An Overestimation of Film Music

As it blurs the lines between fantasy and realism, the use of the score creates a more convincing atmosphere of space and time, allowing audiences to understand that the events in the narrative are applicable to reality. This function is a factor used to support the film’s element of horror, suspending their disbelief. It also highlights the underlining psychological refinements; the unspoken thoughts of a character, or the unseen implications of a situation. In Bullerjahn and Guldenring’s film music research analysis; “Musical accompaniment was needed for the silent film, to bring out that intangible element which had, in the absence of speech and the noises of everyday life, to work on the mind and should through a combination of ear and eye" . The use of the score to distinguish setting and atmosphere is prevalent throughout the sequence. As the shot changes to the events occurring at Dr Caligari’s residence, the music has become cynical and inquisitive. Fitting to the events occurring on screen, this allows for the audience to engage and participate in the interrogation. This enhances the relationship between the screen and the viewers, as it allows for the contribution of both parties to transcend the fantasy world that is being presented. An investigation of the effects of film music using qualitative content analysis found that "film music polarizes the emotional atmosphere and influenced the understanding of the plot," thus confirming the existence of some psychological connection between music and

Music has been playing a big role in film since sound could be added to a film, which takes us all the way back to the early 1900’s. Music may be something we listen to in the car, but songs can be used to portray many different factors in a film. Music can hint the viewer as to what the mood of characters may be, the setting of a given place, or even the time frame in which the movie took place. Music helps the director steer their movie in one way or another, depending on their choice of music. The movie Almost Famous featured portions of 68 different songs performed by various artists throughout the 60’s and early 70’s.

Music also plays a key role in reminding the audience that this movie took place in the past.

Another element that came about from the inclusion of popular music in films is the production of soundtracks. In recent years a film’s soundtrack can be just as popular, and in some cases more popular, than the film itself. Soundtracks are beneficial for the music industry in multiple ways. Soundtracks have become more commercialized and are sold as CDs in stores and on iTunes. Along with the financial gain of artists whose songs are featured in films, there is also the benefit of increased exposure and popularity. One case study on the effects of soundtracks in films is the soundtrack from the 2013 version of The Great Gatsby. The soundtrack became very popular after the film was released in part because Jay-Z was one of the executive producers. Jay-Z was especially equipped for the job because of the director,

Background music plays a really important role in today’s film industry. The music supplement to the film, in order to create a more complete work. Composers write their music on the basis of the story line and director put the music in the right spot, in order to draw audience’s attention and emotion into the film. Moreover, lyrics will bring out the movie plot and presents people’s feeling of the movie. There is a good example, which called “City of Stars”. It is a song from a musical romantic comedy film, La La Land, composed by Justin Hurwitz and the lyrics were provided by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. “La La Land” tells a love story which a jazz pianist and an aspiring actress, who meet and fall in love while pursuing their dreams. However, when time goes by, the reality keeps them farther and farther away. The “City of Stars” reflects a very mixed feelings, such as the pictures, the song, and the latest moment. There seems a thousand words of regret which cannot be said. Even

A composer can win the award for Best Original Score, Best Scoring Adaptation, Best Original Song Score, just to name a few. Although the composers’ names are often overshadowed by the film title, their work stands on Its own. This overshadowing is similar to many of the great classical composers’ relations to their works. “Moonlight Sonata” is one of Beethovens’ most popular pieces; however, you could argue that it is so popular that many people today have no idea that it is composed by Beethoven. Likewise, John Williams has been nominated for an Academy Award 50 times and has scored numerous famed films. The most celebrated being the Star Wars series, Superman, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones series, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, and Jaws. An individual doesn’t have to watch these films to recognize the theme songs. Many critics and music enthusiasts credit the 1977 Star Wars score as the beginning of a grand symphonic revival. Yet, despite all his success and awards, John Williams’ name is overshadowed by these blockbuster

The backbone of a film consists of a soundtrack laced together with different scenes throughout a film in order to create a narrative or storyline. Slobin discusses narrative knots and how without these strategically placed relationships between music and narrative, there would be nothing to hold a film together. The soundtrack of a film worked within a film’s storyline is like a strategic plan of action used to help guide the viewers understanding of what is unfolding. When there is a clear narrative knot in a film, the musical strand of that knot clarifies and sometimes justifies the narrative strand to which it is tied. When you have a true narrative knot both parts must be present; if one part is missing or faulty, then it is not a narrative knot. Narrative knots force the music and storyline to be dependent on each other; there is no understanding of the film without the junction of music and narrative within a

Music plays an important role in a films experience. It is significant in films because it sets the tone as well as enhances the film in many different aspects. It is meant to engage the audience and evoke emotion from them. The Dark Knight is arguably the best movie within the Batman Trilogy by Christopher Nolan. Simply put the film is just epic.

“Just before the Hollywood film supposedly reached its ‘level of classical perfection’, original scores, written by many of the world’s finest composers, are increasingly in use” (James 2009). While in late 1937, the public debate over the aesthetic quality of film music indicates, “some composers do not understand the needs of the motion picture that their music is too high-brow”(Cooke, 2001).

The purpose of music is films is to add additional emotion to a movie, or to enhance the story of the film. Hans Zimmer is considered one of Hollywood’s most creative musical composers. Zimmer was born on

LISTENER RELEVANCE: Since film scores are such an important part of movies, it makes sense to learn a little bit more about them.

A live orchestra was recorded playing various pieces composed by Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and many others (Clague, 2004, pp. 91-93). Fast forward 9 years, Looney Tunes released a short cartoon titled Rabbit of Seville inspired by and featuring Rossini’s composition Barber of Seville. This came almost 150 years after the piece was first performed yet became an iconic tune to those who watched the cartoon (Roberts, 2017). Then in 1968 Strauss’ piece Also Sprach Zarathustra boomed in theaters in the opening credits of “2001: A Space Odyssey” (Wise, 2014). These three examples show how well-known media used classical compositions successfully. Although the pieces were, at one point, not familiar to their audience, after constant exposure they became a part of their musical knowledge. The recognizability of each song allowed connections and associations to be made so that even if the film was not being shown, the listener could link it to what movie it was from.

Music composed for television generate another realm of modes and codes that differ even from the coding within film. Television has the opportunity to utilise music as an instrument for supporting narratives within television series and as means for marketing through commercials. Blaine Allan, explores the relationship between music and television within his journal article, Music Cinema, Music Video, Music Television. The main focal point of this resource is the function of visual aspects within the introduction of music videos. However, Blaine Allan does include an interesting insight into the role of music within other areas of television. Allan 's fundamental argument is to highlight the need for analysis into these music videos in order to gain an understanding of how the visual and music components are composed and integrated. Individuals researching into the mechanics of music videos are the primary intended audience, however musicians would benefit from this information as well. This source, therefore, provides a number of compelling arguments and concepts, especially in regard to music videos, that explain the differing codes perceived with the addition of the visual element. Blaine Allan does hold credibility within this field and thus provides a good sense of reliability which is enhanced by his objective view throughout the article. However, this journal positions at a low range in regard to usefulness as the arguments within this essay do not focus around this

From ancient times, music has held great importance to cultures all over the world. Music remains one language that is ever evolving; it refuses to die away. From that day almost 40,000 years ago, one of the first musicians picked up a vulture’s bone and decided to make a flute out of it, till this day, music has held a power that no other language will ever hold. The importance of music has indeed waxed greater and greater through the centuries. From its use for story-telling, ceremonial purposes, social and religious practices, etc, there has been a great expansion of its uses. Majority of the masses do not realize this, but music has become an unavoidable part of our daily lives. With its use in movies, advertisement, shopping centers, elevators, buses, etc, not a day goes by without each person hearing some kind of music. As its forms have expanded so have its uses. Its undeniable effects over the human mind have not gone unrecognized by researchers and scientists. Music is a much more extremely powerful tool than the masses realize, it has the ability to influence and frame one’s decisions, intuition, mood, interpretation and overall perception of things. It’s constant use in advertisement and film sheds a great deal of light on this. With the countless numbers of research and experiments used to prove this fact, it is no wonder advertisers and movie makers have capitalized on it.

‘The Chorus’, a music subject movie, is successful due to its soundtrack and music reflects the same feeling – warmth, happiness, as the acting. Soundtrack is something would lead us into a movie’s emotion aspect, and it probably is the most direct way leaving audience expression for this movie. A comedy movie would have the soundtrack with frequent temple and crispy sound, leaving audience an expression of happiness and cheerfulness. A horror movie would have the soundtrack with creepy flow and uneasy sound effect, creating horrible circumstance for the movie. Therefore, a good soundtrack would make a movie more expressive, and audience would more likely to be driven by movie’s content, emotion aspect, making it a good movie.