ABSTRACT
In addition to providing a brief overview of the history of music in film, this chapter also explores ways that music defines cinematic characters and communicates action, mood, and emotion. We begin by studying the flying scene from John Williams’s soundtrack for E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), then step back in time to explore film’s history, investigating select iconic films, including The Jazz Singer (1927), Metropolis (1927), Cabin in the Sky (1943), The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The Hidden Fortress (1957), the Star Wars saga, and King Kong (1933).
