Four Sessions: Tuesdays at 5:30 pm
September 17: Getting Under Our Skin
October 1: Westerns – “A Steppe is a Steppe!”
October 15: Genres for the Generations
October 29: Cartoons: Not Just for Kids!

Cost per lecture: $24 Members, $29 Non-members
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Cost for the series: $90 Members, $100 Non-members
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Experiencing a great film score can have a lifelong impact. Director Norman Jewison (In the Heat of the Night, Moonstruck) stated: “The marriage of the moving image and music is perhaps the most powerful visual communication we have.” Composers such as Bernard Herrmann, Max Steiner, Ennio Morricone, and John Williams have engraved iconic scenes into our collective memory with their extraordinary music, even if the rest of the movie might have faded.

Film music can inspire and romance us. It can make emotional statements that a script simply can’t; it can subvert a plot with a completely different subtext, and inject irony, fear or humor when there is apparently none on screen. Music can salvage a bad movie and make a good one great.

The Museum’s popular music lecturer Dr. Rachel Franklin returns to an audience favorite, handpicking more movie landmarks and exploring the stories behind some of the world’s greatest film music. Over four lectures we’ll watch fascinat- ing film clips and discuss the role of the score, comparing our responses, and delving into the history and craft behind the composer’s work. We’ll consider the role of the movie director, covering genres from Westerns, historical subjects, thrillers, animated films, and many more. Fasten your seatbelts…it’s going to be a fabulous ride!

September 17: Getting Under Our Skin
“A great film score gets under your skin, triggers your subconscious, enhances the drama and helps drive the emotional power train of the movie,” says Alan Parker (Mississippi Burning, Birdy). While we frequently don’t notice the music underpinning the movie, our response to it is universal. Racing pulse, goose bumps, churning stomachs, teary eyes — film music is a very physical business! We begin our conversation by playing Spot the Score and then explore such clas- sics as Jaws, Casablanca, and The Best Years of Our Lives.