MHIS-231 Project #2 - To Kill A Mockingbird

a) Looking for Boo (0:17-0:41)

In this scene, we see a young girl (Scout), staring over a fence at a
house whilst her adult self narrates. The music is soft and innocent
sounding, relating to Scouts emotions. Instrumentation involves
woodwinds and piano, the smaller ensemble makes the overall mood
seem more intimate and introverted. The music itself is also
rhythmically and melodically simple, mainly consisting of a 2-note
figure - which has been associated with Boo throughout the film. Whilst
the woodwinds play the repeating figure, the piano plays a short
melody in D harmonic minor. The natural 7 gives the cue an added
uneasy, mysterious element, possibly mirroring the same
characteristics associated with the seemingly empty house. The
second half of the cue has a more americana feel as the melody
played by the winds seems to be pentatonic, and the winds play in
parallel. The change in mood helps segue from the concerned feelings
of Boo, to the excitement of Halloween.
b) Pageant Source (0:41-0:59)
In this short scene, Scout is getting escorted to a Halloween pageant.
The music in this scene is source music, being played at the pageant.
The music seems to be in the style of a typical American march with
prominent bombastic brass playing the main melody, fast flute
ornamentations dancing around that melody, and snare drum. The
music is fairly quiet only because we are hearing the music from
outside the building; it is also fairly fast and patriotic sounding (like
most marches)The music here adds realism to the scene, and also sets
the time and location of the movie.
c) Our Longest Journey (0:59-3:01)
This cue shows Jem walking with Scout home through the park as she
wears her Halloween costume. Whilst walking, Jem hears a noise and
pauses walking to see what it is.
The beginning of the cue features sustained chords in the winds
with arpeggios from the harp - possibly to imply a calm night in a rural
area. As the camera moves to a closer shot of Jem, the innocence
theme is softly played on the flute over the sustained chords. The
calm, gentle feeling of the cue is exemplifying Jems innocence. The
notes used are from a major scale, but the order they are in implies
pentatonic phrasing - which adds to the Americana feel.
As Jem says Where are your shoes? the full orchestra comes in
to create a much thicker sound. The high strings are prominently heard

playing the melody at this point. The change in orchestration may be

to help progress the story along. As the camera cuts to them in the
park, the winds start playing a countermelody. The thicker sound
seems to change the mood from innocence to one illustrate the bond
between the two siblings, despite Jem being snappy.
When Jem shushes Scout, the music dies down to a quiet
sustained chord, with eventually only the flutes playing notes. An E
major 7 + 9 arpeggio is played by the harp as Jem looks to see what
made the sound. The 2-note figure played by the winds earlier is now
played here on the harmonica.
Once they continue walking, the innocence theme is played on
the piano simultaneously with the harmonica playing the 2-note figure,
as well as a pedal being played in the violins and harp.
winds chord/harp, flute melody, orchestra melody - strings, winds c.melody, dies down - flutes held, harp arpeggios, harmonica