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Related to the topic of music videos is the study of music in
film or film soundtrack. Film music plays an important role in a
film by conveying certain meanings associated with the visual action.
High-paced music is often used to convey a sense of suspense and
desperation linked to a chase scene as is the case with the use
of music in the Lord of the Rings triology films. Certain
music may be linked to certain characters in a film, as is the case
with the use of the Bee Gee’s disco music linked to the John
Travolta character in Saturday Night Fever. |
In the following discussion,
Fred Ginsburg describes how different types of music
in a soundtrack functions to enhance a film: |
The dramatic source of music under a scene can be
either “extraneous” or “practical.” Extraneous
means that the score is simply there on the soundtrack because the
filmmaker put it there to accompany the picture. The people in the
movie theatre hear it, but the characters in the film do not. Most
music in soundtracks falls under this category. In contrast to this,
some music is initially explained or motivated by some source on
screen, such as a radio playing, a nightclub band, or a character
musician. In these instances, the music that the audience hears
is also being heard by the characters on screen! |
Sometimes, music can creatively overlap both of
these categories, by starting off as extraneous and then being revealed
as practical, or vice versa…. |
In the course of composing the music, at some point
the composer and editor will create what is known as a “click
track.” This is a soundtrack that consists solely of clicks
placed opposite the picture in order to convey cutting rhythm and
climax. This click track serves to guide the composer and, later
on, the musicians in keeping “beat” with the film rather
than a more arbitrary reference rhythm. |
After the music has been composed, the next step
is obviously to record it. In the case of an orchestral score, musicians
are assembled and arranged in a large recording studio, known as
a “scoring stage.” There, they view the film on a large
screen while hearing the click track in headphones. Led by the composer,
the orchestra performs the selections. The music is recorded on
multi-track for later mixdown. |
When the score is composed and performed by a single
musician, as is more often the case on low budget productions, the
individual composer may be responsible for producing the entire
musical soundtrack. Employing a portable multi-track recording system
in conjunction with video playback, he or she will commonly perform
and overdub with keyboards, synthesizers, electronic drums, and
perhaps a few acoustic instruments. |
Film
Music [ lots of links ] |
Music
from the Movies |
Field
of Dreams [ On-line film music journal ] |
Soundtrack.net
[ links to individual soundtracks ] |
The
Film Music Society [ lots of links to individual composers ]
|
John
Williams’s web site [ composer of music for movies such
as Star Wars, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler’s List, Jurassic
Park, the Indiana Jones trilogy, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Close
Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws ] |
An
NPR interview with John Williams and Leonard Slatkin |
FilmSound.org
[ lots of links to aspects of film sound ] |
For further reading:
|
Dickinson, K. (Ed.) (2003). Movie music, the
film reader. New York: Routledge.
|
Inglis, I. (Ed.) (2003). Popular music and
film. New York: Columbia University Press. |
