Listening to Movies: A Film Lover's Guide to Film Music [Paperback]

Karlin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0534263690 | ISBN-13: 978-0534263690 | Publication Date: August 7, 2000 | Edition: 1

Music has been an essential part of virtually every movie ever made. In the words of the great director D. W. Griffith, "The music sets the mood for what your eye sees; it guides your emotions; it is the emotional framework for visual pictures." Or, as composer Bernard Herrmann said, "Movies need the cement of music." Listening to Movies is the lay person's guide to the exciting world of film music. Featuring 100 photographs, including stills from classic films as well as portraits and candid shots of the creators of film music, this book tells how music for the movies is written, performed, recorded, and mixed; how composers work with directors and producers; and how the whole process evolved. Fred Karlin surveys the history of this very special kind of music, from the era when pianists and live orchestras accompanied silent films, through the great days of the Hollywood studio orchestras and the ground-breaking work of composers like Korngold, Herrmann, and Rozsa, on to the present, when electronic scores, crafted through a dizzying array of high-tech hardware and software, exist side by side with symphonic scores. Throughout, Karlin draws on his interviews with key figures in the industry to personalize the world of film music. Listening to Movies reveals not only how film music is made but how it can be crucial in establishing tone, setting a pace, and involving the audience. Through numerous examples, Karlin helps the reader to understand and appreciate exactly how the music on the soundtrack enhances the movies we see. Here are just a few of the other perspectives this book provides: a unique cue-by-cue breakdown of the music for eight classic movies, from The Adventures of RobinHood (1938) to The Untouchables (1987), demonstrating in detail how the music works with the action; a revealing chapter on the Academy Awards that takes the reader behind the scenes for an inside look at the Oscars telecast and untangles the complicated rules that govern the awa

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

During the course of a lifetime, the average moviegoer will hear thousands of film scores, of which only a handful will register strongly. Karlin, concentrating here on instrumental scores rather than songs, targets the lay reader with no prior musical training. First, he explains the technical means by which a film's music is composed, recorded, and mixed. Next, he discusses what to listen for and how to evaluate a film score, using the music of eight popular films as examples. Karlin also includes an overview of the composer's role, from the era of silent films to the present, as well as personal profiles of the composers. Appendixes covering a list of soundtrack shops and vendors, a filmography, and a list of Academy Award winners and nominees add to his guide's usefulness as a resource. Informative but far from dry, this book should be in any serious film collection.
- Marianne Cawley, Kingwood Branch Lib., Tex.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

There are few books about movie music, but most of them are good. Ditto Karlin's, which, striving for comprehensiveness, covers how film music is composed, recorded, and mixed into a soundtrack; how to listen to it appreciatively; how it actually functions in eight movies famous for their music (including such classics as The Adventures of Robin Hood [1938] and North by Northwest); how it has been reviewed by intelligent critics; and how it was and is used in silent and nondramatic sound films. And after all that, it's only half over! Karlin now puts on a business-chronicler's hat to discuss movie musicmaking under the Hollywood studio system and subsequently as a freelance occupation, the Oscars for music and how they're awarded, and the commercial importance of songs and soundtrack recordings. The book's last two sections are a short chronology of film-music history and, prefaced by some comments on "How They Got Started," a listing of selected film composers and (only) some of their credits. Appendixes include a list of soundtrack shops and vendors and a worthy annotated bibliography. Ray Olson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 429 pages
• Publisher: Schirmer; 1 edition (August 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0534263690
• ISBN-13: 978-0534263690
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,956 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The overall best source book for film music info, January 27, 2008

By 

Stuart Paine (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Listening to Movies: A Film Lover's Guide to Film Music (Paperback)

This is the most thorough layman's book on the art and business of film music that I have read. LISTENING TO MOVIES has a wealth of information on the great and innovative composers for film from the 1930s on, notable films they have done and the styles they have worked within. It also devotes plenty of space to lesser known figures who are usually left out of the discussion.

Fred Karlin, a very successful film composer himself (UP THE DOWN STAIRCASE, WESTWORLD), covers all aspects of the scoring process - how the music is written, recorded and finally "spotted". Film music being a collaborative effort, he gives everyone involved his/her due - not just the composers, but also the arrangers, orchestrators, copyists et al.

Also, music during the Silent Era and many references to major composers of film music outside of the United States. At the back of the book are useful composer/films and film/composer lists.

I have and enjoy other books on this topic. None of them do what LISTENING TO MOVIES does. It's a great reference book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun, informative read..., February 25, 2006

By 

A. Person "Anne Marie" (Oakdale, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Listening to Movies: The Film Lover's Guide to Film Music (Hardcover)

This is not a book teaching how to write a film score. Instead, it shows how film scores are conceived, created, and recorded, and is written for any enthusiast to enjoy. There are chapters covering who does what, how they do it, the machines involved, and case studies of several films with notable scores. In addition to explaining current practice, the book includes historical material about the legendary film music of the old-time studios and their staff composers and orchestras. The appendix section has guides to various composers listing their works, and a list of movies listing their composers. You can even look up Academy Award winners from each year! This is a fun book to sit and browse through.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Attention: Film-music lovers !, February 6, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Listening to Movies: The Film Lover's Guide to Film Music (Hardcover)

This is an absolutely fantastic chronology of film music through the ages... from the silent era to the "John Williams" era to today. This book makes for entertaining and informative reading with quotes from so many in-the-industry sources that your head will spin! It's the most up-to-date reference I've found so far on film-scoring techniques and the problems historically associated with this genre. I'd even recommend it to film-goers with a just a passing interest in music as well