Live film scoring with No Country For Old Men

My New School class was recently observed by another faculty member. She suggested that I have the students do more music-making during class (currently they make lots of music, just outside of class.) I like this idea. So my plan is to do a live film scoring exercise using No Country For Old Men by the Coen Brothers. Each member of the class will improvise music along with a scene from the film. They can perform using instruments in Ableton or GarageBand via my little MIDI controller or the aQWERTYon. They can also use the piano in the classroom, or bring an instrument of their own. This is an improvisation exercise, and I am not expecting anyone to prepare. However, they are free to watch the movie first if they want.

For their performances, I’m offering the students six scenes to choose from:

Ending scene (not violent)

Coin Toss (tense but not violent)

The Discovery (implicitly violent)

Motel Shootout (violent)

The Deputy (intensely violent)

Cat and Mouse (super violent)

This movie is a good one, but it would obviously not be appropriate for use with every group of students. Some educators like to do this kind of project with silent films–Nosferatu is a good one for working on minor keys and diminished chords. Others like to use public-domain NASA footage. You could use any movie or TV show whatsoever if you simply muted the sound. However, I find it unsatisfying not to have any dialog, foley, or sound effects. I prefer to have a film with full sound but no music. (No Country For Old Men does have a score, but it’s so minimal as to be almost imperceptible.) You can consult IMDB’s list of the best films without a musical score for more options.