Background of the Text:
The academic source I used for this analysis is from MARK BROWNRIGG, Film Music and Film Genre, (2003) page 29, chapter “The Function of Film Music”. In this section Brownrigg discusses what film music is really used for and why. I decided to explore this chapter because I am intrigued into why we actually need film music, it’s also fascinating to me as my whole career is based on this subject and i’d like to know what my role as a composer really means in the film industry.
A summary of the text:
In the chapter I have chosen to analyse, Brownrigg discusses in chronological order, the timeline of film music and how it’s evolved over the decades. Details are given on what film music first started out like and how music has developed to have a dominant role in the film world.
Analysis of text:
Brownrigg starts by reinstating the fact that music in film is used to “signify” emotion and give narative cues, it’s also used to help “interpret” events on screen to help aid the narrative of the film. This opening statement of this chapter immediately gripped me, I knew exactly what Brownrigg meant as over the many years I’ve been studying music, I have always been made aware that music is in films to help portray emotions in scenes. Brownrigg backs himself up with a quote from a Hitchcock speech where he says that the purpose of a soundtrack is like editing, “to create the tempo and mood of a scene”. This quote is a very important piece of information to back oneself with as Hitchcock was a world renowed film director and to have a quote from him supporting your argument, is a very reliable source of information. Another statement that Brownrigg makes is that “Music was used to ease the audience to the world of film, preparing them for what was to come.” I agree with this statement as I not only think of myself as composer, but also as a keen film watcher I know exactly what it’s like to watch a film and feel the emotion that the music is portraying, it definitely prepares a viewer emotionally because it can indicate what kind of scene is occuring on screen.
An interesting comment from Brownrigg was that music can locate the film “geographically”, when first reading this, I was quite skeptical as I didn’t know how the music of a film could possibly locate a geographical place but his statement was backed up very clearly. Brownrigg writes that when a national anthem is heard, the listener will instantly think of the country of origin but only if they understand the context behind the tune. Another example mentioned was the more technical composition side to music and how pentatonic scales can suggest and Oriental style, linking to Asian countries such as China and Japan. I agree with this source of information as I have been challenged with task of writing in the oriental style and when getting feedback from my lecturer who set the assignment, he told me that the use of pentatonic scales is a great way to reflect an Oriental sound and many traditional chinese songs and pieces of music are written with the pentatonic scale.
Brownrigg argues that there are two different scoring approaches. The first approach is music that saturates a film, he then backs that up with giving an example of Star Wars (1977) and how music is played throughout the film and the use of leitmotif is used to create a musical “signature” This passage was a great source of information which I included in my blog because its very accurate and I personally have seen all the Star Wars film so I feel confident enough to identify a character from the films just by listening to the music.
On the other hand Brownrigg states that the alternative side to the saturation technique is to “spot” score, “where a series of discrete cues strategically appear on the soundtrack to heighten emotion, tension or any of a number of other functions.” This statement was a little more harder for me to understand as I wasn’t quite aware of the term “spot” scoring and he didn’t have any sources to back himself up with, so therefore I cant really support that statement because I believe there are more than two ways to score a film as some films don’t even have music at all and other only need a subtle soundtrack like horror film, they rely heavily on sound effects to create tension.
As Brownrigg draws his chapter to a close, he discusses a more technical way of film composing and how the tempo and dynamics can affect a film, he discusses that fast-paced music will help a chase scene feel more urgent and slow-paced music can “turn the emphasis of the picture away from action towards the emotional”. Brownrigg’s reflection on dynamics discussses how loud music will intensify the scene and quiet dynamics “underscores reflection or circumspection”.
Overall, after reading through Brownriggs chapter on The function of film music, I have felt nothing but confidence in his statements, his chapter related to me on a personal level as I have experienced the topics he was covering. Brownrigg writes in a very clear way that is easy for anyone to understand, whether that may be musicians or non musicians. This source has developed my understanding of film scoring even further and has given me supporting arguments that I can refer to during my research. The thesis written has allowed me to see exactly what film scoring is and why it’s been used, it reassures me as a composer that my job plays an important role in the film industry
Source: MARK BROWNRIGG, Film Music and Film Genre, (2003), {acessed online}, University of Stirling, thesis, link to thesis can be found: https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/40108516.pdf (thesis accessed on 18th November 2019)
Film and Game Music by Amber Durant 