Also children as young as 3 or 4 years of age are able to recognize basic emotions in music (Cunningham & Sterling 1988). Emotional contagion it has been argued, facilitates the mother-infant bond (Darwin 1872), as well as social interaction in general terms (Preston & de Waal 2002). In support of this, this emotional contagion seems to create liking and affiliation (e.g. Lakin et al. 2003) which is perhaps beneficial for social interaction (Juslin, P.N. and Vastfjall D., 2008, p.565). Episodic memories Episodic memory is a conscious process: Music evokes memories and so also evokes the emotions associated with these memories. Although this discussion of the memory processes is compelling, it is incomplete because it excludes mentioning the circumstances where music is explicitly associated with narrative content that independently evokes emotional responses e.g. music accompanied by lyrics that tell a story which evokes the story’s emotion message. However, their main focus is on circumstances where music is associated with the narrative content of film (Juslin, P.N. and Vastfjall D., 2008, p.578). Brain Stem Reflexes Brain Stem Reflexes refer to a process where an emotion is induced by sound or music because the fundamental acoustical characteristics of the sound or music are received by the brain stem which signals a potentially urgent and important event. Sounds that are sudden, dissonant, loud, or have fast temporal patterns induce arousal or feelings of unpleasantness in the listener (Berlyne 1971; Burt et al. 1995; Foss et al. 1989; Halpern et al. 1986). These responses show the impact of auditory sensations (music as sound in the most basic sense). Our perceptual system is continually scanning the immediate surro... ... middle of paper ... ... itself. Music can decipher a narrative event by indicating a perspective. To unify a set of diverse images and provide rhythmic and formal continuity and momentum, a film’s structure is more often than not, directly articulated by a musical structure. Music can assist the dialogue and visuals of film and often is inaudible (e.g. music is meant to be heard unconsciously, not consciously). Music has been used by directors to reinforce or strengthen certain weak scenes in film and then on the other hand when music is not needed to reinforce a scene Music has frequently been used by directors to strengthen the impact of scenes that are dramatically weak and on the contrary, when music is not needed to strengthen a scene, it can be used for neutral effect and can refrain from drawing attention to itself e.g. easy listening or subtle complementary background music.
Images themselves are not enough to carry enough the full information from the plot of a movie. Sound and music add meaning to the story, and enhance the viewers’ enjoyment from the film. The use of sound and music in films has benefited the film industry greatly, as it was one of the revolutionary stepping stones where film became more than an art form, and transcended into a global business. They carry the narrative from one scene to the other, until the very end of the movie; in the mean time helping editors to edit the film seamlessly, allowing the audience to lose themselves in the plot and become a part of it. It is proven that music affects the audience members’ perception of the plot, by subtly working on the unconscious mind and reflecting emotions, basically by telling the viewer how to feel about a certain scene, action, or character.
To fully understand the relationship between a filmmaker and a composer, it is helpful to take a closer look at the filmmaker’s position towards music in film in general; these can of course differ substantially from one director to another. It seems, one must think, that the complete narrative and emotive potential of film music is not yet fully recognized and appreciated in many film produc...
The films musical score alerts the viewer to an approaching attack of the shark and they automatically build this association with the music in their mind. Horror films often make use of high string instrument notes that irritate viewers and increase tension. Music plays an important role in film editing and the editor must choose its placement wisely to ensure its intended effect on the viewer’s mind and
The second type is music or songs that already exist before the film was made, this is also known as nondiegetic music (Ramset 312, 314). These two types of music are used very specifically and carefully within films in order to create emotions or experiences in the audience. The use of music to inflict emotion and experience is made possible “…because of their unconscious familiarity to filmgoers. They have become naturalized through constant repetition.” This technique has been used since the 1930s (Ramsey 313). This affects my understanding of cinema because I now know the different types of music used in these films and why they are used. The different types of music are used in order to create different reactions in the audiences. I now understand that the reason using music to influence the audience works because it has been done for almost 100 years (Ramsey
For this essay I will be looking at the work of Hans Zimmer to discuss how music in film engages the viewer and evokes emotion and pulls the viewer toward the film. Hans Zimmer is a German born music composer. Hans Zimmer’s love of music stems from his childhood when he learned how to play various instruments. Before Zimmer began composing music for films he was in a well-known band. The band was called The Buggles whom were famous for their song Video Killed the Radio Star. After the Buggles Zimmer played in other bands but never had another hit. As Zimmer has progressed as a film composer so has his list of nominations and awards. Zimmer has won 4 Grammy Awards and 2 Golden Globes and many more for his outstanding film scores. The reason I chose to write this essay on Zimmer was that his genres and music score are extremely versatile ranging from animations to comedy to dark thrillers. This is important to highlight as it shows Zimmer can create almost any atmosphere with his music whether it be sad or creating tension that all cause us to engage with the film. Zimmer's use of themes and introduction of different instruments allowed him to create these wonderful engaging film score. In this essay I will look at three films by Hans Zimmer these are The Holiday Rush and Rain Man.
Score/Soundtrack: Music throughout this film remained somewhat unnoticeable as it let the action of the film speak for itself. The calm music throughout the majority of the film helped me focus on dialogue and expressions instead of sound and chaos. Scenes filled with music, such as the moving away party and search for Bruno, did help the film as they helped bring more description and evidence of emotion to the
Music and the Brain: Processing and Responding (A General Overview). For any individual who either avidly listens to or performs music, it is understood that many melodies have amazing effects on both our emotions and our perception. To address the effects of music on the brain, it seems most logical to initially map the auditory and neural pathways of sound. In the case of humans, the mechanism responsible for receiving and transmitting sound to the brain is the ears.
Music plays a huge role in todays society, as the music-in-film world progresses along side the improvements and changes in the musical industry we as viewers often underestimate the usefulness of music, in any form, can have over even the most unresponsive kinds of people. In almost everything we do and see music is involved in some form or another. Like a piece played at a wedding, a funeral, or even just a song played on the. Because of this, most great movies use music (or an absence of music) to illuminate the scenes and draw up the emotions the viewer needs to feel to make it a truly magnificent film. The 2003 Film Seabiscuit, which was based on the best selling book Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand, is a famous film
...ide of people, which is generally excited by happiness in the central case (Matravers 174). Music is not the whole part of the feeling; it just causes it (Matravers 174). When the volume from the music goes up, emotions will rise (Matravers 174). As the music goes down, the emotions decline as well (Matravers 174). The connection between music and emotions are similar to a mirror (Matravers 174). Whatever happens to the music, the human feelings will follow.
Music has become a common language in film in the twentieth century. It has become the lingua franca of films. Scholars working on this topic find it challenging to explore some aspects of film music for several reasons. One main reason is that films (images and sound) are interdisciplinary by nature, posing challenges for the scholars. Despite visuals and auditory means evident in films, scholars do not adequately examine the two means as they work with each other. This could be partly due to the fact that film is largely seen as a visual medium (film music in minor page 8). Music in film is often viewed as subordinate to the visuals. Marlyn Boltz addresses the interaction between the two media and this reveals great potential in this field,
A movie is created from the sounds that are used. At the beginning of the creation of film, there was no sound. Music and sound’s role in movies changes dramatically and transforms film entirely. One can understand the impact of sound in movies through music and film history, how music influences emotion and how silence can affect the film.
Music stimulates multiple areas of the brain by provoking auditory, emotional, autonomic, and cognitive processing. Once the sound waves from the music are heard, signaling travels from the auditory system to the areas of the brain responsible for processing and dissecting the sound information. These areas are the primary auditory cortex, heschl’s gyrus, the frontal operculum, the superior temporal sulcus, and cortical language areas. Following sound processing, emotional processing of the sound heard takes place in the amygdala, cingulate gyrus, and medical orbitofrontal cortex of the brain. Feedback from the processed music can lead to physiological responses and changes in the autonomic nervous system as a result of the type of music heard (Nizamie and Tikka). For example, harsh, fast paced music tends to increase sympathetic nervous system activity (increased heart rate, faster breathing), whereas gentle, soothing music stimulates the body to relax, activating the parasympathetic nervous system (slower heart rate, lower blood pressure and slower breathing) (...
The music suited the movie very nicely. By the type of music playing, you could determine what sort of scene was coming up, either fast and light...
For example, in the movie The Lion king, the song “The Circle of Life”, the instruments used in the song are a piano, vocals, a small woodwind, and percussion. The music starts with very powerful vocals which grab your attention and pull it towards the screen and what is about to happen. The vocals then turn to harmonies from a choir. The music is primarily background offscreen. This means that it consists of sound effects, music, or vocals that originate from the world of the story. For examples, in the movie The Lion King, the animals talk. In real life, animals do not talk. Also in the scene where they sing “Hakuna Matata”, the music in the movie tells what is happening through the lives of the characters, but in the real life all we see is people talking and screaming but not the music expressing our feelings, like The Lion King. Another scene is where the animals sing “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”. The song is telling their love story in through the music but in real life we tell our love story by
Sound is what brings movies to life, but, not many viewers really notice. A film can be shot with mediocre quality, but, can be intriguing if it has the most effective foley, sound effects, underscore, etc. Sound in movies band together and unfold the meaning of the scenes. When actors are speaking, the dialogue can bring emotion to the audience, or, it can be used as the ambient sound. Music is one of the main things to have when filmmaking. The use of Claudia Gorbman’s Seven Principles of Composition, Mixing and Editing in Classical Film gives audiences a perspective of sound, and, how it can have an impact on them.