Masters of Manipulation
Great films are often lauded for their videography, acting, story, and overall impact on an audience. But for a film to be impactful, to be truly great, there must be carefully guided music that ties together and propels all of the emotional and physical elements of the film.
The Power of Music
Musicians and composers are manipulators of emotion, with great musicians baring their very soul as they perform. Take Mstislav Rostropovich’s 1968 London performance of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B Minor, for example. Soviet tanks had rolled into Prague earlier that day, and ironically, this cellist and his orchestra were, in fact, Soviet, performing a piece by a Czech composer. Rostropovich played with such raw power and emotion that his performance transcended culture and politics and created a bridge between two opposed nations, where no other communication had sufficed. This is the power of music.
Music Is A Physical Experience
It’s no secret that our bodies react to music on a profound physiological level. In fact, we experience music in our muscles, our heart rate, our breathing, and countless other biological systems. Take a moment to think about your favorite piece of film music. Now try and remember how you physically felt while watching the movie. You might even be feeling and reacting in the same way as your read these words.
In a horror film like Psycho, composer Bernard Herrmann’s repetitive and unresolved dissonance will have your muscles tensed and heart racing, despite the sparse music and killer’s face being an expressionless shadow the entire scene. Sometimes music communicates the complete opposite mood of a scene and, thus, creates great contrast between what is seen and what is heard. In Wendy Carlos’ music for A Clockwork Orange and Quentin Tarantino’s soundtrack for Reservoir Dogs, the use of happy-go-lucky music brings torture scenes to a new level of disturbing. The absence of music within a film can also have a significant effect on an audience. The Japanese horror film Epitaph uses such a sparse score that the sudden musical entrances are integral to the shock value of the score and film.
How It’s Done
Composers go to great lengths to shape a listener’s experience and expectations. An unresolved harmony or clashing of notes can provide a great sense of unease or tension, especially to an audience expecting a resolution. The constant game of setting up musical expectations and then either fulfilling them or further building up the tension is an effective strategy to shape a listener’s experience with music.
Composers also use tempo and space to create intentional reactions among the audience. In Remember the Titans, the end of Trevor Rabin’s “Titan Spirit” uses a dramatic musical build to climax into a moment of musical glory. In an alternate fashion, Christophe Beck’s score to Edge Of Tomorrow builds during each battle on the beach, but instead of climaxing, drops into a sudden silence with great effect each time Tom Cruise dies and re-awakes in the past.
A third strategy composers use in the emotional shaping of music is the use of theme to emphasize character personality and plot development. A properly composed theme will indicate that you’re in the presence of a character, whether she is on screen or not. Furthermore, a well-developed theme transports you into the world of the film, and upon leaving the theatre, lingers with the audience as a “scent” of the film. In Jerry Goldsmith’s score to Rudy, Rudy’s theme creates a deep feeling of accomplishment and joy in the listener as he takes the football field for the final moments of Notre Dame’s last game of the season, which is all but unachievable without the music.
Wrap Up
Composers spend their entire careers learning and refining ways to tell their musical story. When the tools and tactics for composing effective media music are utilized with intent, care, and purpose, the power of music to create a compelling, an emotional, and physical journey is unparalleled.
Written by: Michael Hobe | Founder of Amper Music | A.I. Music Composer
