film score music

FILM SCORE MUSIC To say that music plays a large role in
our society would not do justice to one of the most important and popular
art forms of yesterday and today. We underestimate the effectiveness
and power that music, in any form , can have over even the most
insensitive of people. In almost everything we do and see music is
involved in some form or another. Be it a piece played at a wedding, a
song played on the radio or even the music played in the background in a
television commercial. The music is always there, reminding us of past
experiences, making us smile and feel exhilaration and sometimes even
making us cry. It is this power that music has over us that film score
composers take advantage of when they are writing the music to
accompany the movies. As listeners we often do not appreciate that the
music that is scored for films or played in films is put there on purpose to
create a certain feeling, emphasize a point, give more life to a character
or sometimes to simply add humour. What the average moviegoer does
not usually realize is that a great deal of time and thought goes into
writing the score for a film and choosing the background music for a
scene. None of the music is arbitrary; themes and sub themes have
been created with specific ideas in mind and have been put in place only
to add to the story and the characters. It is also important to
acknowledge that the evolution into the type of film scoring that we are
accustomed to today was not a quick or easy transition. It has taken
almost a century to develop the specific techniques that are used in
todays films. When the first moving pictures were seen they were known
as silent films, although they were not actually silent. They contained a
very primitive type of musical accompaniment that laid the foundation for
what was to later develop. As time passed the type of music found in
films developed into a fine art containing specific guidelines and
techniques that most composers tend to follow. The average person
does not usually pay astute attention to the music that is being used in a
film, however, if it were to not be there the films would seem empty and

as if something was missing. The actors, the writing and the direction is
what is primarily noticed in a film but the music is the inconspicuous
supporter of all of these elements. To create a film that will be effective it
is essential that the film have a thoughtful score, and, as the audience, it
is our duty to acknowledge the music in order to fully understand all that
is being displayed to us in the film. To realize fully the
foundation of what we now recognize as an effective film score it is
important to examine the music behind a silent film. No film was actually
ever completely silent. There may not have been a soundtrack that we
are accustomed to, however, the music was always essential to a movie,
no matter how primitive it may be. In the earliest days of film the music
was played on a phonograph. This was around the time of Edison. The
phonograph was an invention that did not last long in the world of film.
The next step was the use of a vitaphone, which also did not play a
lasting role in the movie industry. The next step was not the use of a
recorded soundtrack but rather it was the use of live musicians. The live
music came about as the movies were becoming a little more common.
The films began to be played commercially in Vaudeville houses, cafes,
and music halls where musicians were already hired to play in the
musical concerts that evening. Because the musicians were already
there they were asked if they would play along with the film. In the
Vaudeville houses there was no specific place for them to sit so they sat
seated at the front , in front of the screen. Even after theatres were built
to show the moving pictures a space was created at the front where the
musicians were to sit. Because the musicians were inexperienced with
accompanying films they played what they liked or what they knew. This
made it uncommon that the music actually fit with the action on the
screen. The musicians paid little attention to the film and played
arbitrarily. This meant that often a serious or dramatic scene would be
occurring on the screen wile the musician played something comical or

something that belonged to a scene with a car chase. Sound-effects men
were soon added to the sounds behind a film. This would be a man that
created noises, erg. train whistles and bells, fire engine bells, gun shots,
explosions, cannon fire, etc. in order to add realism to the film. This
made movie-going more popular which in turn bettered the standard of
movie-making. It was at this point that the musicians hired to accompany
the films began to take the music more seriously. Set standards were
created but the musicians job was to make sure that these standards did
not become monotonous. They also began the use of simple motif that
would introduce a character or foreshadow an event. The motifs are the
elements of the music that are extremely important in shaping the
characters and the theme of the film. It was the use of these motifs that
made the music much more sophisticated and people began to take the
films more seriously. The idea of motifs did not disintegrate but rather
became an important technique in the scoring of films in the years to
come. By this time the music was ceasing to be merely and extra job for
Vaudeville musicians and had actually become an art that needed and
was given thought. The house musician, which later became a small
ensemble and sometimes even a large orchestra, was a valued addition
to the movie industry and they could be found in hundreds of movie
houses across America. It was from this point on that films were to
always be accompanied by some sort of music. The house musician
remained in movie houses for many years, however they eventually
disappeared to make way for the recorded film score, known as a "talkie"
or "canned music". The 1930's was the time that saw the rise of
the symphonic film score. This was the time in which many great
composers began to write the scores for films. The scores were not
simple little symphonies or pieces but rather enormous projects that took
a great deal of time and thought. It was also in this era that the click track
was developed. This was a technique first used in the scoring of

cartoons, however as the scoring for life action movies became more
complex the click track became vital to the preciseness of the score. A
click track works to synchronize the music with the action of the film with
the use of mathematics. The exposure of films is measured in frames
and there are 24 frames a second, 1440 frames a minute. Holes are
punched into the film to click at any given metronome beat. The
composer measures this beat by dividing the figure, 1440, by whatever
metronome speed that he wants and the resulting figure is the frame click
beat. For example, if the composer want the metronome beat to be at
144, than he divides the figure 1440 by 144 and the resulting figure is 10.
This means that the holes punched in the film should click every 10
frames. The studio musicians would wear headsets through which they
would hear a constant clicking sound, thus keeping them precisely with
the score. The major film score composers of this time were actually
European, arriving in Hollywood to compose great works for film. The
European influence gave the films scores that many of the elements
found in the romantic style of the Viennese opera, eg. large orchestras,
complex parts, lush harmonies, doubling of parts and full string parts, as
well a influence from many European composers, for example, Richard
Strauss. The composers that sat at the forefront of film scoring at this
time were Max Steiner, Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Bertrand Hermann.
These men wrote the scores for many of the famous films that came out
of that era, eg. The Informer, Since You Went Away, King Kong,
Casablanca, and Gone With The Wind (Max Steiner), The Prince and
the Pauper, The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Private Lives of
Elizabeth and Essex, and A Midsummer's Nights Dream (Erich Wolfgang
Korngold), and by Bertrand Hermann the infamous Citizen Kane. The
films required a great use of leitmotifs, themes, and sub themes. It was
these characteristics that gave the music such importance and helped
make these films of the thirties become the memorable classics that they

are. Some examples of the effective use of themes and sub themes can
be found in the scores of Max Steiner's The Informer, Since You Went
Away, and Gone With The Wind. Each of the scores that accompany
these films have an enormous orchestration and key motifs as well as a
blend of different types of music that creates a particular feeling or
accentuates a point. The Informer is a film set in Ireland and tells the
story of Gypo Nolan who is the tragic main character who is ultimately
gunned down in the street. The motifs used in this film are of this tragic
genre with Irish folk melodies intertwined with many of the main themes.
One of the most effective uses of symbolism in the music of this film is
found at the end when Gypo finally meets his death. After he is shot he
makes his way to a small church nearby with the sound of heavy brass
chords imitating his every plodding step. When he reaches the inside of
the church he collapses only to see a nun who he thinks in the Virgin
Mary. At the this point his face moves from darkness into the light and a
soft hymn, "Sancta Maria", written by Steiner himself emerges as the
more dominant of the musical sounds. This whole scene symbolizes the
passing of Gypo into heaven and the final acceptance of his soul by God.
It would lose all effectiveness if the music was not as dominant as it is.
The film, Since You Went Away, has many similar elements in the
music that make us feel and understand the feelings of the characters.
This film contains a scene in which a young woman, Jennifer Jones,
races along the railway platform alongside the train that is carrying her
true love off to war. Steiner chose to use elements from familiar songs,
"I'll Be Home For Christmas", and Irving Berlin's "Together", intertwined
with a military sounding symphony part to exemplify to us the thoughts
that were racing through the minds of these two character as they left
each other , not knowing if it was to be for the last time. The effect that
this music had on those who saw the film was unforgettable as Steiner
portrayed emotions so poignantly through his orchestration.

Probably the most memorable film score to arise out of the 1930's was
the music to the epic Gone With the Wind. This film begins with many
different themes being introduced, the most famous of which is the theme
for Tara, intertwined with the strains of the Old South. Steiner worked
closely with the producer David O. Selznick when he was writing the
score for this film, however little of what Selznick asked for in the score
actually appeared in the final movie. Selznick encouraged Steiner to use
little original score but rather use prerecorded classical music with some
Old South tunes mixed in; Steiner disagreed with his ideas. This was and
is a common occurrence with the producers and the composers of
movies, they rarely agree on the same ideas for how the movie will be
scored. The producer wants to put his ideas forth but really, as
producers, they are not adequately qualified and the composers just want
to be left alone to do their what they were hired to do as effectively as
they can. This disagreement during the scoring of Gone With The Wind
became so intense that Selznick actually hired an additional composer to
write another score in case he did not approve if what Steiner had written.
In the end Steiner's extraordinary composing ability prevailed and it is his
fantastic score that appears in this epic drama. In this score Steiner
manages to create seven themes for the important elements of this film:
Scarlett O'Hara, Rhett Butler, Melanie, a love theme for Melanie and
Ashley, another love theme for Scarlett and Ashley, Scarlett's father
(Gerald O'Hara), and finally a theme for Tara. The theme for Tara is the
most effective because this old plantation and it's collapse in essence
symbolizes the collapse of the Old South after the Civil War. This theme
recurs throughout the film each time is is modified slightly to show to the
audience the undying strength and endurance of the proud tradition of the
Old South in the minds of the Southerners, even if it's foundation had
crumbled. The music of this film is extremely effective and important
even if we do not always notice that it is there. From the beginning of the

film until more than twenty minutes into the picture the music does not
stop. We often do not notice the music when it is there, however, we
would surely notice it if were to be gone. To construct an effective
film score there are no real rules but rather a patterned set of guidelines
that have become tradition over time. Certain types of musical themes
have been used time and time again to create the style, mood or feeling
of the film. For example, the type of music that would be used in a
Western, or a Suspense-Drama or a Love Story varies very little from
picture to picture. A theme found in a Love Story will not always be the
same as the one before it, however, it will have the same style or feeling
to it that creates the emotion of love in our minds. These ideas are often
modified because of the intensity or seriousness of the film, however,
they are essentially similar. The key to a memorable score is the creation
of an effective main theme with equally effective sub themes. This main
theme should be the connecting link between scenes but should not be
over used as not to saturate the audience with it's melody so they
become bored and annoyed with it. The introduction of the main theme
followed by lesser sub theme that are juxtaposed and varied enough to
teas the audience until it reaches a climactic final statement of the theme
in it's entirety. The use of leitmotifs to represent characters and the
intertwining of one character's theme with another is instrumental in
telling the story of the film and giving a full portrait of the character and
their relationship with others. It is also important to realize that different
instruments and different colours of music are used to create a certain
feeling. There are certain sounds that we are used to hearing that are
effective in adding to the mood or feeling of the film. Nothing in the
creation of a film score is arbitrary all of the music that we hear has been
composed specifically to accentuate or punctuate what the main idea that
the writing, acting and directing of the film is trying to show to us.
Another aspect of the soundtrack to a film that is not randomly

chosen is the use of source music and the unoriginal score. Source
music is the music that can be heard coming from a radio, a dance club
band , a marching band, etc. The music that is chosen to be played in
these scenes is put there to accentuate the point of the scene, to add
humour or even to make the scene seem ironic. This source music can
also be used to foreshadow upcoming events and prepare us for the next
scene. The unoriginal score is music that has been written by somebody
else but has been placed in the scene to add effect. The music can be a
part of the scene as in the scene with Tom Hanks explaining the story of
La Mamma Morta to Denzel Washington in Philadelphia. The music in
this scene has been added to create depth in Tom Hank's character and
to create a new special bond between the two men. The other way that
the unoriginal score can be used effectively is if the music is not actually
in the scene but is still playing in the background as if it were in the minds
of the characters in the scene. An example of this can be found in the
film True Romance where Dennis Hopper's character is speaking to
Chrisopher Walken and we know that Dennis Hopper's characters going
to die. The music that is being played in the background of this scene is
a faint opera, that adds peace to a scene that should not feel peaceful.
The beauty of the music adds a certain grace to the scene and gives it
more character. To listen to the score of a film is to appreciate
fully exactly what the film makers were trying to point out to us. The
acting and directing and the writing are the element that primarily we
remember, however, subconsciously we remember more that we give
ourselves credit for. A movie can be seen once and already the themes
are ingrained in our minds and if we were to hear them elsewhere we
could identify them. Many themes of films today are so memorable that
we can often sing them on cue, for example, the themes to The
Godfather, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Jaws, Jurassic Park, etc. Each of
these films has a theme that we remember even if we do not make a

conscious decision to do so. It is far to often that the power of music is
underestimated and not enough credit is given to the thought that was put
into creating an effective film score. As an audience it is our duty, not
necessarily to always enjoy, but to at least appreciate all elements of the
film making process. The scoring of the film has always been a
cornerstone to the success of the film, no matter how primitive the music
may be.BibliographyBazelon, Irwin. Knowing the Score. Van Nostrand
Reinhold Co, New York.Hoffman, Charles. Sounds for Silence. DBS
Publications, New York.Kalinak, Kathryn. Settling the Score. The
University of Wisconsin Press, U.S.A.Manrell, Roger and John Huntley.
The Technique of Film Music. Focal Press, New York.McCarty, Clifford.
Film Music. Garland Publishing Inc., New York.