Terminology
There are various purposes for music within a film score. For instance:
> Cue – this is any instance of sound.
> Title/theme music – this is a piece of recognisable music that is used to convey the nature of the product.
An example of this could be the Mario theme. Now an iconic theme, whenever it is played, audiences are reminded of the game and as a result, Mario has a signature stamp to make it identifiable anywhere.
> Kinetic sound/ rhythm – this creates a feeling of motion and movement within the music.
An example of this could be the Pirates of the Caribbean theme. The orchestral aspect allows a richness to come through within the music and so the sounds become vast – linking directly to the environment of adventure.
> Underscoring – this is the music playing underneath the dialogue, informing the mood. It is usually non-diegetic but there are instances where it can be used as diegetic. Not only can it change the mood, but the meaning of the scene can also be altered.
For instance, in King Kong, the music used during his rampage makes Kong seem menacing and depicts him to be the main threat.
If you were to replace the underscoring music with something from the Schindler’s List soundtrack, whilst the atmosphere becomes more tragic rather than simply frightening, Kong becomes the victim as he appears scared and confused as he crashes through the city.
There can also be incongruity between the underscoring music and the piece of media to create an effective result. Here is an example:
In such a gruesome and violent scene, the song Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd is playing which is upbeat and exhilarating. Whilst the music relates to the fast-paced nature of the scene, it doesn’t necessarily address the horrors of tens upon tens of people dying as a result of this scene. Rather than having the audience react in disgust, they will be watching in awe and amazement despite the nature of the contents of the scene due to the music used.
> Character themes – A character theme is music that has been composed for a specific character or group of characters that is used to signify who is present or going to appear. This is done repeatedly and so becomes associated with them. This music must then convey the nature and personality of that character so that it successfully emphasises what kind of person they are. An example could be the Team Skull grunt theme from Pokemon Sun & Moon which plays whenever you encounter the Team Skull grunts.
The distorted voiceover in the background can be stereotypically associated with rap and thuggery. Paired with the estranged theme, this helps to convey the hostility of these characters.
> Temp track – this is a track composed of existing pieces of music that you give to a composer as a guide for what kind of music you want them to create.
> Sound effects – these are sound elements that represent sounds not present during filming and there are 3 main types:
- Spot FX – these are short FX used for a single point of synchronisation for specific events that can be pre-recorded, e.g phone ringing or a gunshot.
An example can be seen here at the very beginning where he opens the bag of crisps.
2. Foley FX – named after their creator, Jack Foley, these are more continuous sound effects performed in post-production by ‘foley artists’ whilst watching the movie so that the action and sound effect are synchronised. This is the major difference between Foley and spot effects. An example could be putting on a jacket or footsteps.
The footsteps of the characters coming onstage at the beginning would need to be recorded live with the footage so that it matched up.
3. Atmospheres/Ambiences – These represent the ‘bed of sound’ that plays underneath all of the other SFX. The atmosphere starts as an audio wash of the scene before various details are added. Usually, it consists of a recording of a location but can be constructed from various SFX that are built on top of each other for a specific type of ambience.
[dis is da eg]
Jasmine Cooper 