UCLA

There are two volumes to this dissertation: the first is a monograph, and the second is two music scores with the movies burned on one DVD, both of which are described below.

Volume I

Film score can be seen as one of the most prevailing music genres developing and popularizing since the first quarter of the 20th century. As a contemporary composer studying both classical music and film music, the interaction between a movie and its score is fascinating to me. However, a full, academic critical analysis of this relationship is still immature but deserves elaboration. The Hours is a 2002 drama film directed by Stephen Daldry, based on the 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by Michael Cunningham. The score is written by one of the most famous minimalist composers, Philip Glass, who ends up writing an impressive score that not only serves the picture beautifully, but also forms all the numbers into a brilliant organism that has its own characters logically and can be appreciated independently because of the attractive aesthetics from classical music it achieves. This study illuminates the ways the cooperation between the score and the film, and discovers the delicate relationship between notes and images, both explicit and implicit. Moreover, this study points out the possibilities that a successful score can accomplish, holding up The Hours, as a model reference to composers studying or working for film music.

Volume II

1. Rescue (2013) is a short animated film directed by animator Po Chou Chi. The movie implicitly addresses global warming in an ironic but comedic way. I composed the music, with orchestral sound and a boys' choir, all produced on a computer through virtual instruments. The score mixes Hollywood epic music and jazz in order to a dark but humorous atmosphere. Unlike live movies, short animation has no dialogue and thus usually needs music throughout from beginning to end to enhance the action and evolution of the narration. The challenge is to make the score entertaining and dramatic while still allowing the music to maintain its independence rather than simply mimicking the characters' actions.

2. Extra Mile (2013) is a short film directed by Steven Liang, a melancholic and immersive story about a former female track star who is aging and unsure of herself. Living with and caring for her beloved husband who is suffering from dementia, she finally finds a way to run again by means of her husband's indescribable love, in silence. The director prefers a light and delicate score without too much music. My challenge was to write aerial but emotional pieces for sparse spaces. In the limited available blank, I tried to embed memorable motifs and tunes adequately to polish the movie, spanning over several scenes from start to finish. Moreover, during busy dialogues or loud ambient sounds, I had to find ways to tuck my music into the picture without distracting from the storytelling or bringing excessive attention to the music, a consideration less essential in a non-dialogue film.