Film Score and Narratives - Essay Example

College Film score and narratives Film score, also known as film music or background music is what plays alongside a film, inthat as the scenes of the movies roll, the music plays along the narration. A narrative on the other hand is an account or representation of an event that had taken place in an artistic manner to give it a meaning required for the audience. There are both oral narratives (stories) and those that are written. Both of them have to be done in such a way as to give meaning to the audience/ target group for which the narration was intended. Music is the soul of a narrative and without it, there is no narrative. It gives the feeling of the narration and helps carry along with the narrative the audience. Giving the feeling and tone of a narrative is very necessary to help the audience realize the message that the narrative is relaying to them. All narratives have their role which is supposed to educate and entertain the society. They try to remind people of the lost values that should be sort for proper cohesion of the people. In traditional societies before the coming of formal education, narratives were a source of education to young people. They were used to drive order and instill discipline in the young ones. This art has currently been perfected into different genres to include movies, dramas and other theatrics. With these improvements to modernize the field of art came music which has proved to be an integral part of narratives and movies and without music there could as well be no narratives or movies. How Film Score Supports Narratives An appropriate music has to be selected to accompany the narration. This will help to give meaning to the different scenes and themes that the narrator may want to pass across. Just by the background music, the audience may be in a position to predict what is likely to come next in the narration. Therefore, film score or film music helps in a great way to build a story in a narrative. The plot of the narration will basically be based on the content of the narration and the music that plays along the story (Green, 81). Film score also helps to catch attention of the audience hence breaking the monotony and boredom that may prevail were it for a mere narration without any support from music. Calm music often brings about somber moods in the narration, indicating that there could be a bad incident taking place in the story. A lively song gives an impression of a happy occurrence in the story. Therefore the choice of music should be correct to prevent a misleading incident where the audience may think about an occurrence that is non-existent in the story (Jorgensen, 46). The songs on the other hand also help to involve the audience in a great way by twisting their emotions to go along with the events in the narration. People sometimes shed tears as a result of a touching song that goes plays along in a narration. Sometimes the narrator himself/herself sings along hence carrying the audience along with them. A narration cannot be complete without full involvement of the audience and their active participation is a motivation for the narrator who may go ahead to make the story even more interesting to the listeners. It is from the audience reaction that a narrator gets a feedback on to whether the narrative was effective or not. All this active participation can however be achieved through incorporating film music to play along a film or a narration. An active audience is the biggest motivation to the narrator (Green, 86). Music also helps to connect scenes in films. Without the music, most scenes would be isolated from one another, hence a disjoint in the film. A disjointed film may be too boring and any story or film producer has in mind the importance of music in a film or narrative. Another strong function of music in a narration is to create an atmosphere within which a story is told. It helps to set a tone for a story and just at the beginning of a story, one is able to tell the direction the movie or narration is likely to take. This however has always been used artistically by some producers to bring about suspense or even contrast in the storyline. The tone in a movie or narration is a very important role that cannot be ignored by any producer. Songs also help the audience to determine the time or period in which the narration or movie was done. One can tell the age of a movie just by listening to music that plays along the movie. Very old kind of music may indicate a very old movie; hence one changes the attitude to think the old way. A Jim Reeves or Don William’s song playing in the background may give an impression of a long time ago, unlike a Lil Wayne song that may represent some form of modernity in the music. This therefore helps to change the mind set of an individual watching the movie. Of course this role goes hand I hand with the costumes that the actors and actresses put on while playing their roles in the movie or narration. The music in narrations also helps to give an impression of the age and size of the characters. For instance, a young small boy or creature may be accompanied by a small calm sound for example of flute to accompany the role. A big deep sound for example of a bass guitar may represent a huge character that could be fiery at times. This helps the audience to picture what the narrator is talking about (Green, 86). Music can also help to create unreal situations in a story. Music can be used to imply nightmare, shock or even pain that a character is experiencing. Nightmare, shock or even paralysis may not be real but can be dramatized with the help of music to make it appear as it is actually taking place. A tree may not be falling in a narration, but music can be used to make it appear as there is a tree falling right in the place where narration is taking place. These are the effectiveness of music that cannot be ignored whenever an unreal situation is to be created. Music together with some sound effects can be use together to create an impression of strong wind or even heavy rains. All these are unreal situations that may be very necessary in a narration or movie (Lu, 76). Contradictions can also be created using music in a narrative. This can be done when an unexpected music is played where it was not required (Lu, 77). This will bring about a feeling that something could be a miss and therefore the audience becomes alert for any eventuality. For example, a tragedy may take place in the play in which a sudden death of a common or popular character may take place. This is always introduced by some music that will prepare the audience for the sudden twist in events. Songs can also be used to bring about a psychological cohesiveness of the audience. There could be a common song in the country that brings about a sense of unity and patriotism in the people of that country. They are often songs of victory that most people are familiar with and are proud of. They are often used when the main character triumphs to the excitement of the whole audience. This unity and cohesion in the audience is very important in that it leads to the working together of both the audience and the narrator. Music can also help to comment in certain scenes, though this should not be overdone as it can lead to boredom and redundancy. Music can help state the event taking place at a scene for example the playing music can help state that the scene is now a sad one and music can help to indicate a heroic incident in a narration. This is an important role that any narrator cannot ignore in his work. Another strong role played by music in narrations and movies is the one of showing emotions. A face with a rather neutral show of emotions can be compelled to show a feeling of joy, sadness, remorse or shock by the type of music playing. Without this, the narrative may not be an effective one. The narrative should be such that even after the narration, the audience should be humming or whistling the songs that were being played even after leaving the theatre. This emotional attachment to a presentation enhances concentration and attachment to a presentation. The stronger the emotional attachment, the more effective the narrative was. Compare a similar scene where music with different tempos is played. There will be totally two different meanings of the two scenarios. Music is therefore used to alter the perception of time hence being in a position to alter the pace of a scene. For example, a smooth, soft music may help to drag a scene to help buy time of to drive some point that the producer or director may have wanted to drive. Similarly, a funny, simple music may be played alongside a narration to help cheer up the audience. A bored up audience is the worst nightmare to any narrator and will therefore try by all means to do their best to make the presentation as lively as possible. Music in narrations can also be used to psychologically condition an individual or the audience. Music is an emotions evoker and can at times evoke emotions like joy, fear or excitement. This can then be used to the advantage of a producer or narrator to develop the plot of the story. Natural consequences or conditions that come up as a result of that change in emotions often work to the advantage of the narrator, for example, racing heart, sweating or trembling. Three Examples to Support the Functions of Music in Films Music in The Lord of Rings film series was composed by Howard Shore who orchestrated her work in an emotional and operatic way. The same music pattern was followed for The Two Towers and also The Return of the King. In this also, a wide instrumental variety and vocal soloists contributed to the film score as well. The music helps to bring about the theme of the films with the musical phrases associated with a character, an event or a feeling. For all the three films a minor key string melody plays in the films to portray what takes place at that particular time in the films. This helps to give the film meaning and to enhance understanding of the events taking place in the film. Also in the same films, three different songs are used to bring about the background music. Work cited Lu, M L. "Observations on the Structure of the Narrative Text." Russian Studies in Literature. 10.4 (1974): 75-81. Print. Jorgensen, Estelle R. "Music, Myth, and Education: the Case of "the Lord of the Rings" Film Trilogy." Journal of Aesthetic Education. 44.1 (2010): 44-57. Print. Green, Jessica. "Understanding the Score: Film Music Communicating to and Influencing the Audience." Journal of Aesthetic Education. 44.4 (2011): 81-94. Print. Read More