'Memoirs of a Geisha' (Scaffold for Task 2)
Japanese Traditional Instruments
Activity 1:
Complete the questions below in your exercise book.
Describe the tone colour of each instrument in the table below.
Section A:
Director: Rob Marshall
Release Date: 23 December 2005
Plot: Summary:
This story is set in Japan,1929.
A young girl from a fishing village is sold to a Geisha house in Kyoto.
She changes her name from Chiyo to Sayuri (small lilly flower) as it is more of an artistic name.
In the Geisha house, she begins her journey of preparing to become a geisha.
(A Geisha is like an artisan or artist)
As she was growing up, there was no family or warmth provided to her.
All the people surrounding her treated her harshly or violently except The Chairman who has shown her kindness.
Sayuri focuses on attaining attention and love from The Chairman.
The only way she can succeed in her goal is to become the best Geisha in Kyoto, which means that she would be invited to The Chairman’s tea parties.
Watch the short trailer here
Genre:
Drama, Romance
Biography of Film Composer:
Name: John Williams
D.OB: 8th February 1932
Nationality: American
Work:
After studying at Julliard school, John Williams worked as a film orchestrator at film studios. He worked with other composers such as Bernard Herrman and Alfred Newman.
John also worked as a studio pianist for Elmer Bernstein and Henry Mancini.
In 1974, Steven Spielberg and John Williams started working on successful films such as 'Jaws', 'E.T', 'Indiana Jones', 'Catch me If you can' and many more.
Steven Spielberg referred John Williams to George Lucas. This provided John Williams to compose music for many of the Star Wars series.
John Williams will be composing for Star Wars Episode 7 which will be out in 2015.
List 5 other famous films the composer wrote for:
Star Wars/Harry Potter/Adventures of Tin Tin/ Jurassic park/Indiana Jones
Watch John Williams discuss on the many influences he had when writing the score (music) for Memoirs of a Geisha.
Section B:
Listen to the music in 'Becoming a Geisha' scene. here
Description of the scene:
In this particular scene, Sayuri is training to become a professional Geisha.
This scene depicts her learning about all the arts such as beauty, literature, music, and dance.
The violins are playing in the high register in a fast tempo. The fast tempo reflects the eagerness of Sayuri wanting to complete her course.
The cello is playing smoothly and longer note values, perhaps to represent the carefulness needed in Sayuri’s course.
The Taiko drums are playing at a fast tempo to create a suspense to Sayuri completing her Geisha course.
Activity 2:
Complete the listening analysis on the downloadable worksheet below.
Atmosphere:
Beginning:
Middle:
End:
How is suspense created?
Tempo:
Pitch:
Layers of instruments:
Instrumentation:
What instruments are playing in the:
Beginning:
Middle:
End:
Expressive Techniques
How are each instruments played?