MUSL 3332, Music and Film
CHARLES FRANCIS LEINBERGER, PH.D.
UTEP Course Syllabus, Fall Semester
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COURSE INFORMATION
Description: An introduction to the role of music in the sound track of films. Although the emphasis is on Hollywood films of the sound era, some discussion of foreign films and silent films is also included. A background in music appreciation is not needed. The ability to read music is also not needed.
Location:FFA Room M402
Meeting TimesTR, 1030AM-1150AM
Prerequisite:Junior standing
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION
Name:Charles Francis Leinberger
E-mail:CHARLESL@UTEP.EDU
Office:Fox Fine Arts Center, Room M432
Office Phone:(915) 747-7800
Office Hours:Charles Francis Leinberger's Office Hours
Biography:Charles Francis Leinberger's Biography
TEXTBOOK
Textbook:James Buhler and David Neumeyer:
Hearing the Movies, 2nd Edition (Required)		 Buhler and Neumeyer: Hearing the Movies, 2nd Edition
Facebook:www.facebook.com/utepmusicandfilm
Also See:The Internet Movie Database
Plaza Classic Film Festival
Supplemental Reading: Jon Burlingame: The Music of James Bond
Robert C. Cumbow: The Films of Sergio Leone
Kate Daubney: Max Steiner's Now, Voyager: A Film Score Guide
Cynthia Farah Haines: Showtime! From Opera Houses to Picture Palaces in El Paso
Roger Hickman: Reel Music: Exploring 100 years of Film Music
Kathryn Kalinak, editor: Music in the Western: Notes from the Frontier
Charles Leinberger: Ennio Morricone's The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: A Film Score Guide
James Wierzbicki: Film Music: A History
Required Equipment: Headphones: Earbuds are definitely not recommended. Students should invest in high-quality headphones. Noise-cancelling headphones, such as Bose, Sony, and Beats, are very strongly recommended. Bluetooth-enabled headphones are acceptable but not necessary and may cause a very slight delay between video and audio. Students will need reliable internet access and a very quiet place to study.
COURSE GOALS, OBJECTIVES, AND TEACHING PHILOSOPHY.
Course Goal:
  1. To provide the student with an awareness of the elements of the music that affects our lives every day;
  2. To provide the student with an understanding of music's history and how music affects, and is affected by, culture and events worldwide;
  3. To enable the student to discuss how and why music contributes to a better quality of life;
  4. To foster a life-long love of music and a desire to support music and all of the arts.
Course Objective: Upon successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:
  1. Understand and appreciate the complexities with which sound is used in film and the role of music as one element of a film's soundtrack;
  2. Understand and appreciate the creation and use of music in cinema as both craft and art;
  3. Understand the unique challenges that composing for film presents;
  4. View a film with a critical ear for the film score and not as a passive viewer;
  5. Appreciate the contributions to the art by those who compose for both Hollywood films and foreign films.
Teaching Philosophy: Charles Francis Leinberger's Teaching Philosophy
GRADING
The final grade will be calculated according to the following point values:
2 "Interlude" Essays 100 points each 200 points 20% of final grade
12 Quizzes 25 points each 300 points 30% of final grade
Midterm Exam 1 100 points 10% of final grade
Midterm Exam 2 100 points 10% of final grade
Final Exam 300 points 30% of final grade
Total Points Possible 1000 points 100% of final grade
Letter grades will be assigned based on the total number of points earned.
A 900-1000 points 90.0-100.0%
B 800-899 points 80.0-89.9%
C 700-799 points 70.0-79.9%
D 600-699 points 60.0-69.9%
F 0-599 points 0.0-59.9%
WA grade of "W" (Withdrawal) will be assigned only if a student drops the course before the Course Drop Deadline, which is the Friday of Week 10. See Deadlines for Students.
IA grade of "I" (Incomplete) will be assigned only if the student provides documentation for a situation that prevents him or her from completing the requirements for a passing grade. These situation include, but are not limited to, hospitalization, incarceration, and military deployment.
COURSE POLICIES
The following policies apply to all of Dr. Leinberger's classes:
  1. Attendance Policy
  2. Assignment Policy
  3. Classroom Policy
  4. Final Exam Policy and Schedules
  5. Each student should check his or her UTEP email account each day of the semester when registered for this class.
The following policies apply to this class:
  1. Come to class on time and prepared.
  2. Quizzes take place at the end of class almost everyday. If a student misses a quiz due to an excused absence (university function, medical emergency, car trouble, etc.), the student may take the quiz, but must do so before the next class meeting.
  3. Interlude Essays are due at noon on Thursday of Week 7 and Tuesday of Week 13. See Interlude Essay 1 and Interlude Essay 2 for more information.
  4. Unless otherwise indicated, assignments will be in the form of a Microsoft Word file attached to an email addressed only to CHARLESL@UTEP.EDU. Do not send email to Blackboard! When sending assignments by email, students must follow these guidelines. Failure to follow these instructions may result in no credit being earned on the assignment!
    1. Assignments must be sent from the student's UTEP email account.
    2. The "Subject" field of the email must contain "3332" or the email may not be received and read by the instructor.
    3. The body of the email must contain the student's real name! Students do not need to include a UTEP student ID number in the body of the email, only in the attached file. See specific instructions for each assignment by following links in the schedule below.
    4. The file name of the attachment must follow these guidelines:
      1. First, it must contain the assignment's due date in the following format: "yyyymmdd..." For example, an assignment due on February 10, 2011 would begin
        "20110210..."
      2. Next, after the due date and a space, the file name should include the student's UTEP username. For example:
        "20110210 charlesl..." (replace "charlesl" with your UTEP username)
      3. Next, after the due date, a space, username, and a space, the file name should include a the assignment code, as found on the syllabus, such as:
        "20110210 charlesl 3332IE1..."
      4. Finally, depending on what version of Microsoft Word the student is using, the file extension will be either "doc" or "docx," for example:
        "20110210 charlesl 3332IE1.docx"
    5. See Deadlines for Students for all assignment due dates.
  5. The Midterm Exams will be during class on Thursday of Weeks 5 and 10. Students will have one hour and twenty minutes to complete each exam.
  6. Spoiler Alert: During the screening of some films, or parts of films, in class, students may learn the surprise endings of films that they have not yet seen in their entirety.
  7. Some films, or parts of films, that are screened in class may contain profanity, violence, adult subject matter, sexuality, nudity, and depictions of acts of racism and sexism. Students who are easily offended by such content should consider enrolling in a different Music Literature class.
SCHEDULE
FALL  
Week Days Topic Assignment Test
1 T Part I Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Introduction None  
R Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 1: The Soundtrack and Narrative Quiz 1
2 T Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 2: The Musicality of the Soundtrack None  
R Quiz 2
3 T Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 3: Music, Sound, Space, and Time None  
R Quiz 3
4 T Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 4: From 1895 to 1929 None  
R Begin Interlude Essay 1 Quiz 4
5 T Review for Midterm 1 None  
R Midterm 1 Midterm 1
6 T Part II Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 5: From 1926 to 1932 None  
R Quiz 5
7 T Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 6: The Broadway Melody, Gold Diggers of 1933, and Le Million
The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk and Okay for Sound 		Interlude Essay 1  
R Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 7: From 1932 to 1950 None Quiz 6
8 T Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 8: Mildred Pierce None  
R Quiz 7
9 T Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 9: From 1950 to 1975 None  
R Begin Interlude Essay 2 Quiz 8
10 T Review for Midterm 2 None  
R Midterm 2, Course Drop Deadline Midterm 2
11 T Part III Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 10: Music and Film Form in the Post-Classical Era None  
R Quiz 9
12 T Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 11: From 1975 to 2000 None  
R Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 12: Music and Film Form in the New Hollywood Quiz 10
13 T Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 13: Music and Film Sound Since 2000 Interlude Essay 2  
R Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 14: Music and Film Form Since 2000 Quiz 11
14 T Buhler, Neumeyer, Deemer: Chapter 15: Writing about Film Music None Quiz 12
15 T None Review for Final None
R
Final R Parts I, II, III Final None Final
PLAGIARISM/ACADEMIC DISHONESTY STATEMENT
Charles Francis Leinberger's Plagiarism Statement
DISABILITIES STATEMENT
Charles Francis Leinberger's Disability Statement
charlesl home
Charles Francis Leinberger's Fall Semester Schedule
CHARLESL@UTEP.EDU
This page was updated 27 July 2026.
All of this information is subject to change.		 UTEP Department of Music UTEP