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I think the reason why film music is often singled out as being particularly manipulative is because of all of the other elements that are manipulating the viewer when they're watching a scene (the performances, the lighting and compositions of the shot, the montage, the design, etc.) are ultimately in the service of the diegetic, while the score is recognizably outside the reality of the film.
Notice, however, that nobody complains about a film's score being manipulative if it's doing its job well. This doesn't meant that the audience doesn't hear it (I challenge anybody to watch, say, Once Upon a Time in the West without being aware of the music), only that the audience deems the use of the music to have been appropriate.
It has been postulated that the presence of music in the shower scene of Psycho — even the disturbing, horrifying, screeching cue that is — had a softening effect on the impact of the scene.
Anyway…
Usually — not always, to be sure, but most of the time — a score cue is present to emphasize a particular tone or emotion, or to reference a story point. Both of these uses are essentially narrative in nature. And storytelling devices are like any other tool, they work well for what they're good for.
There are many different kinds of films, a variety of styles, and that's the context by which any approach to music should take. You can't make any sweeping generalizations on this topic because for, outside of genre tropes, it's very difficult to say that what will work for one movie will work for all of them.
As theatrical and home sound reproduction systems get better, there is more of an effort to concentrate on the sonic palette of a film or show. Entire episodes of Breaking Bad are defined by particular soundscapes, for example. A case can be made that those ambient textures can in many ways stand in for a score, sort of as a musique concrete approach — not too dissimilar from the partition sonore Michel Fano would do for Alain Robbe-Grillet films.
On the other hand, we've seen many television series where the initial approach to the music was to make it as themeless and background as possible, only to have the show rely more and more on themes and motives once their dramatic possibilities became apparent. Bear McCreary's work on Battlestar Galactica is actually a good example of this.
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There's nothing particularly minimalist about the score for THE CONVERSATION: by the time Hackman discover's the murder scene it's screaming at you.
It's a great score but it doesn't support your case in the way that, say, Burwell's score for NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEM would.
And AMERICAN GRAFFITI showed it was possible to have almost continuous music while remaining entirely within the diegesis.
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Posted: |
Nov 12, 2013 - 5:28 PM
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By: |
OnyaBirri
(Member)
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I think the reason why film music is often singled out as being particularly manipulative is because of all of the other elements that are manipulating the viewer when they're watching a scene (the performances, the lighting and compositions of the shot, the montage, the design, etc.) are ultimately in the service of the diegetic, while the score is recognizably outside the reality of the film.
Notice, however, that nobody complains about a film's score being manipulative if it's doing its job well. This doesn't meant that the audience doesn't hear it (I challenge anybody to watch, say, Once Upon a Time in the West without being aware of the music), only that the audience deems the use of the music to have been appropriate.
It has been postulated that the presence of music in the shower scene of Psycho — even the disturbing, horrifying, screeching cue that is — had a softening effect on the impact of the scene.
Anyway…
Usually — not always, to be sure, but most of the time — a score cue is present to emphasize a particular tone or emotion, or to reference a story point. Both of these uses are essentially narrative in nature. And storytelling devices are like any other tool, they work well for what they're good for.
There are many different kinds of films, a variety of styles, and that's the context by which any approach to music should take. You can't make any sweeping generalizations on this topic because for, outside of genre tropes, it's very difficult to say that what will work for one movie will work for all of them.
As theatrical and home sound reproduction systems get better, there is more of an effort to concentrate on the sonic palette of a film or show. Entire episodes of Breaking Bad are defined by particular soundscapes, for example. A case can be made that those ambient textures can in many ways stand in for a score, sort of as a musique concrete approach — not too dissimilar from the partition sonore Michel Fano would do for Alain Robbe-Grillet films.
On the other hand, we've seen many television series where the initial approach to the music was to make it as themeless and background as possible, only to have the show rely more and more on themes and motives once their dramatic possibilities became apparent. Bear McCreary's work on Battlestar Galactica is actually a good example of this.
Great post. Thanks!
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Anybody here remember Anthony Mann's "The Tall Target", about a plot to assassinate Lincoln before his first inauguration? Brilliant, gripping movie, takes place almost entirely on a train. No underscore. It's one of those now obscure gems that makes you wonder "How come film buffs don't talk about this one all the time?"
Gary
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How would you know, unless you'd seen the same scene with original music added?
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How would you know, unless you'd seen the same scene with original music added?
I know based on my satisfaction with the experience. I could also mentally trade actors or imagine the film with different lighting. If there's no score and I love the movie, I don't have to wonder "what if."
That makes no sense. Had Hitchock's PSYCHO been released without music for the shower scene, as originally planned, you would probably have said: "Oh, that's more effective without music". Only a direct comparison between the same scene with and without music can tell you which of the two is more effective.
You're whole argumentation, if you can call it that, is useless for film analysis.
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Posted: |
Nov 13, 2013 - 7:16 AM
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By: |
follow me
(Member)
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How would you know, unless you'd seen the same scene with original music added?
I´m not OnyaBirri, but I have seen enough scenes in films which were ruined by film music. Imagine a thriller, a night scene, a man walking along a dimly lit, deserted street, sound of rain, of footsteps, sound of a car in the distance, then a dog barking. Now add music and the whole atmosphere is destroyed immediately and completely...
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>>>>>> Now add music and the whole atmosphere is destroyed immediately and completely... >>>>>>>
Or heightened exponentially. Depends on your outlook.
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THE BIRDS has always been effective, to me, sans score.
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That´s not a good argument. A film is a film even without music and just because there is editing and acting does not necessarily mean that we have to make a film even more "artificial" by adding music!
Another wrong-headed argument. Editing is as much a manipulation as camera work or music. They all belong to the TECHNIQUE of film-MAKING, and from the very start!
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THE BIRDS has always been effective, to me, sans score.
Again, do you really think that's an argument AGAINST the potential use of music in that film???? MANY critics have complained about the lack of music, and if you will, since the artificial bird shrieks are "composed", the film actually HAS music. Remy Gassmann, an avantgarde composer, and Oskar Sala, the trautonium player for the film (and himself also a composer) were involved in the creation of this electronic "score".
And even if the film is effective without an acoustic/orchestral score, does that mean it couldn't be MORE effective with such music????
Some of the people on this board who profess to be film music lovers seem not to have grasped the first thing about the role of music in films, nor of film technique itself.
Seriously.
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