Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2013 October 2

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October 2

Is there a name for this use of music in film?

Is there a technical term for the directorial technique where the soundtrack for a climactic scene of a film consists mainly or entirely of a well-known piece of music, with the sounds of the on-screen events occurring only in the background? Immediate examples that come to mind are Rintaro's Metropolis (I Can't Stop Loving You), Reservoir Dogs (Stuck In The Middle With You), Miller's Crossing (Danny Boy), and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (La Mer)? Tevildo (talk) 00:45, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

TVTropes calls this "Soundtrack Dissonance" (i.e. beautiful music or a cheery song set to a violent or climactic scene). --Canley (talk) 00:59, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

As with both the opening and closing music of Dr. Strangelove. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 01:51, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Compromise for the common good

What are some notable examples of compromise (by individual persons or by groups of persons or by organizations) for the common good, as portrayed in entertainment of any medium (for example, in operas, operettas, movies, novels, or situation comedies)?
—Wavelength (talk) 02:18, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

WARNING: The next post contains a vulgar word. (Wiktionary has information about it.) Reader discretion is advised.

—Wavelength (talk) 14:45, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

That's a tough one. Entertainment of all mediums is built on conflict as a driving force of the plot. That's because fiction that goes "Everyone talked it over, worked out a good compromise solution, and everything worked out in the end" turn out to bore the shit out of people. So, I'm not sure you're going to find many examples of entertainment based around the concept of people working together for the sole benefit of society, excepting perhaps things like Soviet propaganda works designed to get everyone excited about working hard for collectivization... --Jayron32 03:05, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Profanity is not necessary. Please see WP:PROFANE.

—Wavelength (talk) 14:45, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Nannyism is also not necessary. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:03, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

I am still waiting to find out what the vulgarity is, and what is meant by the opening question. I feel like I have just missed the total point of a Jeopardy! question. μηδείς (talk) 00:56, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

I believe the word "shit" is what is bothering the fuck out of the OP. --Jayron32 01:41, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Well bugger me. HiLo48 (talk) 02:14, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Which film studio used this music for its opening fanfare?

This has been bugging me for years, so you'd better come up with the goods or I'll … I'll … well, you just better, that's all.

On this video, at 21:57 through 22:20 can be heard a majestic fanfare. It reappears at 24:19 and builds up to its full power at 24:38, but after 20 secs it meanders off.

The music is the 3rd movement of the Piano Concerto in F-sharp minor, Op. 10 by Hans Bronsart von Schellendorff, also known as Hans von Bronsart.

A bit of that fanfare, or something very like it (but I'm sure that's exactly it), was once used by a major Hollywood film studio over its opening logo. It was replaced a number of years ago by something else. All of my googling has utterly failed me in my search to identify that studio, or even any confirmation this excerpt from the concerto was ever used for this purpose.

Does anyone here (probably one of the senior citizens, but all are welcome) know the answer?

Yours in frustration. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 05:26, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

My ear is not that good, so I can't tell if it's one of the early Columbia / Screen Gems intros or not.[1] But you can find various collections of these old intros on youtube. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 06:00, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Google won't open this for me because they have a new brilliantly glitched-up youtube system they want to coerce me into. In the meantime, can you not play this into Midomi, Jack? μηδείς (talk) 00:54, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

I'd never heard of Midomi till you mentioned it the other day. It seems to be a tool for identifying tunes you don't know the names of. But I know precisely what this music is called, so I'm not sure how this suggestion would help. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 19:54, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

I though you meant the piece was like Schellendorf. In any case, for the future, if you can hum or "la la la" a tune in tune for about 10 seconds Midomi works quite well. You can also splay a tune in one screen loud enough so your speaker picks it up and is read by the midomi screen. μηδείς (talk) 20:57, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Black Wind White Land

Is there anything on the production of this documentary? Not IMDb, please. Miss Bono ^{[hello, hello!]} 15:23, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

What are you looking for about it? You can buy it here: [2]. I didn't see a ton of info out there (except it was in some film festivals), it's cheap, the best bet might be just to watch it.Phoenixia1177 (talk) 03:45, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

I wish I could buy it, Phoenixia1177. I need info about the background and the production. Details about the broadcast and release, the plot, etc... Anything (with references) works. Miss Bono ^{[hello, hello!]} 12:14, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

I'll keep looking, but it doesn't seem like there's a lot of documentation online- and I didn't see anywhere you could watch it freely. I'm not sure what to recommend, I'll see if I can find tomorrow:-) Good luck:-)Phoenixia1177 (talk) 03:33, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

I only asked because I am working on the Black Wind, White Land article. Miss Bono ^{[hello, hello!]} 12:26, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

IMDB has some of this info, and Amazon probably will. Do you want that copied here? μηδείς (talk) 18:13, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Oh, yes. Please μηδείς. Miss Bono ^{[hello, hello!]} 18:29, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Oddly, I cannot find any listing for this at Amazon. IMDb has:

IMDb credits
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
Black Wind, White Land: Living with Chernobyl (1993) Full Cast & Crew Directed by Gerry Hoban Writing Credits (in alphabetical order) Gene Kerrigan ... (writer) Cast (in credits order) Ali Hewson ... Narrator Create a character page for: Create » ? Produced by Ali Hewson ... producer Adi Roche ... producer Music by Ronan Hardiman Cinematography by Donal Gilligan Film Editing by Isobel Stephenson

μηδείς (talk) 19:37, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Thanks. Miss Bono ^{[hello, hello!]} 19:39, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Unknown movie

I'm trying to remember the name of a film I saw many years ago. It was about a schoolteacher, a prim and proper woman. The students resented and mocked her, but in the years that ensued they often returned to her for advice. Late in the movie she falls ill and the surgeon who attempts to save her is one of her former students. Before the surgery, she gives him an old watch that she wants him to keep if she doesn't survive. When he protests, she tells him that it is bequeathed to him anyway. I don't know any of the actors by name. I think it was a black-and-white film, but I'm not 100% sure. Joefromrandb (talk) 22:24, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

I'm not familiar with it, but the plot sounds somewhat like Goodbye, Mr. Chips, with a male teacher, in this case. StuRat (talk) 22:35, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

It sounds a bit like Good Morning, Miss Dove (and not much like Goodbye, Mr. Chips). You can also browse Category:Films about educators. Clarityfiend (talk) 22:47, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

I agree with Good Morning, Miss Dove. First thing I thought of. -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:57, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Interesting that the plot section of the article has almost the same wording as your question Joe. I checked and the film was released in colour. But, if you saw it on TV before the late 60s it would have been broadcast in B&W. Also, there is a brief mention of a made for TV film from 1956 and that would have been in B&W as well. MarnetteD | Talk 23:10, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Wow. It's a bit spooky, actually. That is the film. Thanks, all. Joefromrandb (talk) 23:15, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Rare/out-of-print movies

I googled this subject toward the beginning of the year and found www.moviehunter.tv, which sounded ideal except that I checked on it today, wanting to order a couple, and it appeared to have ceased activity. There's another one I found, but you can only buy directly from their inventory (which did not include either one).

Are there any active websites that look for out-of-print movies on home video formats and let you request openly? Theskinnytypist (talk) 23:55, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

There's one called cinema classics dot com, but I am not sure what the copyright status of their wares is. I ordered a Spanish print of a Rita Hayworth film from them which I believe was in the public domain. A good question is, how can one determine that something actually is in the public domain in the US or elsewhere? μηδείς (talk) 00:48, 3 October 2013 (UTC)