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The Study on the Analysis of Film Score viewed at the Leitmotif

Park, Eunkyung 1

1독립연구자

Candidate

ABSTRACT

Like most of film scores, the music of Vertigo is developed by a theme "Madeleine". The "Madeleine" theme is shown in the great parts of cues. The "Madeleine" theme is related to a heroine Madeleine, the Madeleine's long-dead ancestor Carlotta, and the same person Judy. Whenever Madeleine appears in the scene, the fragments of "Madeleine" cue are repeated and developed. Even when Madeleine becomes the other person Judy, the structure of music is not changed and remains as it is. The segments of "Madeleine" cue keep the great part of film scoring of Vertigo until Madeleine dies, and the segments are changed to different music. After Scottie meets Judy, the segments from "Madeleine" are developed and repeated. During of the love scene after Judy's transformation into Madeleine in the Judy's hotel room, the "Madeleine" cue is repeated once again in the form of developments of "Farewell" cue. In the viewpoint of leitmotif, the segments of "Madeleine" cue are changed and developed differently. the segments from "Madeleine" become the source of other cues. The more important development is the first two four-note figures of the first and the second bars of "Madeleine" cue transformed into the first four bars of "Carlotta's Portrait" which is accompanied by the habanera rhythm. Madeleine is related with her alleged ancestor Carlotta musically here. The unity of Vertigo is progressed by Scottie's clinging to Madeleine, the clinging is related to Scottie's acrophobia closely. This acrophobia is expressed as a bitonal chord-vertigo chord of D major and Eb minor and that chord is played whenever Scottie feels acrophobia. And Love motif of "Prelude" is repeated whenever Scottie feels love of Madeleine. Vertigo describes psychology of a hero ― vertigo of acrophobia, an obsession of the death of Madeleine, and Scottie's clinging to dead Madeleine ―, and Bernard Herrmann represents the mental state of the hero musically very well. Vertigo has a structurally soundly based story development and harmonizes the theme with psychological depiction of heroine(bitonality, Love motif), and express story development and psychological depiction musically very well. Vertigo influenced the film scores of other composers as well as the film scores of Herrmann himself.

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