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Article: Weird vibrations: how the theremin gave musical voice to Hollywood's extraterrestrial "others".(electronic music from 1950s science fiction films)
- Article from:
- Journal of Popular Film & Television
- Article date:
- September 22, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Heldref Publications. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Abstract: The theremin played a unique role in 1950s science fiction films. In Rocketship X-M, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Thing from Another Planet, and It Came from Outer Space, the instrument was not just a component of the studio orchestra but, in effect, the diegetic "voice" of the alien entities.
Key words: Electronic music, extraterrestrial, film music, science fiction, theremin
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One suspects the concept sprang up in the days of the Neanderthals, yet the origins of Western society's "cultural Imaginary"--an entity foreign and thus potentially threatening, yet at the same time somehow attractive--are usually traced back ...