The Godfather_Baptism (1972)
Discuss how the film maker utilises music to heighten drama throughout the scene and ​drive the story forward.

Highlight key moments that serve the film's narrative referencing specific stylistic choices including instrumentation, tempo, rhythm, diegetic and non-diegetic sounds, themes, modes, scale choices, etc

Also, discuss the mix of audio elements in this scene and the interplay between them (dialogue, sound fx and music)

Length: 1000 words ​

Please submit your analysis in PDF format.'

This assignment is an analysis on the music used in a particular film scene. The scene in question is the baptism scene from The Godfather. 

Process:

i) Watch the entire film (film is in AIM library, or available externally).

ii) Watch the scene in question (scene is on Sharepoint).

iii) Do research.

iv)  Write your paper.

The structure of the paper will be as follows:

1. A one-paragraph introduction, which introduces the composer, the film and the scene, and expresses your thesis idea for the paper.
2. A one or two paragraph bio/career summary of the composer.
3. A one or two paragraph summary of the plot and historical background of the film – in your own words.
4. A short set-up of the scene you are to analyse: explain it in the context of the film – in your own words.
5. Your analysis of the music in the scene in a film music context – this will form the main body of your paper.
6. Conclusion, in which you summarise your point of view about the scene/cue – your thesis.

There are two scenes/films being done by the class. Your film/scene will be assigned to you – do onlythe film/scene assigned to you, no other film/scene may be substituted. 

Some friendly suggestions:

While the use of web resources is both allowed and encouraged, do not use IMDB, Wikipedia and the composer’s/film company’s promotional web site as your onlyresources. Information on a promotional web site can be hyperbolic and even inaccurate. It is acceptable to use these resources, but verify the information from other sources.

Write everything in your own words, even if, for example, in the case of the composer bio or film summary, the information is in effect widely duplicated. Cutting and pasting this information from web sites is a form of plagiarism and is very easily revealed by a quick web search.

Once you have completed your paper, proofread itcarefully. You will be marked on both grammar/spelling and clarity of expression. Reading the paper aloud to another person is a great way to discover errors that one can overlook when reading it to oneself.

Make sure you have at least between four and five references in your bibliography. Be sure and follow the AIM Academic Style Guideas a reference for bibliographic style, citation and all other writing and formatting questions.

Remember that books on the history and theory/practice of film music can be useful resources, beyond resources that pertain only specifically to your film and/or composer. The AIM library has excellent resources here, both hard copies and digital. '

I know the description for this one is very long but it's essentially just asking to have a paper written on the song used in the mentioned scene and why that song fits, and some history on the song.

Here are some tips on writing these assignments:

'Top five mistakes to look out for – don’t do these!

• Titles of films and novels are italicised, not put in quotes: for example: Citizen Kane(1941)

• Be careful with apostrophes: use them for possessives, not for plurals.

• Make sure your bio, synopsis and set-up are concise and pertinent. Don’t pad them with trivia and hyperbole. If you are already more than halfway through the paper before you begin to write about the music, one or more of your initial sections is too long.

• Speaking of hyperbole, make sure that you write in an academic ‘voice’. Chatty, colloquial writing is not appropriate for this kind of paper, nor is expression of your personal feelings about the characters.

• Remember that the name of the course is FilmMusic: write with as much detail and insight about the music itself as you can: this is not a movie review in a newspaper, it is a research/analysis paper about film music.'

I've attached both the Godfather and Toy Story scenes, as well as an 'AIM Academic Style Guide' which are guidelines my university has set on how each assignment is to be written. 

Introduction 

A sound is an artificially created effect in the form of diegetic (sources seen on the screen) or non-diegetic scores (source of sound beyond the elements seen on screen) in a theatrical or motion piece, which contributes to heighten the drama and progress the narrative (Wingstedt, 2008). A presence of these elements not only contribute to the atmosphere to the film, but also helps in arresting the audience to the storyline (Donnelly, 2009). The inclusion of these theatrical elements also contributes to enhance the experience of the movie for the audience, and at the same time helps in the retention of the cultural, ethnic and emotive aspects of the plot (Kalinak, 2015). Through the course of the present review, the relevance of music in the context of The Godfather, and particularly in the context of its climatic Baptism scene is studied. This is a scene encompassed in juxtaposition, and the musical score of the scene contributes to heighten the same.

Analysis

Sounds has always been used to heighten the dramatic aspects in a movie, and The Godfather is no exception. Through the use of this element, Francis Ford Coppola has allowed the audience to not only understand violence and the pain in the movie, but also show the ugliness of the actions and the progress of the cinema (Graham, 2016). In The Godfather, there are many psychological interpretations, and anguish amidst the central characters. In such a story line, music also adds as a catalyst of extending the psychological insight of the central character towards the audience (Greene and Kulezic-Wilson, 2016).

This is particularly a tale of an Italian-American crime family in New York headed by Corleone (Marlon Brando). The central character is Al-Pacino (Michael) who plays a reluctant son of the 'Godfather', who is unwilling to adapt to the familial business. Throughout the movie, the anguish of the central character in accepting the violence of this life is evident. However, the relevance of sounds is evident in the climatic baptism scene towards the end of the film, where upon Vito's death, the fear of Michael' assassination grips the family. At that time, the family attends the baptism of Connie' son, to whom Michael will be the Godfather.

(Some parts of the solution has been blurred due to privacy protection policy)