Outer Space and Inner Space - Essay Example

This paper seeks to discuss why Theremin became popular during this period, how it works, its effect on the audience, and the various ways in which it is used in both outer space and inner space movies. Theremin is named after it inventor- a Russian inventor known as Leon Theremin. This is an early electronic music instrument that functioned without the control of the performer. The instrument was patented in 1928 with the sole intention of using it for melodic music in the traditional vein. Several years after its invention, Theremin was widely used in the making of several films.

However, its application in film was limited to some types of films such as suspense and science fiction films where the technique of sound manipulation was effective. The1950 time period was the perfect period for this electronic music instrument as it was highly popularized in Hollywood. According to Weird Vibration (2002), during that period, “Hollywood was hard-pressed both by the court-ordered selling of studio-owned theaters and by competition from the new medium of television from the new medium of television; the financial pressures reminded producers that it was cheaper to build one monster than a series of planet landscapes and props”.

Following the popularity of these types of films in the 1950s, “Hollywood composers looked to technology for the alien Other’s stereotypical voice” (Weird Vibrations, 2002). As such, music composers and film makers popularized the use of Theremin due to its strong semiotic properties. Science fiction and suspense films that used this electronic instrument stood out as opposed to those that were non-Theremin-flavored. According to Weird Vibration (2002), ”Also there is an important difference exists between the Theremin-flavored musical ideas with which composers for the science fiction films limned their extrater-restrial others and Hollywood’s standard musical depiction of outsiders.

The difference