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Rating: 
Summary: Film Music Analysis for Professional Musicians
Review: If you love great films, and love well crafted, magnificent film scores, this book is for you. To fully appreciate this book, you must read music, but the descriptive text is also excellent. The 3 and 4 staff musical scores clearly show how famed Hollywood composers create mood and deal with the psychology of important scenes in well known films. This is simply the best book on the analysis of film music. It describes and analyzes the drama of the film and the significance of the music in specific scences.Hollywood, society, films, and film music were different years ago. This book covers the golden age of Hollywood and the golden age of film music. It includes excerpts of the actual scores of the best film composers who ever lived, matched with some of the best producers and directors ever.
Rating: 
Summary: Ok, here's the real deal.
Review: Roy writes a good book. But don't come expecting a novel--the study of film musis is in many ways reliant upon a factual study, necessitating pages and pages on the big composers of yesterday, like Max Steiner and Bernard Hermann. But at the same time, his historical analysis of the technical evolution of this craft and its role in movies is, to a movie or music buff, very interesting. Prendergast can also be lauded for his utter thoroughness; pages upon pages of real movie scores are laid out, all with comments, making for very interesting comparisons on-screen or a detailed study of these pieces of music. As far as Prendergast's opinion's go, well, please take them with a grain of salt. He takes many opportunities throughout his book to take a stab at some literary foe of his, or condemn a particular score (including Leonard Bernstein's score for "On the Waterfront") for what is often questionable reasons. In fact, I wildly disagree with quite a bit of what he has said. But all of this is offset by the fact that, when detailing film music's theory and storied history, he is always on the mark.
Rating:
Summary: Ok, here's the real deal.
Review: Roy writes a good book. But don't come expecting a novel--the study of film musis is in many ways reliant upon a factual study, necessitating pages and pages on the big composers of yesterday, like Max Steiner and Bernard Hermann. But at the same time, his historical analysis of the technical evolution of this craft and its role in movies is, to a movie or music buff, very interesting. Prendergast can also be lauded for his utter thoroughness; pages upon pages of real movie scores are laid out, all with comments, making for very interesting comparisons on-screen or a detailed study of these pieces of music. As far as Prendergast's opinion's go, well, please take them with a grain of salt. He takes many opportunities throughout his book to take a stab at some literary foe of his, or condemn a particular score (including Leonard Bernstein's score for "On the Waterfront") for what is often questionable reasons. In fact, I wildly disagree with quite a bit of what he has said. But all of this is offset by the fact that, when detailing film music's theory and storied history, he is always on the mark.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting reading for the really-wanna-knowers
Review: This books tells you all you want to know about the filmmusic industry but in my opinion in a little too technical point of view. Many interesting chapters (especially Music for Cartoons, about a.o. Tom & Jerry) with MANY musical examples. Unfortunately the composers mentioned are a little out of date and masters like John Williams, John Barry and James Horner are not even mentioned! Catastrophally but it can be protected when we know how hard it would be to get musical examples from these composers printed in the book. You have to have a deep desire to learn about this business if this book is gonna give you anything. If you have the desire then it's absolutely great reading and a "must-have" in your library!
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