Making Meaning With Music

From a theoretical and analytical perspective, music can largely be examined through the same frameworks as the rest of the soundtrack. However, music is separated here because of the large amount of literature that has been produced about film music independent of the literature on film sound. Additionally, Jessica Green points out that music is unique in that of the five pre-existing forms of expression that make up film (image, speech, noise, music, and written text) (Metz), music is the most artificial. This is because most film music is non-diegetic and compared to the other expressive forms, is largely removed from everyday life since “people do not walk around constantly supported by a sensitive soundtrack that follows their emotions and thoughts” (Green). While it may be more artificial than other aspects of the soundtrack, it is just as capable of having significant narrative and emotional impact. Green argues that music “fulfills the more complex role of working in conjunction with the other channels of information to rhetorically influence the audience’s interpretation of the film and the message that the viewer takes from the film” (Green). The following section will discuss and provide examples of the ways that musical choices can impact a film.

Music's Function

The functions of music in film is a topic that is heavily and consistently theorized. Composers, sound theorists, and music theorists, alike, have made lists of the functions of music in film. Here are a few lists of functions created by prominent composers and theorists:

Aaron Copland

Composer (1949)

Creates a more convincing atmosphere of time and place
Underlines psychological refinement - the unspoken thoughts of a character or the unseen implications of a situation
Serves as neutral background filler
Builds a sense of continuity
Underpins the theatrical buildup of a scene and rounds it off with a sense of finality

Claudia Gorbman

Film Theorist (1987)

Signifier of emotions
Narrative cueing
Continuity
Unity

Dr. Dika Newlin

Composer and Musicologist (1977)

Set a mood
Reinforce an action
Contrast with the action
Set the locale
Suggest a principal ethnic group
Set the period of the film
Correct error

Ann-Kristin Herget

Psychologist (2021a)

Contextualize (time, place, genre, etc.)
Shape general perception of a film scene and change the audience’s attitude
Clarify the thoughts and feelings of a film protagonist
Influence the perception of the storyline
Influence the parasocial relationship between the recipient and participant

Music's Function

Analysis

Despite these lists being created over the span of more than 70 years, you may notice that the lists feature significant overlap. While worded differently, all of the theorists mention similar ideas such as setting, emotion, and continuity.

One of the primary (as well as most easily understandable) ways that music creates meaning in film is through the indication of time and place. Using either non-diegetic or source music, the score can indicate where and when a film takes place before it is even confirmed by the image. This idea can also be used to subvert audience expectations by using music that is atypical of your setting (e.i. Gregorian chant in space or hyperpop in 12th century England). Professor Michael Fink notes that this function of music makes science-fiction films especially difficult (and interesting) to score because there is no established musical culture for most sci-fi settings (Fink). While slightly different but along the same line, Herget asserts that music can also indicate the genre of a film (Herget 2021a).

A Note on Stereotypes

An inherent danger of using music to establish location is stereotypes. Even today, directors and composers will try to make their films sound “exotic” or “foreign” without doing any research into the culture that they are attempting to represent. This results in the use of stereotypical instruments and harmonies that have come to be broadly associated with places like Asia or the Middle East. Before you choose music that you think sounds like the location your story is taking place, be sure to do your due diligence and properly research.

Before we continue, it is important to remember that, like the soundtrack as a whole, the audience's interpretation of film music is entirely dependent on their prior experiences. Anahid Kassabian explains, “As with language and visual image, we learn through exposure what a given tempo, series of notes, key, time signature, rhythm, volume, and orchestration are meant to signify” (Kassbian 86). Ann-Kirsten Herget lays out three preconditions that an audience must meet for music to successfully convey meaning. These preconditions are that an audience member “a) can recognize… well-known music or b) is acquainted with typical (film) music genres and instrumental clichés (and their inherent messages), and c) can decode the music’s expressed emotions to decipher its meaning" (Herget 2021b)

Because of every audience member’s unique exposure to music, it is unlikely that every audience member will interpret the same exact information from or have the same emotional reaction to a music cue, no matter how intentional you are with your musical choices. However, Herget concedes that due to music’s “omnipresence,” “a cultural imprint of these music models is almost impossible to avoid.” More or less, music is so pervasive in our society and media that it is safe to assume people have had similar exposure (Herget 2021b). In order to best take advantage of this, being a student of film and film music can better teach you the conventions that have likely formed your audience’s expectations.

Another function shared by nearly all of the theorists is that film music can act as a sort of bandage for editing. This is equivalent to the grammatical role of sound theorized by Thomlinson Holman. As a medium, film has been criticized due to its inherent nature of being “jumpy and choppy” (Fink). Music is able to reduce the “disruptive force” of edits and “cover up gaps by giving a consistent aural background” (Buhler 159). Despite shot changes, a consistent bed of music helps to signal to the audience that a scene has not changed. Music can also cover up small discrepancies (like clicks) in other audio tracks that would otherwise be heard in a musicless scene. Dika Newlin takes this a step further and asserts that music can compensate for a sequence being edited too fast or too slow. She goes even further and suggests that “a solo flute melody can "slenderize an actor who may appear too bulky” and that music can even stand in for non-existent actors by representing large groups such as an army (Newlin).

Music can play a significant role in revealing information to the audience as well as impact their understanding of the overall narrative. Jessica Green argues that music can contribute to meaning by “commenting” on what is happening in a film. She writes that “musical narration can coincide or differ from the mood being portrayed by the image, can allude to ideas not explicitly stated in dialogue, can reveal the purpose of words or objects displayed on-screen, or can work with sound effects to explain what is really happening” (Green). The concept of revealing the inner emotions of the characters on screen is what Copland refers to as “psychological refinement” in his list of functions.

Claudia Gorbman explains that these functions help to create a less questioning and more accepting audience. This is done by using music to help the audience “make the ‘correct’ interpretations of the words and actions of characters, especially when other channels of information might be hard to understand” (Gorbman). In a sense, music can perform the same function as a caption for a photo, clearing up any ambiguity in the stand-alone image. In this case, music not only contributes to the meaning of the film, but also serves the function of ensuring that the audience’s sense of reality maintains suspension. A confused audience will no longer be immersed in the film they are viewing and will spend more time trying to figure out the story in their head rather than paying attention. An effective use of music can avoid this issue and help ensure viewers stay engaged.

A specific way that music can create meaning and emotional impact is through the use of leitmotifs. A leitmotif is a musical theme that “becomes associated with a character, a place, a situation, or an emotion” (Gorbman). An example of a leitmotif is the repeated two notes from the main theme of Jaws. Of course, these two notes are associated with the presence of the shark in the film (and have become a sign that represents all sharks in American culture) (Spielberg 1975). While leitmotifs can be used to signal important characters and situations, their true power is revealed when they are transformed. These transformations of a theme often involve changes in harmony, tempo, and orchestration and signal development in characters and situations.

For example, in the Star Wars franchise, Darth Vader is represented by the primary motif from the “Imperial March.” This brooding and intimidating theme accompanies the character most times that he is seen on screen or mentioned by someone else.

However, during Vader’s death scene in Return of the Jedi, his iconic theme is transformed multiple times to match the narrative and emotional moments of the scene. As Vader’s helmet is removed, the theme is used to highlight the mystery of the man behind the mask (0:46). When Vader returns to the light side of the force, his theme is modulated to a major key and played by lighter instrumentation, representing the shift in his character (1:09). Finally, as Vader dies, the theme can be heard one final time played by a harp in the original minor key to emphasize the somberness of the moment (2:00).

While I do not want to get deep into the weeds with music theory and compositional techniques, leitmotifs are powerful musical tools that all filmmakers should be aware of.

The vast narrative and emotional possibilities that come with the use of music in film support Jessica Green’s argument that music is one of the essential pillars of film as well as an “essential part of communication and argument in film” (Green). Whether using popular music, production music, or original score, music is a critical narrative and emotional device that is an integral part of the filmmaking process.

A Psychology Perspective

Much of the discussion of film sound and music is centered around theories and common practices. While these frameworks are widely observational, there is also scientific evidence that supports them. As mentioned elsewhere on this website, music can effectively be analyzed under the broader umbrella of film sound. However, a large portion of the literature on film sound is written specifically about music. As a reflection of this, the vast majority of psychological work regarding sound in film has had a focus on film music. In the following section, a number of studies are highlighted that help illustrate music’s ability to influence meaning and emotion in film.

The list of music’s function from Ann-Kristin Herget was actually the result of her analysis of “24 German and English empirical studies that tested music’s potential to convey meaning.” Through her analysis, she was able to provide a psychological overview of the way that music creates meaning and identified “5 key aspects” of film’s perception that music can influence (Herget 2021a). Being that her list is based on verifiable scientific studies, the overlap between her list and those of other theorists gives scientific legitimacy to those theories that were rooted in observation and philosophy.

In 2014, a study was done that examined the connection between film music and visual attention. In the study, the researchers showed participants three versions of a 2.5 minute clip from The Artist that featured different musical soundtracks (Mera). The three versions were a silent version (control), a “distracting” version, and a “focusing” version. The distracting version used Leeroy Anderson’s “Fiddle Faddle,” a lively, uptempo piece characterized by constant 8th notes at 170 beats per minute.

Contrastingly, the focusing version utilized excerpts from Ludovic Bource’s score for the film (starting at 0:52)

This music was characterized as having “a playful character but is much more relaxed than the distracting version.” Eye-tracking technology was used on participants as they viewed the scene and a questionnaire about their reactions was administered afterward. While participants did not report different emotional responses to the scenes, researchers did have significant findings regarding visual attention. It was found that the distracting music increased meaning that their attention shifted around the screen more times. The focusing version was found to increase the amount of time that participants fixated on a point of attention. It was also found that the use of music overall was associated with faster times to attract visual attention as well as a smaller area of attention.

A 2021 study sought to examine the impact of well-known and unknown music as carriers of meaning in film. The research was performed because most studies into film music utilized ambiguous scenes with unknown, emotionally connotative music. For this study, the researchers used a highly ambiguous stop motion animation and applied both known and unknown scores. The music that was used was broken into the categories of romantic and dramatic. For the known music, the researchers used scores from Titanic, Chocolat, Mission Impossible, and Batman. The unknown music was pulled from online music libraries. Participants watched the films and were then asked to rate the emotions expressed and induced by the films. The results were as follows: “background music in ambiguous film sequences – as an instrument of non-verbal communication – conveyed predictable expressed and induced emotions, as well as content-related information. These influenced the perceptions of the film’s content and its protagonists in different aspects of meaning.” It was also found that knownness did not impact the music’s effectiveness at conveying emotion or meaning (Herget 2021b). Not only does this study provide quantifiable proof of music’s narrative ability, but it also serves well for student filmmakers. By demonstrating that production music can have the same effectiveness as well-known music, students can rest easy knowing that the effectiveness of the music in their films will not be hampered by expensive licenses or access to well-known composers. As long as production music is meticulously chosen, applied, and edited, it can achieve most narrative goals.

There is also scientific backing that the diegesis of music can impact the audience’s interpretation of film regarding characters and attributes attributed to them. A 2008 study saw participants watching different versions of an action sequence from Minority Report, each with a different musical accompaniment. The researchers were comparing the impacts of background (non-diegetic) versus foreground (diegetic) music. It was found that “background music as compared to foreground music in a film led to different interpretations with respect to characters’ emotions, relationship between characters, and mood of the scene.” This was the first study of its kind to prove the impact of musical diegesis (Cohen 442).

Music can also be used to trigger innate emotional and physical reactions. This is best exemplified in horror scores. University of California professor Daniel Blumstein explains that horror music taps into our “primal fears.” He notes that “non-linear sounds like psycho’s violin ‘stingers’ mimic the sound of animals in distress; they trigger our fears of being chased by dangerous predators” (Haider). In creating suspense, he emphasizes the use of contrast. He specifically highlights the use of silence, explaining that silence is a time that “your brain fills in the gaps - building up to the scare moment” (Haider). He goes on to say that fear response is cross-cultural and innate within human beings. This fact proves especially advantageous for filmmakers looking for foreign distribution of their films because they can rely on the music in their films maintaining effectiveness despite possible language or cultural barriers.

Excitingly, almost all of the psychological research discussed in this section was conducted in the last decade. This is in stark contrast to the sound theories that were devised decades ago based on the films of the past. Music psychology is rapidly growing and its application to film is bound to continue. Not only do these studies prove what theorists have been asserting for a century, but with more information on the horizon, we have an opportunity to apply music to our films in more effective ways than any filmmakers that have come before us. Of course, it is unlikely that we will be writing film scores based on data. The idea that we will structure our art around what would be most “scientifically effective” is mildly dystopian. However, it does provide composers with another powerful tool in their arsenal as they write the scores of the future.