![]() ![]() There is a lot to keep in mind when composing for film beyond leaving space for dialogue and sound effects. MUSIC ON SCREEN CAN SEEK OUT AND INTENSIFY THE INNER THOUGHTS OF THE CHARACTERS Finally, it is the communicating link between the screen and the audience, reaching out and enveloping all into one single experience.” It often lifts mere dialogue into the realm of poetry. ![]() It can propel narrative swiftly forward, or slow it down. It can invest a scene with terror, grandeur, gaiety, or misery. Finally, a memorable and triumphant marching brass theme soars as Indy escapes on a plane.Īs film composer Bernard Hermann who’s known for his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock explains, “I feel that music on screen can seek out and intensify the inner thoughts of the characters. Indy narrowly escapes only to be immediately chased by an indigenous group as nimble pizzicato strings match the pace. Then comes the rumble of low, deep drums as an enormous rolling boulder appears, ready to crush him. The strings hang anxiously in the air as Indy reaches for the Golden Idol with trepidation. In “The Boulder Chase” from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, the music mirrors Indy’s movements, taking us on a roller coaster of emotions. Williams artfully uses high melodies played in a major key to evoke a sense of adventure and heroism. John Williams, composer for some of the most iconic films of all time, is a prime example of how well-crafted music heightens the emotion of what we see on screen. That’s because famous scores have trained us to recognize the distinct actions that move a story or character forward. You can probably name many films just by hearing the music. There’s a quote in the industry that goes something like this: “In a film, the dialogue and action tell us what the characters are thinking and doing, but the music can tell us what they are feeling.” What would some of the most iconic moments in film history be like without music? Would Casablanca be a romance classic if “As Times Goes By” wasn’t a theme throughout the film? When you break it down, the sole purpose of music in film is to drive emotion. Long before technology brought synchronized sound, movie producers understood that films without music were impersonal and lacked energy. Music and movies go hand-in-handĪlthough the movie industry began with silent films, most of these films were not truly “silent.” Before the capability of sound-on-film, there was almost always an instrument (usually a piano) accompanying a movie in the theater. Knowing that music can evoke the full range of human emotion-from sadness, fright, and anxiety to relaxation, nostalgia, and joy-it’s no surprise that Hollywood now relies on modern composers to further propel emotions and storytelling in film. When Classical composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, or Schubert composed in an A-flat major, listeners heard the “key of the grave.” And Western cultures have connected certain emotions, like “happy” or “sad,” to orchestration devices in music since the Baroque period. The idea that music and emotion are linked dates back over 2,300 years to when Aristotle theorized that music mirrors our vocalization of rambunctious glee or clamorous outcry. THE FILM VIEWING EXPERIENCE TAKES US ON AN EMOTIONAL JOURNEY. ![]() Turn off the music track, and you’ll have a very different emotional experience. But it’s not just what we see, or what is said, that causes us to experience these feelings. The film-viewing experience takes us on an emotional journey. When it comes to film, we’ve all heard the sayings: a thriller “had me on the edge of my seat,” a horror film “made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up,” or that a romance movie was a “tearjerker.”
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