"That's all folks!"

My final week in Film Music was the most exciting of Jan. term. I had a "Close Encounter" with the third kind, a run in with a few demon's, dodged a few bullets in slow motion and discovered my sweet tooth for chocolate. A few of my classmates also presented clips from movies of their choice. By far this was the best week ever. I guess you can say I really enjoy watching movies from my generation rather than the "classics."



On Monday I watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind which I wasn't too fond of. The movie confused me and left me with loads of unanswered questions. I did enjoy the music the aliens used to communicate with the humans, such as their five note motif and twelve tone music, because it was different. The five note motif was very catchy. I found myself humming the five notes throughout the rest of the day.



Tuesday, things got really exciting. I watched the horror, Poltergeist in 1982. I had seen it before when I was younger but seeing it on the big screen with my new appreciation for film and music made my experience more thrilling. The wonderful film score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith. His music kept me on the edge of my seat because it brought a sense of anticipation. Poltergeist was one of the scariest films I have seen in the past two years. I actually slept beneath the covers later that evening. I usually sit at the end of the row when I watch movies, but for this one, I was smack in the center of the front row. I enjoyed this film tremendously.



Also on Tuesday, a few of my classmates presented a foreign film to the class as their final. I'm not too sure the exact name of the movie but I do believe it was an Italian film. It was about a little boy that enjoyed film, who found a father figure in a dear friend to him. The film seemed pretty interesting. I vaguely remember the music from the clips I watched, therefore I am going to purchase the film.



I was extremely anticipating watching The Matrix on Wednesday. I fell in love with the film all over again. I also found out information or fun facts that I never knew about The Matrix.



As another final, more of my classmates presented movies of our generation. This particular group presented Disney and Pixar's Wall-E which was composed by Thomas Newman who is the son of a major American composer of film music. My most memorable clip from Wall-E was its reference to 1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey. In both films the computer takes over the ship and the captain saves the day. Wall-E uses the main title music of 2001: A Space Odyssey as over coming an obstacle form of music. I've never seen the either film, Wall-E or 2001: A Space Odyssey but I will definitely check them out to be able to say I've seen these films.

300 was also a film selected by my classmates to present. The movie is based on a true story of the Persian and Spartan war, but the movie was a huge exaggeration. 300 used bullet-time just as The Matrix. The music for 300 was by Tyler Bates who used heavy metal most of the film. I own 300 and like it a lot. It's an action packed movie that I can watch over and over.

Memoirs of a Geisha came out in 2005 and is based on a novel by Aurthur Golden. The movie was directed by Rob Marshall and the music was composed by John Williams. The score uses actual Japanese instruments that brings the movie to life. I will also be watching this film, the presentation sold it for me.

The last presentation of the week was Pan's Labyrinth written and directed by Guillermo del Toro. The film came out in 2006 in Spanish. Javier Navarrete was the composer. I've seen the movie but I did not like it at all. Science fictions are not number one on my list. Except for The Matrix.

On my final day of class, we were able to choose our final film. We had quite a few to choose from but the class decided on 2000's Chocolat. It was our first movie to watch that had been composed by a woman. Rachel Portman composed and orchestrated the music for this film. I think this was the perfect film to end the class with. I was drawn to the screen the entire film. The music was great and I enjoyed the way the class reacted when Johnny Depp appeared on screen. Almost everyone except for Josh was excited to see Mr. Depp on screen. As you should know that I attend Converse College, which is an all girls school, so basically Johnny Depp is a big deal. On the other hand, I left my last day of class on a good note and satisfied I took the course. I had an awesome teacher and learned something new everyday.