Copyright By Rebecca Marie Doran Eaton 2008

Transcription

CopyrightbyRebecca Marie Doran Eaton2008

The Dissertation Committee for Rebecca Marie Doran Eatoncertifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation:Unheard Minimalisms:The Functions of the Minimalist Technique in Film ScoresCommittee:Eric Drott, SupervisorByron AlménJames BuhlerEdward PearsallCharles Ramírez Berg

Unheard Minimalisms:The Functions of the Minimalist Technique in Film ScoresbyRebecca Marie Doran Eaton, B.A.; M.M.DissertationPresented to the Faculty of the Graduate School ofThe University of Texas at Austinin Partial Fulfillmentof the Requirementsfor the Degree ofDoctor of PhilosophyThe University of Texas at AustinMay 2008

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSFirst, I would like to thank my committee, whose insightful comments havehelped me shape this work. Special recognition goes to Dr. Almén, whose copyeditingexpertise has kept me from committing several grammatical gaffes, and Dr. Buhler,whose approach to film music has informed my own. I owe a deep debt of gratitude tomy supervisor, Dr. Eric Drott, whose keen—and always timely—critiques have steeredmy dissertation toward one with both breadth and analytical depth.I would also like to thank the entire theory department at UT Austin. Its supportthough T.A. and A.I. positions has helped me hone my pedagogical craft, while the KentKennan fellowship has allowed me to finish my dissertation in a timely manner. Thanksmust also be given for the collegial atmosphere—especially amongst my fellowstudents—which made attending UT a delight.My family, of course, has been the basis for my success. I am blessed to be partof a completely overeducated family of academics: our graduate degrees or professionallicensures include ones in botany, art education, marriage and family therapy, hypnosis,information technology, reading, music composition, and now music theory. They haveencouraged my intellectual curiosity, instilled a strong work ethic, and have alwaysprovided unwavering support. I cannot thank them enough.Thanks are also offered to my best friend, Craig. He has made what could havebeen the two most stressful years of my life into a joy.iv

Unheard Minimalisms:The Functions of the Minimalist Technique in Film ScoresPublication No.Rebecca Marie Doran Eaton, Ph.D.The University of Texas at Austin, 2008Supervisor: Eric DrottMinimalist music has now become ubiquitous in film, found in everything fromPBS advertisements to big-budget studio movies like A Beautiful Mind. This presents anumber of questions: what kind of films use the technique, how does its deploymentcompare to the classical Hollywood score, and how does it function? This dissertation isintended to address these issues by examining what minimalism has come to mean infilms that have become part of popular culture. I detail how the musical techniqueintersects with the model of the classical Hollywood film score, and, by exploring thefilm music of Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, and “nonminimalist” composers, give a history of minimalism's use on the score from its avantv

garde origins in the 1960s to its commercial appropriations in the 1990s and 2000s.Utilizing Nicholas Cook's idea of “enabling similarity” from his book Analysing MusicalMultimedia and Rebecca Leydon's minimalist tropes from her Music Theory Onlinearticle “Toward a Typology of Musical Tropes,” I provide detailed analyses of ten filmsemploying minimalist techniques (Koyaanisqatsi, The Terminator, A.I.: ArtificialIntelligence, Solaris, Kundun, A Beautiful Mind, Proof, The Truman Show, Gattaca, andThe Thin Blue Line), showing how musical meaning in these films is tied to minimalism'sparticular stylistic attributes. Through the repeated linkage of minimalism with theOther, the mathematical mind, and dystopia, these meanings have the possibility—likethe socially-encoded meanings of the classical score—of becoming enculturated.vi

TABLE OF CONTENTSACKNOWLEDGMENTS . iv!ABSTRACT. v!LIST OF EXAMPLES. ixINTRODUCTION . 1CHAPTER ONE —!MINIMALISM AND FILM: CONCEPTS AND MODELS . 4!1.1 Examination of the Discourse. 4!1.2 A Very Short History of Minimalism . 15!1.3 Characteristics of Minimalism and Postminimalism . 23!1.4 Classical Hollywood Film Scoring Practice . 26!1.5 Minimalism and the Model of the Classical Hollywood Film Score. 31!1.6 A Method for Analyzing Minimalist Techniques in Film . 41CHAPTER TWO — A HISTORY OF MINIMALISM IN FILM . 48!2.1 Introduction. 48!2.2 Steve Reich . 49!2.3 Terry Riley . 54!2.4 Philip Glass . 58!2.5 Michael Nyman. 74!2.6 Minimalist Techniques in Film Music by “Non-Minimalist” Composers. 84!2.7 Why Minimalism? . 89CHAPTER THREE — MINIMALISM AND THE MACHINE . 96!3.1 Introduction to Chapters Three through Five. 96!3.2 Introduction to Minimalism and the Machine . 97!3.3 Koyaanisqatsi. 101!3.4 The Terminator . 109!3.5 A.I.: Artificial Intelligence . 115CHAPTER FOUR —!MINIMALISM AND THE ALIEN . 122!4.1 Introduction. 122!4.2 Solaris . 124CHAPTER FIVE —!MINIMALISM AND CULTURAL ALTERITY. 132!5.1 Introduction. 132!5.2 Scoring Culture . 132!vii

5.3 Minimalism and Non-Western Culture. 140!5.4 Minimalist Film Music and Culture. 143!5.4.1 Koyannisqatsi. 145!5.4.2 Mishima: A Life In Four Chapters. 146!5.5 Kundun. 148!5.5.1 Minimalism and Tibet's Other . 154CHAPTER SIX —!MINIMALISM AND THE MATHEMATICAL GENIUS . 162!6.1 Introduction. 162!6.2 A Beautiful Mind . 165!6.3 Proof . 178CHAPTER SEVEN —!MINIMALISM AND DYSTOPIA . 186!7.1 Introduction. 186!7.2 Minimalism and Entrapment. 187!7.2.1 The Truman Show . 187!7.2.2 Gattaca. 216!7.3 Minimalism and Anempathy. 233!7.3.1 The Thin Blue Line. 233CHAPTER EIGHT —!CONCLUSION. 252!8.1 Summary . 252!8.2 Questions for Further Research . 254APPENDIX A. 259!APPENDIX B . 267!APPENDIX C . 270!GLOSSARY . 271!SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPY. 273!VITA . 283!viii

LIST OF EXAMPLESExample 3.1: Orientalist pentatonic cliché . 96!Example 3.2: Native American cliché . 96Example 3.3: Intercut human/machine scenes from “The Grid”. 101!Example 3.4: Pitch and rhythmic content from 51:42-52:22 in Koyaanisqatsi. 103!Example 3.5: Conjunction of pitch and rhythmic material with images in 51:32-52:22 103!Example 3.6: “Chord” or pitch collection content of 52:22-53:55. 105!Example 3.7: Simplified rhythmic content of 52:22-53:55 . 105!Example 3.8: Correlation of musical/visual events in 52:22-53:55. 105!Example 3.9: Percussion rhythm of the “Terminator Theme” . 112!Example 3.10: Melody of The Terminator's title theme. 113!Example 3.11: The Cyborg's Leitmotif in The Terminator . 114!Example 3.12: A.I.'s motives A, B, C, D, and D' . 116!Example 3.13: A.I. “Hide and Seek” music from 15:33-16:33. 116!Example 3.14: Melody “E” of “Hide and Seek,” A.I. 118!Example 3.15: “Hide and Seek” music from 16:33-18:28, A.I. 119!Example 4.1: First Music in Solaris (6:51). 126!Example 6.1: Opening musical motives of “A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics”. 167!Example 6.2: Order of motives in “Kaleidoscope” opening, mm. 1-24 (Section A) . 168!Example 6.3: Sequence of mm. 25-34 of “Kaleidoscope” . 168!Example 6.4: Half-step voice-leading embedded in mm. 25-34 of “Kaleidoscope”. 169!Example 6.5: Chords and their intervallic relations, “Kaleidoscope” mm. 38-47. 169!Example 6.6: Structure of “A Kaleidoscope of Mathematics” (mm. 1-75). 170!Example 6.7: Beginning of “Cracking the Russian Codes," motive C. 174!Example 6.8: The (d-C-Bb-C-) chord cycle as it appears in “Kaleidoscope” and“Cracking the Russian Codes”. 175!Example 6.9: Descending half-step voice-leading in mm. 30-38 of “Cracking theRussian Codes” . 176!Example 6.10: “Cracking the Russian Codes” . 177!Example 6.11: Primary “proof leitmotif” motives (48:16-49:56) . 182!Example 6.12: Order of “proof leitmotif” motives (48:16-49:56). 182!Example 7.1: Story Levels and Diegetic/Nondiegetic Interpretation of Sound Sources inThe Truman Show . 193!Example 7.2: Drum loop in “Drive,” The Truman Show. 202!Example 7.3: String motives in “Drive,” The Truman Show. 202!Example 7.4: Order of motives in “Drive” .

intersects with the model of the classical Hollywood film score, and, by exploring the film music of Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, and “non-minimalist” composers, give a history of minimalism's use on the score from its avant-vi garde origins in the 1960s to its commercial appropriations in the 1990s and 2000s. Utilizing Nicholas Cook's idea of “enabling .