Abstract
Melvin explores the concept of the cinematic overture, addressing the broader interpretations of the term within current and classical filmic practices. The chapter focuses on two films—Tom Ford’s A Single Man (2009) and Steve McQueen’s Shame (2011)—and in particular their opening sequences, neither of which constitutes an overture in the conventional sense, yet nonetheless seems to embrace many of its preconceived functional and aesthetic connotations. By considering the integration of sound, music and image in each example, Melvin offers a more holistic reading of the overture that renegotiates its established notions within the vernacular of contemporary cinema.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Bordwell, D., J., Staiger and K. Thompson (1985) The Classical Hollywood Cinema: Film, Style and Mode of Production to 1960 (London: Routledge).
Brown, R. S. (1994) Overtones and Undertones: Reading Film Music (London and Berkley: University of California Press).
Chernick, A. (2011) ‘The Confessions of Steve McQueen’, Nowness, 11 October http://www.nowness.com/day/2011/10/11/1670/the-confessions-of-steve-mcqueen?utm_source=YOUT&utm_medium=SM&utm_campaign=YT1001, date accessed 14 July 2014.
Chion, M. (2009) Film, A Sound Art, trans. C. Gorbman, (New York: Columbia University Press).
Cooke, M. (2008) A History of Film Music (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Cooper, D. (2003) ‘Film Form and Musical Form in Bernard Hermann’s Score to Vertigo’, The Journal of Film Music, Vol. 1, No. 2–3, 239–248.
Demos, T.J. (2005) ‘The art of darkness: On Steve McQueen’, October 114 (Fall), 61–89, http://www.ucl.ac.uk/art-history/about_us/academic_staff/dr_tj_demos/further?publications, date accessed 4 April 2011.
Everett, W. (2008) ‘Image, Music, Film’, Studies in European Cinema Vol. 5, No. 1, 7–16.
Front, S. (2011) ‘Labyrinth of Time in Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love and 2046’, Asian Journal of Literature, Culture and Society, Vol. 5, No. 1 (April), 144–155.
Ford, T. ([2009] 2010) ‘DVD Extras: Director’s Audio Commentary’, A Single Man, DVD, Icon.
Gallo, D. (2006) Opera: The Basics (New York and London: Routledge).
Heldt, G. (2013) Music and Levels of Narration in Film: Steps Across the Border (Bristol: Intellect).
Holston, K. R. (2013) Movie Roadshows: A History and Filmography of Reserved-Seat Limited Showings, 1911–1973 (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland Publishings).
Huppert, C. (2011) ‘Steve McQueen’s Sense of Release’, Interview Magazine http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/steve-mcqueen-shame/, date accessed 25 June 2014.
Kalinak, K. (1992) Settling the Score: Music and the Classical Hollywood Film (Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press).
Kirkham, P. (1997) ‘The Jeweller’s Eye’, Sight and Sound (April), 18–19.
Kulezic-Wilson, D. (2012) ‘Gus Van Sant’s Soundwalks and Audio-visual Musique Concrète’ in J. Wierzbicki (ed.) Music, Sound and Filmmakers: Sonic Style in Cinema (New York and London: Routledge), 76–88.
Larsen, P. (2005) Film Music (London: Reaktion Books).
Lefebvre, H. (2004) Rhythmanalysis: Space, Time and Everyday Life. trans. E. Stuart and G. Moore (London: Continuum).
Lerner, N. (2005) ‘“Look at that big hand move along”: Clocks, Containment, and Music in High Noon’, South Atlantic Quarterly, Vol. 104, No. 1 (Winter), 151–173.
Long, M. (2008) Beautiful Monsters: Imagining the Classic in Musical Media (Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press).
McClary, S. (2007) ‘Minima Romantica’ in D. Goldmark, L. Kramer and R. Leppert (eds) Beyond the Soundtrack: Representing Music in Cinema (Berkley and London: University of California Press), 48–65.
Melvin, A. (2011) ‘Sonic motifs, structure and identity in Steve McQueen’s Hunger’, The Soundtrack, Vol. 4, No. 1, 23–32.
Mottahedeh, N. (2008) Representing the Unpresentable: Historical Images of National Reform from the Qajars to the Islamic Republic of Iran (New York: Syracuse University Press).
Niecks, F. (1906) ‘Historical Sketch of the Overture’, Sammelbände der Internationalen Musikgesellschaft, Vol. 7, No. 3, 386–390.
Pride, R. (2011) ‘The Blame of “Shame”: Steve McQueen’s Sex and the City’, NewCityFilm (Chicago), http://newcityfilm.com/2011/11/30/the-blame-of-shame-steve-mcqueens-sex-and-the-city/, date accessed 25 June 2014.
Quandt, J. (2012) ‘Cock and Bull Story: James Quandt on Steve McQueen’s Shame’, Artforum International, Vol. 50, No. 5, 51.
Sandhu, S. (2012) ‘Shame’, Sight & Sound (February), 77.
Stevens, K. (2013) ‘Dying to Love: Gay Identity, Suicide, and Aesthetics in A Single Man’, Cinema Journal, Vol. 52, No. 4 (Summer), 99–120.
Tracy, A. (2011) ‘Shame’, Cinemascope, 49 (December), http://cinema-scope.com/currency/shame-steve-mcqueen-uk/, date accessed 14 July 2014.
Thorsen, N. (2011) ‘Longing for the end of all: Interview’, Melancholia Presskit. http://www.melancholiathemovie.com/#_interview, date accessed 14 July 2014.
Wallace, L. (2014) ‘Tom Ford and his Kind’, Criticism, Vol. 56, No. 1, 21–44.
Winters, B. (2008) ‘Corporeality, Musical Heartbeats, and Cinematic Emotion’, Music, Sound and the Moving Image, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Spring), 3–25.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Melvin, A. (2016). Renegotiating the Overture: The Use of Sound and Music in the Opening Sequences of A Single Man and Shame . In: Greene, L., Kulezic-Wilson, D. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Sound Design and Music in Screen Media. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51680-0_28
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51680-0_28
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-137-51679-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-51680-0
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)