This is a basic summary of our group presentation for Scoring for Film. The task was to do a group analysis of a brief clip from a film and present our findings of the group as a presentation.
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The Godfather.
(The hospital scene 1.01.25 - 1.09.56)
The extract we are examining is 1.06.42 - 1.08.12
The music (non-diagetic) is introduced at the start of the scene, and is used as
the theme as the main entering the hospital. The strings are sustained
pad for the piano chords. the piano dictates harmonic pace, using rubato
to enhance suspense. This rubato is then continually stretched up untill the moment when the car stops, creating the illusion of time slowing as the tension in the characters increases.
There is a delay of around 2 seconds between the visual relief of
the characters and said relief being portrayed through the soundtrack.
When the music changes at 1.07.45, we hear an
instrumental change wherein piano becoming a woodwind (clarinet), the strings
more active and lower register strings are introduced (double bass and
cello). the sirens are accentuated by muted trumpets. the music is
representative of both characters emotions. In that it shows both the
relief of Michael and the fear of Enzo (the baker)
The harmony (phrygian dominant mode?) utilizes the b2nd chord at edits
of tension. for instance, a close up of the man and when the car stops.
the chord major 3rd chord is used for comforting or relieving moments, such as when the Michaels places a reassuring hand on Enzo and
when the car leaves.
The original soundtrack was mono,
however the remastered version is in stereo in 1991 when converted for
compact disc, assuming that the orchestra was recorded as a whole, as would have been typical, we can assume it impossible to seperate the various instruments in a
stereo field and therefore even in this remasered stereo version of the film the music would still have been mono.
The relevant extract in this video is from 5.20 - 6.45.
