Films by season & age - Music and Film (Ages 12-15)

Seasons are a great way to explore different ideas through watching a group of films. Why not try watching all the films in a season and make some time for discussion. Topics and discussion points are included.

Think of the most memorable scenes in your favourite movies, and the chances are that no matter how different they are, they’ll have one thing in common – music. With some of them, the music accompanying the images on-screen will obviously have a major role – while with others, you might not have even noticed the effect that the music is having on you. But either way, countless classic movies wouldn’t be nearly so incredible without the benefit of music – sight and sound working perfectly together. To celebrate the relationship between music and film, we’ve put together a season that showcases the most fantastic examples of the two working together. That might mean a movie like the documentary Koyaanisqatsi, where a hypnotic soundtrack takes the place of a voiceover. Alternatively, there’s the ever-thrilling Jaws or the classic Vertigo, where the musical “score” plays as vital a role in telling the story as any of the characters. Or maybe the film is a musical, with the stars literally telling the story through song – or it’s a tale about a singer or musician, like the much-acclaimed French hit La Vie En Rose. The thing is, in truth there’s as many ways for music to light up a movie as there are styles of music or types of film. And so, while we’re sure that the selection of movies we’ve chosen here will entertain and enthral you, we hope that they’ll also inspire you to investigate further yourself...

SUGGESTED PAIR

Two very different documentaries in which music plays as important a role as the images themselves are Koyaanisqatsi and Zidane - A 21st Century Portrait. To see how a single phrase of music can become forever associated with a movie, why not watch the blockbuster Jaws together with the classic thriller The Third Man.

TALKING POINTS

Which of the movies in the season did you think used music most effectively? When you think of the movies in this season after having watched them, do you immediately “hear” the music in your head? Can you imagine listening to the film’s music on its own, without watching the film at the same time?