Film Music Unit

One of the goals we've had at my school this is year is to increase collaboration across subjects and to document it in our unit plans that we have to turn in. There was definitely already collaboration happening around school, but not to the extent that a visitor would be able to immediately tell after observing a couple of lessons. However, I've noticed a marked improvement in our teacher collaboration after this goal was set.

The first collaborative effort that I took on after this goal was set turned out to be quite the undertaking. The art teacher and I decided that we would combine efforts and have our students create original stop-motion videos (without sound) and original soundtracks to go along with them. These final videos would then be presented as part of our next concert.

The students' masterpieces began in art class, where they learned about what stop-motion was and how to create the videos. They then worked on creating original storyboards and then how to act out and film their ideas. I can't go into great detail about exactly what they learned about while shooting these videos, but I was very pleased with the results!

The art teacher and I decided that the videos should be finished before the soundtracks were started. So, while the students were creating their videos in art, I took the time to prep them for the music portion of the project. Here's a short list of activities that I did:

1. A brief presentation on the history of film music
• The presentation was based on information I found in a film music resource packet on Share My Lesson
2. Students gave presentations on famous composers and their music.
• Each student gave a brief history of the composer's life, then shared three examples of the composer's music. The students were asked to describe the scene, the emotion intended in the scene, and then explain what musical elements were used to create said emotions
3. Introduction to Noteflight
• How to enter notes/rests, change key/time signatures, dynamics, etc.

By this time, the videos were almost done, so it was time to prep them for my portion of the project. The students would be required to create a music storyboard, use sync points to highlight parts of the video, compose the score on Noteflight, and then combine their video and audio together. 

***TECHTIP***The storyboards were created in GoogleDrive, and I had the students open the sharing settings on their storyboard and Noteflight score then share the links to these documents in an Edmodo assignment. That way, I was able to monitor progress and offer feedback along the way.

For many of my students, I am their first music teacher. Because of this, many lack the technical capabilities (and instruments) required to play some of the music they were writing, so I decided that they would just use the exported WAV file from Noteflight to accompany their videos instead of having to play the music they write.

Since this was the first time I've done this project, I decided an example would be extremely helpful for the students to understand what was required, so I composed my own score to a scene from an old Charlie Chaplain film.

Here's the link to my storyboard and my Noteflight score. Below you will find the video for my example.

After showing my examples, I let the students loose. They were given a due date for their storyboards and final project and little other group instruction. I wanted to see where the students would go, offering individual feedback and support where necessary. With some of my students who struggle with music, I was able to reinforce using scales in music and then about creating logical phrases with their melodies so they didn't sound like they were lost and wandering. I was able to talk about texture and harmonies with others, and I even got to help a student learn about how to use sequences to change keys (hello freshman-year music theory!).

The rubric I used to grade their storyboards and compositions is heavily based on creative output, as I've been trying to read a lot about measuring creativity lately. I don't think it's a perfect rubric, but I felt like it accurately reflected the time and energy they put into making these.

What I received in final projects varied greatly. Some videos were terribly difficult to get through, while others blew me away. Here are two examples of the later:

Story of a Loner

The Triangle

I think the best things about this project were the differentiation for all abilities and student "discoveries" that happened throughout the project. Each student was able to grow musically in some way without boring the advanced students or losing the struggling students.

I do feel like the composer research project was a bit over their heads. The concept of analyzing music in the way  I asked them to seemed to be a bit too tough. Also, all of my students are non-native English speakers, so the advanced vocabulary was hard for them to handle. Next time, maybe I need to look into getting my hands on some scores or other similar material, so they can have better visual examples of what makes good film music.

I feel like this was definitely a fun project for my students, and I know it was a fun project for me! To take this one step further, I think it would be neat if the students were able to perform the music they composed. It could even be it's own concert event, a Silent-Film Festival, where students perform their music while the audience watches the projected silent film, similar to how the first films were enjoyed!

If you're interested in hearing more specifics about what I did, or have questions or comments for me, please feel free to leave comments below. Any and all advice is always appreciated!

-Kevin