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Main Points
▶ Music underscoring consists of adding background music
that enhances the content of a scene by evoking a particular
idea, emotion, point of view, or atmosphere.
▶ A production may have three types of music: production
source, source, and underscore.
▶ Production source music emanates from a primary onscreen
source. Source music is background music from an
on-screen source. Underscore music is original or library
music added to enhance a scene’s content.# Music has the
same basic structural elements common to all sound, such
as pitch, loudness, tempo, tone color, and envelope. It also
contains other characteristics that broaden its perceptual
and aesthetic meaning, such as melody and tonality; harmony
and its qualities of consonance, dissonance, and texture;
tempo; dynamic range that is quite wide compared
with speech and sounds; and style in limitless variety.
▶ Melody is a succession of pitched musical tones of varied
durations. Harmony is a simultaneous sounding of two or
more tones, although three or more tones are usually necessary
to defi ne a chord. Tempo provides the pulse and the
drive in music. The dynamic range of music can be much
wider than the dynamic ranges of speech and sounds. Style
is a fi xed, identifi able musical quality uniquely expressed,
executed, or performed.
▶ Coincident with determining what musical characteristics
to use to evoke a particular idea, emotion, point of view, or
atmosphere is deciding what musical instrument or combination
of instruments is best suited for their expression.
▶ Music underscoring provides such functions as establishing
locale, emphasizing action, intensifying action, depicting
identity, setting pace, providing counterpoint, creating
humor, unifying transition, smoothing action scenes, fi xing
time, recalling or foretelling events, and evoking atmosphere,
feeling, and mood.
▶ Well-selected music in spot announcements can enhance
the effectiveness of the message in a number of ways.
There are instances, however, when music in spots can
detract from the message.
▶ Among the creative considerations in underscoring are
tone, style, role, genre or non-genre, original or compiled,
spotting, and placement.
▶ There are myriad approaches to underscoring that call for
the collaborative efforts of the director and the composer
and their vision of how they want the music to enhance
the meaning and the impact of the story.
▶ Music for productions can be obtained in three ways: by
having it composed and recorded for a particular piece, by
choosing it from a prerecorded music library, or by selecting
it from a commercial music recording.
▶ Prerecorded music libraries provide a relatively inexpensive
way to use original music to underscore the ideas and the
emotions in a script.
▶ When using prerecorded music libraries, beware of the
“canned” music sound.
▶ Computer programs are available that allow you to customize
music cues and assemble a jingle or sound track in
a number of ways, by designating openers, fi nales, accents,
and backgrounds to times that can be specifi ed to tenthofa-second accuracy.
▶ Customized musical instrument programs can be used to
orchestrate anything from a short music cue to an underscore,
using samples of musical instruments.
▶ Most recordings are copyrighted and may not be used
unless a fee is paid to the licensor. In the case of music
libraries, various types of contracts are available in relation
to leasing, buyout, and usage options.
▶ Using music from commercial recordings, such as CDs and
DVDs, for underscoring should be carefully considered
either because of their expense or affi liated identifi cations,
or both.
▶ Sampling has made it possible to take any recorded
sound—including copyrighted material—process it, and
use it for one’s own purposes. Using any copyrighted material
without permission is unethical and illegal.
▶ Be wary of downloading samples, or any audio material for
that matter, from the Internet. Acceptable sound quality
cannot be assumed.
▶ Like sound libraries, music library servers facilitate cataloging,
locating, and auditioning cues.