Metafilm Music in Jean-Luc Godard's Cinema (Oxford Music / Media)

Hailed as a leading innovator of visual montage, unique storytelling style, and ground-breaking cinematography, Jean-Luc Godard is a prominent pioneer in sculpting complex soundtracks altering the familiar relationship between sound and image, but his achievements in sound have been largely overlooked. Such a lacuna in the extensive research on Godard's work is unfortunate, as Godard's lifelong preoccupation of exploring self-reflexively all aspects of filmmaking particularly affects film music. With the novel approach of metafilm music, extrapolated from Jean-Luc Godard's oeuvre, this book not only closes up a crucial gap in Godard research, but also offers detailed analyses of the music as metafilm music in Contempt , Alphaville , Band of Outsiders , Pierrot le fou , First Name: Carmen , Histoire(s) du cinéma , among other films and video productions. The innovative scholarly concept of metafilm music, enriching the burgeoning field of music in audio-visual media, describes how Godard thinks about film music with film music. This book thus provides a thorough examination of Godard's self-reflexive approach to film music which has resulted in a lifelong creation of multi-layered soundtracks pushing the envelope of film music and sound to the limit. "This monograph explores the under-researched use of music in Jean-Luc Godard's films and video essays from the early 1960s to the late 1990s. While Godard is largely hailed as a leading innovator of visual montage, unique storytelling style, and ground-breaking cinematography, his achievements as a leading pioneer in sculpting complex soundtracks altering the familiar relationship between sound and image have been mainly overlooked. On these soundtracks, music assumes the unique role of metafilm music. Metafilm music self-consciously refers to its own role as film music and disrupts the primary function of film music as an essential filmic device creating cinematic illusion. The concept of metafilm music describes how Godard thinks with film music about film music. Metafilm music manifests itself in Godard's work in four distinct manners: as fragmentized musical cues; as the same fragment verbatim repeated several times; as extrapolated, short excerpts from classical or popular music; and as music mixed unusually loudly into the soundtrack. With a detailed analysis of these parameters, the book explores fragmented and repeated music as Godard's critique of the leitmotif technique. Godard further self-reflexively investigates genre-specific music in musical comedies, films noir, and melodramas, as well as prototypical film music as arguably its own musical genre. His last foray into metafilm music entails music-making as a metaphor for filmmaking. By thinking with music about the function of film music, Godard has created throughout his career multi-layered soundtracks which challenge the conventional norms of film music and sound"-- Provided by publisher Cover Series Metafilm Music in Jean-Luc Godard’s Cinema Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments About the Companion Website Introduction: For Ever Metafilm Music Part I: Metafilm Music, Fragmentation, Repetition, and Quotation 1. Gapped Music in Godard’s 1960s Films: Dissection of Musical Unity as a Self-​Reflexive Exercise 2. Leitmotif Technique Revisited: The Indexical Function of multiple Repeated Musical Fragments in Godard’s 1960s Films as Manifestations of Metafilm Music 3. The Undoing of the Leitmotif Technique: Quotation, Fragmentation, and Repetition in Godard’s 1960s Films with Beethoven, Schumann, and Pseudo-​Bach as Metafilm Music 4. Quoting Popular Songs: Chanson and Canzone as Metafilm Music in Godard’s Work Part II: Metafilm Music and Genre Reference 5. Referencing Silent-​Film Music: Metafilm Music, Mise en Scène, Acting, and Storytelling 6. Referencing Music-​Specific Genres and Genre-​Specific Music: Metafilm Music, Cinéma-​en-​Kit Musical, and Pastiched Film Noir Music 7. Referencing Film Music as a Genre: Metafilm Music, Prototypes of Film Music as Genre Mash-​Up, and Melodramatic Commutation Part III: Metafilm Music, Music Making, and Filmmaking 8. Music Making as Metaphor for Filmmaking I: Metafilm Music in One Plus One and Prénom: Carmen 9. Music Making as Metaphor for Filmmaking II: Metafilm Music in Soigne ta droite (Une place sur la terre) Conclusion: Two or Three Things I Know about Metafilm Music(s) Notes Works Cited Index Hailed as a leading innovator of visual montage, unique storytelling style, and ground-breaking cinematography, Jean-Luc Godard is a prominent pioneer in sculpting complex soundtracks altering the familiar relationship between sound and image, but his achievements in sound have been largely overlooked. Such a lacuna in the extensive research on Godard's work is unfortunate, as Godard's lifelong preoccupation of exploring self-reflexively all aspects of filmmaking particularly affects film music. With the novel approach of metafilm music, extrapolated from Jean-Luc Godard's oeuvre, this book not only closes up a crucial gap in Godard research, but also offers detailed analyses of the music as metafilm music in Contempt, Alphaville, Band of Outsiders, Pierrot le fou, First Name: Carmen, Histoire(s) du cinéma, among other films and video productions. The innovative scholarly concept of metafilm music, enriching the burgeoning field of music in audio-visual media, describes how Godard thinks about film music with film music. This book thus provides a thorough examination of Godard's self-reflexive approach to film music which has resulted in a lifelong creation of multi-layered soundtracks pushing the envelope of film music and sound to the limit.