Film Music : The Purpose Of Music In Film

The same applies to a dramatic scene where the music may be deep and frantic to convey to the audience the feeling of anticipation. A scene i would like to focus on is the scene in which Garry and his father have a final ‘showdown’, if you will, at the front of the house. The scene consists of the father imposing himself on Garry and proceeding to continually beat him down time after time only for Garry to rise up and face his father on each occasion. This scene evoked a feeling of pride and admiration from the audience as to Garry’s courage and determination to convey the message to his father that he is ready to stand on his own two feet and defy him. This is a very powerful scene within the movie which initiated powerful emotions within the audience. All of this was accomplished with the notable absence of music of any form. The omission of music in this scene created an atmosphere in which the dramatic affect was amplified due to the silence.

Even though the film is essentially a visual experience, the use of sound has become extremely important in modern film. The modern viewer hears a complicated soundtrack that is as meaningful as the image on the screen. Three elements comprise the film's soundtrack: the dialogue, the sound effects, and the musical score. The proper balance and mix of these elements produced the essential emphasis required, which created the desired effects. As explained by Joseph Boggs and Dennis Petrie,

     The music helped in elaborating this great film. As I mentioned in class different instruments helped create different moods for different scenes in the movie. We heard the cello and the violin to create sadness and remorse. The flute created eeriness and the trumpet created awareness. I thought these were instruments and tools that help make this film extraordinary.

A composer depends entirely upon the nature of the film for all the clues needed to write a suitable score for a film. Brought into the production after a certain amount of film has been shot, the films concept will dictate how the composer will write the music. Whether based on the story line, or providing information by setting an atmospheric state, film music will always have different purposes between different films. Penguin Ballet by Nigel Westlake was composed to focuses upon the graceful, almost ballet like movements of the penguins underwater. Whereas, Writings on the wall by Sam Smith conveys ideas and messages which will be expressed throughout the film, especially through the use of lyrics. Although positioned within the film to provide contrasting messages, both these songs use similar musical elements to support the piece, and its position with the film. The discussion of this essay is that there are similarities between the musical elements that support the lyrics in a song and the action in a documentary. Through this, we will discuss the musical element’s of pitch, and timbre and texture.

Throughout history sound has been used to help convey a story. As early as the 1900’s, without today’s technology, movies would often be accompanied by a soundtrack played on a piano or record players. In 1927 The Jazz singer was released, a warner bros movie that featured music and dialog on the actual filmstrip. This film is

This early film music had many influences from different genres, such as jazz and blues, ragtime, vaudeville, and the style of music from Broadway musicals was also becoming popular. 4 Film “composers” of this era had a wealth of popular music to draw on in order to create the music for the silent films they were working on. The varying genres also meant that they were able to create different styles and moods of music to suit the different genres of film, or the different

Along with background music, sound effects play more of a role on the way we feel than many moviegoers think, and "although the function of sound effects is primarily atmospheric, they can also be precise sources of meaning in film" (Giannetti, 225). When the

For example, in the film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Tim Burton uses non-diegetic music to point out emotions of the children when they are loose in the eatable room. By using music, Burton shows the children’s thoughts and emotion. Burton lets the viewer absorb a deeper understanding of each character. This also lets the viewer experience the candy room through each of the children perspective which creates a connection between the character and the viewers. Tim Burton also uses music and sound in the film Edward Scissorhands. When Peg makes her way into the garden of the mansion, Peg sees green and well design bushes of objects in the garden. This scene is companied by sounds of bells and strong presence of strings incorporated. These elements gives the viewer a childlike and romantic feeling. The music and sound playing the background can make the viewer feel warm in the inside and see Peg isn’t in danger. It can also make the reader why the garden is so nice and bright and the mansion looks dark and

While well-crafted sound design and sound effects are so very necessary in the creation of a film, music touches the emotion, the psyche, and the things you cannot see. Sound design and effects don’t do this nearly as efficiently and naturally. Without music it would be much more difficult to follow the emotional ups and downs of a film. (Freer)

Music can be extraordinarily influential in films, as it has the ability to evoke emotion not displayed by on-screen action. Music used in films can play many roles; it can depict time and place, mood, atmosphere, character, and can be used to underscore the onscreen drama and titles. Alan Silvestri and John Williams successfully manipulate the use of music in film to establish characters (along with their personality, actions and changing emotions), as well as underscore the mood for the entirety of their given films. The contrasts of Silvestri’s “The Feather Theme” with Williams’ “Batman Theme” exemplify the power of music in film.

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

A Bollywood movie is incomplete without music. They are quite different from Hollywood movies when it comes to introduction of music in a movie. In most Hollywood movies, the songs are played in the background to bring out the intensity of the situation presented. Music, in Hollywood, is seen as a catalyst to the emotions that the scene is intended to evoke. However, in Bollywood, music’s to facilities the plot line of the movie. It is not seen

Music has played a major role through out the entire film. It is used as a

In the movies, there are a number of factors that will impact the quality of the film and the story. This is because producers and directors are using different techniques that will enhance their ability to entertain. The Sound of Music is taking numerous ideas and is integrating them together. To fully understand what is happening, there will be an examination of the film and various concepts. This will be accomplished by focusing on: the storytelling, acting, cinematography, editing, sound, style / directing, impact of the film on society / vice versa, genre, application of at least one approach and overall textual themes. Together, these elements will highlight the effects of the film and how it has influenced others inside the industry.

What drives a scene in a movie, television show, or video game is the music in the background. Movies and television shows often share the same element when using an orchestra score as background music. “Music adds to the emotional quality of the film. There is some empirical evidence to support this: fast and loud music arouses, slow and soft music calms. Motion and emotion are often entwined”. (Schaefer, 1998). The audience feel more emotional as you hear the sad melody of a violin during a dramatic scene. For some films that have