I had seen this movie before, the original version but is was interesting to watch when I was paying special close attention to the music in it. I was surprised to notice that most of the music in the film is low , frightening and mysterious sounding. There is little music in the film which plays harmonious strings. The short high pitch jumps make the movie into a horror film.
Psycho starts off with dramatic string orchestra. It jumps and has hard accents to make it sound like percussion. The music throughout the film is different from other films we have seen with film noir and classic Hollywood themes. The music in Psycho jumps to different notes, creating an erry feeling and contrasting moods. It keeps the audience tense to the next actions in the scene. While she is packing, strings play with building horns in the backgrounds. Then as she drives to the hotel through the night and during the day, the familiar dramatic string orchestra plays. The music is repetitive and quick and builds up higher. A smoother string sound plays at the end of each build up, creating a transition. Deep building string music plays during other times to indicate the tenseness of the woman because of the stolen money she has with her. High pitch string chords are played during the shower murder scene. These high pitch short string chords make the murder intense and terrifying. This music in the film is similar to film noir in that there is a mysterious feel by the dark, low sounding bassoons and clarinets.

Double Indemnity

It started off with fast paced string and then deepened with horns underscore. It sounded sort of strange and mysterious like the film noir theme. It was a darker sound, matching the detective or crime genre style of the movie. The film noir of sting and horn music in and between scenes adds a detective, mysterious feel to the scenes, causing foreshadowing and the audience to be more curious for what is next. High pitch string underscore is played to present the woman’s entrance into the scene. Deeper, mysterious cues with horns are played with the detective and when the gun is shown. There are very little amount of musical cues; there is a lot less music within this movie compared to others. It ends with slow, dramatic horns.

Anatomy of a Murder

Jazz music plays throughout the movie. Solo horns can be heard. It helps set the mood through the movie of an exciting and scandalous feeling. The music plays at the beginning during the crdits and 3 minutes of the movie, in transitions between scenes and at the end. The music in transitioning scenes helps to set a more risque or racy mood, especially when entering the bar, the jail or a club. It keeps the movie exciting and the audience interested in the next action in the scence. he jazz music correlates well with the murder mystery and sexual tension in the movie. I believe the jazz music was a good choice for the type of music in the film.
More commonly throughout the film, the music is underscore. Several times, the music is diegetic, when Paul plays on the piano and when the record is played in his office. In all instances the music is still jazzy, keeping the music theme constant. I enjoyed the music in the film and thought there was a moderate amount played, not overplaying the jazz so that the music becomes repeatitive and boring.

The Adventures of Robin hood

The music throughout the film follows many of the classic Hollywood style. I noticed sequence, of the same tune building and repeating over and over, in many scenes through the whole film. Some examples of sequence include when the nobles are feasting, the men are climbing the tree and the soldiers are walking through the forest.
I also noticed the mixture of diegetic music and background music in several of the scenes. This occurs in the seen when a fiddle is being played while Robin hood and another man fight on a log but there is also background music playing and the sound of their swords. It is difficult to determine what music is diegetic and what is background music. This mixture also occurs at the celebration when a band of horns is playing but there is also background music.
I also observed theme romantic string music played each time Robin and the Lady are together. This is a cue for the love between them. There is also triumphant horn leitmotif when Robin enters the scene on a horse.
I found the music entertaining but too repetitive and sequential for my taste. The music was too predictive and cliche for the action and romance scenes.

Casablanca

I enjoyed the music in this film. The themes of the film were easy to follow because there was reoccuring music for each theme. Whenever the story implyed love between Ilsa and Rick and when they were together, "As Time Goes By" played. Sam started off playing it on the piano then it would switch to an oboe or strings, making it sound soft and romantic. When Ilsa enters Rick's an abrupt chord occurs. The music comes in well with with the characters. Laszlo has theme music when he enters the scene and also forshadowing him.
The movie started with arabian music and percussion to portray a different culture. Action music played in when there was movement on the streets and it portrayed political action. When the scenes are located in Rick's, the music is upbeat, exciting and entertaining. The music portrays a social place where people can relax, gabble, dance and make deals. Darker music plays when political conflicts happen between men in the bar and when the war was shown. The movie circles to connect again at the end with same music as the opening credits.