woman’s theme. This means that Lucy is the…

Illness is the leitmotif of guilt, because when Victor falls ill, he is usually harboring some form of guilt. When Victor is overcoming his illnesses, he usually had someone to help him through it, which caused him to be unable to take responsibility for all of his actions…

In the film, Life is Beautiful, director Roberto Benigni showcases the absurd nature of racial vilification through the anti-Semitic belief and actions of the Fascists. By employing cinematic techniques and stylistic features, man’s inhumanity is made explicit through the dehumanising effects of war on innocent lives. Despite inhumane conditions being present amongst humanity, through the protagonist Guido Orefice, Benigni highlights that such horrendous suffering also has the power to elicit…

his idealistic life: however, Gatsby is wrong. Gatsby and Daisy used to be madly in love, but five years passed, and their relationship is different, despite what Gatsby believes. In the novel The Great Gatsby, author F. Scott Fitzgerald uses the leitmotif of flowers to prove that one can never recreate the past; like a flower, people, relationships, and things are continuously growing and changing and can never return to the way they once were. Flowers lose their innocence and beauty as time…