Description
Book SynopsisDanny Elfman is recognized as one of the most successful, interesting, and innovative figures in recent film music composition. He came to the fore in the late 1980s in connection with his collaboration with Tim Burton on his films including Pee-Wee''s Big Adventure (1985), Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), The Nightmare before Christmas (1993), and Sleepy Hollow (1999). In addition to this, Elfman has composed music for more than 40 other films, including Somersby (1993), Dolores Claibourne (1995), Good Will Hunting (1997), Men in Black (1997), and Spiderman (2002). Beetlejuice was the first mainstream commercial success of the collaboration, but Batman was the film which marked Tim Burton''s arrival as a major figure in Hollywood film direction, and equally established Danny Elfman as a film score composer, particularly in relation to action and fantasy genres. The score for Batman won a Grammy in 1989 and is an outstanding example of his collaboration w
Trade ReviewElfman's original score supports well over half of Tim Burton's two-hour Batman, which is no small achievement. In addition, Elfman proved how effective music can be in what is usually called the "action movie" genre. Halfyard...examines Elfman's composition career, including his contributions to Weird Science, Edward Scissorhands and a number of offbeat comedies, showing how his work began to differ from the usual scores of the 1980s and 1990s. She analyzes the themes behind Batman and Elfman's effective use of duality in describing a complex character in conflict, set against others clearly good or evil. Halfyard then works through the score and film scene for scene. * Reference and Research Book News *
...a thoroughly researched and extremely useful guide....compact, accessible, and highly informative.... * Music & Letters, February 2007 *
Even if music theory isn't your cup of tea (or its terminology is simply baffling), Halfyard's book will serve as an excellent reference work, and the career and film assessments are invigorating. Though Scarecrow Press has thus far published three volumes in their Film Score series, hopefully it'll continue further, and perhaps Halfyard will tackle another composer of particular note. -- Mark Richard Hasan * Music From The Movies *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Editor's Foreword Chapter 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 Chapter 1: Danny Elfman's Musical Background Chapter 4 Chapter 2: Elfman's Scoring Technique Chapter 5 Chapter 3: The Historical and Critical Context of Batman Chapter 6 Chapter 4: The Sound of the Score Chapter 7 Chapter 5: Reading the Score: Part I Chapter 8 Chapter 6: Reading the Score: Part II Chapter 9 Notes Chapter 10 Bibliography Chapter 11 Index Chapter 12 About the Author
