In this scene from the movie North by Northwest, Roger Thornhill, played by Cary Grant, rushes over to the U.N. General Assembly building after avoiding being captured again by Vandamm's henchmen at Kaplan's hotel room. The musical piece is also called "The U.N." Thornhill gets out of the cab and quickly paces through the U.N. building lobby in route to find Townsend, a U.N. diplomat, only to realize that he is a complete stranger. The music has a dramatic effect that is building up with anticipation. You can identify with soundtrack to how you feel when you are on a mission to find something out. The combination of the music and the surrounding large U.N. building symbolizes Thornhill in the middle of this huge tale of mistaken identity. This musical piece was very effective for this scene in evoking the intended response of arousing the viewers curiosity.
YELLOW: Punch-Drunk Love, Paul Thomas Anderson, "He Needs Me (Remix)" Original composition by Harry Nilsson, original vocals by Shelly Duvall, remix and additional composition by Jon Brion and Jonathan Karp
Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) patiently waits as Lena Leonard (Emily Watson) joyfully approaches him at her hotel in Hawaii. Barry actually follows Lena on her business trip to pursue a romantic relationship with her. The musical piece starts off as a simple tune with a child singing a joyful melody. It represents happiness and a sense of innocence. As they get closer together, Barry awkwardly goes in for a handshake but gets a large a hug and an even bigger kiss instead. The combination of the music and imagery makes you put a smile on your face. It reminded me of the first time I was in love and how happy I felt with the anticipation of seeing that person. The musical piece was extremely effective for this scene in evoking the intended response of love. You definitely didn't need to connect any symbolism to interpret that scene.
BLUE: The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola, "The Baptism" Nino Rotta
The baptism scene occurs as Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, realizes that he is going to have to take the Godfather role of the Corleone family. The scene shows Michael at his nephew's baptism in combination with his men murdering his rivals in a montage. The musical piece of "The Baptism" portrays a dark and eerie setting. The suspenseful gothic vibe of the church music gives off an uneasy mood of death and murders with the combination of the religious ceremony of the baptism. The scene is very powerful and triggers a memory of dramatic old Dracula films intertwined with the frightening music from the original horror films of The Omen. There is so much going on in this editing montage with the organ, the priest, Michael renouncing Satan gunshots, and screams. The musical piece along with the montage is probably one of the most memorable and effective scenes in any gangster movie for evoking its intended response.
MY COLOR: The Replacements, Howard Deutch, "I Will Survive" Gloria Gaynor
In this American sports comedy film, this scene in The Replacements shows the very entertaining Clifford Franklin (Orlando Jones) with Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) and teammates in a group jail cell. They were thrown into jail after a brawl in the bar with the football players who are on strike. Clifford Franklin tries to brighten the mood up of his teammates and starts to sing Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." One by one the whole group eventually joins Franklin in one big sing-a-long. The musical piece provides a sense of uplifting and comedic mood. The scene had a feel-good vibe that made me laugh. It was very enjoyable to watch. The song also goes along perfect with the theme of the scene and the movie. The "replacements" are viewed as the underdogs and nobody is giving them a shot but the scene shows their camaraderie and brotherhood. So with all odds against them, they have each other and "they will survive." The musical piece was effective for evoking comedy and laughter.
THANKS FOR THE GREAT SEMESTER!!!!
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