The prompt I chose to write my assessment on for the Global Sonic Cultures module is “A critical contextualisation and analysis of a sonic case study of your choosing”. For this assignment I am going to analyse the cultural impact, musical structure, instrumentation, period influence, critical reaction, personal interpretation, and structure of one of my favourite film scores “American Beauty” composed by Thomas Newman.

The score of “American Beauty” is an incredible representation of the use of emotion in a score through instrumentation and arrangement, as well as the direct depiction of the motif of the film through the music as well. In delving into the psychological and musical components of the score alongside the film I plan to create a deep analysis that contextualises the film in a culture and artistic context.