Music in Film

 Have you stopped to listen to the score that is being played during a scene in a film? Have you ever wondered how much music affects your understanding of a film or television show? Have you ever stopped to think that the emotions you feel when watching a scene have less to do with the story and performances and more with the choice of music? The psychological effects that music plays in a film have been well documented. 

    The purpose of music, or a musical score, is not simply to fill the gaps of silence with noise, or make a film more enjoyable, but its true purpose is to enhance the story. Music is just one element within a film that works with other elements to create a compelling story. So, how does music enhance the story? Let's discuss what music is doing in a film. 

“the men who make movies…know how much the score to ‘warm up' know how much the score helps to 'warm up' the action of the picture, to heighten the emotional impact…They know that a good melody will move an audience when the words or the acting don’t succeed.” 

    Music helps enhance the story by creating an atmosphere.  If an environment is meant to feel inviting, the music will reflect that. If an environment is meant to be a strange and eerie world or a scary environment, the music will also reflect that. In some cases, the music correlates so well with the sound design that the sound design can sometimes be mistaken for the musical score. In this case, the composer must be extra cautious to make sure the score works with what is already there, instead of competing with it.  

"I did it for clarity of storytelling. I mean it's a very complex story, Lord of the Rings. By using the motifs, it was a way to give clarity to objects, places, cultures, to moments in the story. And it was a way to express differences in the culture." - Howard Shore

    Music helps enhance a story by introducing a character. If you pay attention to a film or sometimes a well-established television show, you will notice that when certain characters come on screen, they are introduced by a familiar motif. Because the audience becomes accustomed to hearing a particular motif when seeing a particular character, the motif begins to represent the character. Howard Shore, the composer to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, understands the connection between characters and music. Near the end of The Two Towers, Sméagol distances himself from Frodo and Samwise. Sméagol is struggling with Gollum while trying to figure out how to escape the hobbits. As he plots his escape, he mentions "her/she" who can help him. Up until this point, music has been playing, recalling various motifs. But with "her/she," there is silence. The audience does not know who "her/she" is. And because "her/she" has not been introduced, there is no motif to play. This both enhances the eeriness of the scene and the depth of the storytelling. 

    Music enhances the story by connecting parts of the story or recalling different sections of the story. Once again, an example can be drawn from The Two Towers. Near the end of the film, Frodo and Samwise are walking together, and they begin to reminisce about their home, the Shire. As they talk about their home, the Shire motif is played. This has a powerful effect on the audience, who, in a flash of a moment, feel the aura of the Shire.  

    Music enhances the story by guiding emotions. This is probably the most powerful effect of music in film and television. Simply by changing the music in a scene, you can alter the audience's perception of what is happening on screen. You can change a horror scene with people dying into a comedy by playing comical music. Or, you can take something relatively benign, like a kid riding a big wheel down a hotel hallway, and turn it into a tense moment of horror by simply playing eerie dissonant music. 

    Music has many more philosophical and psychological effects on an audience, and much more can be written about it. But ultimately, what is happening is that the music is enhancing the story. As an editor by trade, there is a simple rule when using music: music changes with the idea. This is a simple rule, but one that is very difficult to implement. What it simply means is that as the thought or idea changes on screen, the music should change to match it. Music and thought work together in film.