CINEMA MUSIC

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 394, 30 June 1928, Page 23

CINEMA MUSIC

SHARING THE PROFITS OF POPULARITY BEST-SELLER FILM TUNES

>- j Although present methods ; of fitting a film rvith appro- | e priate music may suggest to a | the lay mind nothing more j o ] than a skilful use of scissors j and paste, those more oby j servant can discern, emerg- j s j ing from them, the outlines 1 of a very definite technique, | i _J

1 j An English, musician writes: In the . I first place there is the use of leading i | themes, remotely on the lines of Wag- . i nerian music drama. Of these there - ] may be one or several, according to - j the number of characters which are [ | prominent in the cast, but rarely more | than three. These recur whenever the I character to which they belong apj pears on the screen, with the result! j that the audience learns the tunes, ! j much as it does the principal number i j of a musical comedy, j Naturally, a tune thus popularised becomes a valuable property. In some instances the sales of copies have been very large. Hence, the leading themes will generally be found ■ to have been specially composed for ' the purpose of securing a profitable share in the popularity of the film concerned. If the film is a conventional screen-drama without exceptional pretensions to be regarded as a work of art, this arrangement does good. The film and the music help each other. It is only when the film aims at a particularly high standard, or i deals with a theme of some grandeur, j that the tendency to link it with a | catch-penny tune is apt to become irri- ! tating and injure the work of the pro- | ducer. How Long is a Scene? J There is a further technical consideration in the treatment of the leading theme itself. Some adapters particularly when it is hoped to

launch the tune as a best seller, simply have it played on each occasion without change, breaking off at any convenient point to introduce it once more. Others, more ambitious, follow more closely the precedent of music drama by changing its mood, its harmonies, or its tempo, to suit the situation on the screen. Others, using more skill, contrive to weave the tune as a counter-melody into the music which they have chosen as suited to that particular scene. In this there is plenty of technical scope for an adroit musician to display his ingenuity. .Another technical point in which adapters differ considerably one from another is the length of the fragments and excerpts used. With modem film technique it is impossible to change the music for every change of scene oil the screen. The question is: What length of film is to be treated musically as one scene, and every musical director supplies his own answer. There is, of course, a “happy mean,” but as in other matters it is rarely struck.