Category: Research

Researching Claudia Gorbman’s Unheard Melodies

Like the previous research I have done this book talks about the power of music within film and the ways music can work within film. She begins by taking a semiological approach into music’s abilities within film. What I find particularly interesting about Gorbman’s work comes later when discussing music composition. Here are what she describes as principles to music within film:

I. Invisibility: the technical apparatus of nondiegetic music must not be visible.

II. Inaudibility”: Music is not meant to be heard consciously. As such it should subordinate itself to dialogue, to visuals – i.e., to the primary vehicles of the narrative.

III. Signifier of emotion: Soundtrack music may set specific moods and emphasize particular emotions suggested in the narrative (cf. #IV), but first and foremost, it is a signifier of emotion itself. 

IV. Narrative cueing: – referential/narrative: music gives referential and narrative cues, e.g., indicating point of view, supplying formal demarcations, and establishing setting and characters.

– connotative music “interprets” and “illustrates” narrative events.

V.  Continuity: music provides formal and rhythmic continuity- between shots, in transitions between scenes, by filling “gaps”. 

VI. Unity: via repetition and variation of musical material and instrumentation, music aids the construction of formal and narrative unity. 

VII. A given film score may violate any of the principles above, providing the violation is at the service of the other principles. 

(Gorbman, 1987, 73)

This list of principles is a good way of knowing what music can do. All these aspects are important to take into account when creating music for film – as these are techniques are aspects which make film music great. However, I do find with Gorbman’s ideas don’t take into account that people perceive films differently at the end of the process; therefore I think it is better to look at the ‘principles’ as a focus when composing not when looking at the end product of a film. It is also a great example of what music can do – which is what interests me a lot, especially when taking the music supervisor role. I have noticed my music already uses a fair few of these techniques for example signifier of emotion, continuity, narrative cueing etc. However from reading this I want to try and include as many as possible. One particular one of interest to me is ‘invisibility’, this will be able to test how well my music goes with the visual, as some of it is not there to be noticed – just help move the story itself along. I also agree with principle number 7, that although all these principles are important that they aren’t all necessarily needed as long as it is justified.

I found Gorbman’s work very insightful in separating what makes film music great and the overall capabilities of what music can do in relation to film. I will definitely be using some of these techniques within George.

Gorbman, C. (1987) Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music. London: BFI Publishing.

Researching Anahid Kassabian – Hearing Film

For a large part of my research I have been looking into different ways music are discussed within film to help gain a greater understanding of what to do musically with George. For this part of my research I took a look into Anahid Kassabian’s ‘Hearing Film’. I have previously read her book ‘Ubiquitous Listening’ and therefore thought this book may contain useful information directed more towards film. Kassabian first looks into music and ideology surrounding it, discussing in detail theories of music itself and the language of it. She then goes on to discuss it in relation to film in more detail; talking in depth about music relationships with different components of film. She then furthers this through looking at a number of case studies; which lead to one of the main focus’ of her book – tracking identities. For my research purposes I will proceed to looking in-depth into her thoughts on what music can do to a film as this is most relevant to my research.

Kassabian explains music’s ability on it’s own. One aspect I found particularly interesting was her description of music here – “It crosses over boundaries between unconscious and conscious processes; it contradicts or shifts what seem like heavy-handed meanings in the visuals” (Kassabian, 2001, 89). This to me is a vital part of what film music is meant to be. It can carry a story along without you even noticing it. Coming in and out of a film effortlessly and unnoticed, thus smoothing over the images on screen. This is something which is of particular relevant to me when composing and placing the music within my short film. Not only should it be heard but it should also be discrete and help carry along the story, leaving less for the visual and dialogue to do on its own. I will go into these theories of what music can do in a later blog more focussed on creating the music for George.

Kassabian also takes the approach of looking into music in the following ways:

• “ How is the music’s relationship to the narrative world of the film perceived?
• How do we perceive the music’s method within the scene? 
• What does the music evoke in or communicate to us?” (Kassabian, 2001, 41-42)

These are of course important questions to the overall experience of a film. For me, making the music for a film, I think its important to keep focussing on what you want as an end product. Therefor these questions are important to ask when looking at the end product. People perceive films and music differently so what I am trying to do with the music may not always be the way it is perceived by a certain person. That is why it is important to follow certain guidelines to try and achieve music’s full potential; guidelines such as music as a narrative, the use of diegetic and non-diegetic music and also looking into pace, tempo and key. These questions are key when understanding what I want the film to do.

She also later goes onto discuss this idea of Leitmotiv which originates from Wagner music. This is a term used to describe a musical phrase which is connected to something like a place, character or idea. This is an idea I have taken up with George through attaching simple melodies/notes to the character through having them recur throughout the film. I will discuss this more on my blog about my methods used within the music.

I have found Kassabian’s insight extremely useful when thinking about the bigger impact music can have on a film and will continue reading this to further my knowledge. There is indeed a lot more Kassabian discusses in her book but these are a few of the aspects which I found particularly useful within this project.

Kassabian, A. (2001) Hearing Film: Tracking Identifications in Contemporary Hollywood Film Music. London: Routledge.

Music as Added Value

At this stage of my research I decided to research ways in which music can be used to help me decide which way to go with the overall sound design of ‘George’. When looking into what music adds to a piece I found Michel Chion’s ‘Audio-Vision’(1990) very helpful. He talks generally about how sound, describing it as ‘added value’, touching on how it can transform the visual not only by adding to story, but to create links between scenes, stories and characters and the emotive factor it adds to the piece.
He then goes on to discuss music alone and describes two different effects music can have on a piece: Empathetic and Anempathetic.

“music can directly express its participation in the feeling of the scene, by taking on the scene’s rhythm, tone, and phrasing; obviously such music participates in cultural codes for things like sadness, happiness, and movement” (Chion, 1990, 8) 

He describes the above as Empathetic music “the ability to feel the feelings of others”. What I can take from this idea of Empathetic music is that it makes you feel part of the audio visual experience in an affective way. It takes the emotions on screen and furthers them, this will be especially useful within my film as the story line isn’t particularly obvious. In ‘George’ the visual displays some signifiers to the overall plot and a very small amount of dialogue; therefore it’ll be important that the progression of the story is displayed clearly through sound and music. More specifically we want the audience to feel the emotions of the character George, his life story isn’t revealed to the end of the film, so it will be important to make the music emotive; with this it will guide the audience as to how to feel about George when the plot is revealed.

He then goes on to discuss what he describes as ‘Anempathetic’ music. He discusses how this is a more progressive type of music that is ‘indifferent’ to the on screen action. This creates a more intensifying effect, quite often blending with ambience sounds and foley. For me this is something that can make the music more interesting. It allows the music to feel less obvious in the sense of that it blends well with the sound design around it, allowing it not to stand out so prominently but to still be there and intensifying what is going on.

I think looking at music from both of these views has taught me where to go with the music within George. In some scenes empathetic music will be vital in helping develop the story and make the whole piece come together through linking scenes and shots smoothly. However in other scenes for example the dream sequence an anempatheitc approach will be much more relevant; this will help intensify the scene and also blend with other sounds we wish to put in like atmos and footsteps. For me a main objective for the music is for it to blend well with the overall sound design, not taking away from the ambience layers and dialogue we have put together but adding to it.

Chion, M. (1990) Audio-Vision: Sound on Screen. New York: Columbia University Press.