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Film Music in the Classroom

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Author	Topic: Film Music in the Classroom

morpheus Oscar® Nominee	I currently teach music to a class of 12-year old who have had little or no previous tuition in this area. As one of the exercises last week I played them excerpts of underscore and asked them to describe what mood they felt was being created, what genre of film the music might be from and finally to try and guess the actual movie the music was from. I was blown away by the response. Firstly, they were extremely perceptive as to the mood of the cues. But more surprising was when it came to the suggestion of a possible movie. For example, I played them a cue from MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 (please remember I'm trying to choose movies that kids can relate to) and the possible movies suggested were GLADIATOR, PEARL HARBOR, THE PRINCE OF EGYPT, THIN RED LINE. All Hans Zimmer. And these were the ONLY titles suggested. Some people will use this as an excuse to criticize Zimmer once again. But I see it as a very positive sign: THEY ARE LISTENING, and not just to the songs. Finally, at the end of the lesson, they all came up and said how much fun the excercise was and can they please do it again next week. And all this from a class that I had been told had no ability and no interest.
posted 05-11-2002 06:43 PM PT (US)

Kosh Oscar® Winner	Thumbs up to you, Morpheus :) Way to go, man! Kosh
posted 05-11-2002 07:01 PM PT (US)

cine-sin Oscar® Winner	Great exercise morpheus - what cue did you play from M:I-2. Was in 'The Injection'? Cheers Rochelle
posted 05-12-2002 08:21 AM PT (US)

mgh Oscar® Winner	I too have used film (and classical) music in the classroom, mostly in creative writing. It goes straight to the core of the imagination, conjuring both images and emotions at the same time. Some of the selections I have used are: Main Title Extreme Prejudice Sunrise by Hovhaness Chasing UFOs Close Encounters Main Theme Moonfleet Common Tones in Simple Time by John Adams [Message edited by mgh on 05-12-2002]
posted 05-12-2002 03:29 PM PT (US)

miss tonya Oscar® Nominee	Really neat selections, MGH! I would LOVE to see what your students came up with while listening to Extreme Prejudice! BTW; cam you believe I'm eating yet ANOTHER Subway tuna sub as I type this? [Message edited by miss tonya on 05-12-2002]
posted 05-12-2002 06:33 PM PT (US)

jonathan_little Oscar® Winner	Sounds great! I've never experienced film music in a classroom... except when we were watching a film.
posted 05-12-2002 10:04 PM PT (US)

morpheus Oscar® Nominee	quote: Originally posted by cine-sin: Great exercise morpheus - what cue did you play from M:I-2. Was in 'The Injection'? Cheers Rochelle Well Spotted!
posted 05-13-2002 02:41 AM PT (US)

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