ENGL 251A [University of Mary Washington, Fall 2009]
One of our previous readings cited Firefly, written by Joss Whedon, as one of the more critically acclaimed television series. I saw this as an opportunity to discuss what problems the writers of such an intriguing show might of run into when they had to finish their beloved series on the big screen.
I was intrigued today by the question proposed: "Can purely instrumental music tell a story [in regards to film] all by itself?"
There's no doubt that the musical score of a film conveys meaning in one form or another. Titanic wouldn't have been half as good without James Horner's musical genius, in my opinion. So in a sense, a score can achieve what actors, scenes, and even glorious cinematography can't: a tantalizing emotional context through which the scenes and actors may be evaluated. All the buck naked Roses and floating doors in the world would have been left adrift without that ethereal, heartbreaking music.
However, can a score alone tell a story? I don't think so. They can invoke emotional responses, even images in your mind, you may even picture a couple running towards each other in slo-mo through a field of flowers, but without some form of comparison or music saying "This is what the mood is", it's sort of like being on the edge of your seat.
