A symbiotic relationship:

Music in Film

By: Mariana Barrios

Colegio Internacional Sek Colombia

2021
 “Film music should have the same relationship
to the film drama that somebody's piano playing
in my living room has on the book I am
reading”
Igor Stravinsky

“Music and film are inseparable. They always

have been and always will be”
Martin Scorsese
 Methodological Design
• Qualitative research approach

• Films ranging across different genres:

drama, thriller/suspense and horror were the
ones that predominated

• People of ages 15 and up who enjoy and

watch movies often, at least once a month
 Research Question
How does music affect the message and emotions
conveyed in a film, while also complementing elements
like cinematography, coloring, acting and way of
storytelling?

Objective
To show the importance music has in film and how it
complements each and every one of the elements that
make up the latter, as well as being one itself, and
showing the psychological impact it may have on the
audience and how this same thing affects the movie
itself. It is to show that, as different as they may seem,
film and music go and have always gone hand in hand.
 Key Concepts

• The satisfaction of curiosity

• Image
• Film, movie, or motion picture
• Drama, thriller, suspense, and horror
• Sound
• Music as an art form
 History
• The Silent Era (1890s – 1929)
• The Golden Age of Film Scoring (1930 –
1950s)
• Film music branches out (1950s)
• Pop, Jazz, and Westerns (1960s)
• Synths and John Williams (1970s)
• More songs, more synths, more fun!
(1980s)
• The Kitchen Sink (1990s-present)
 Types of music & sound in film
• Scores
Contrapuntal Scoring

• Soundtracks

• Diegetic & non-diegetic sound

• Leitmotif
 Survey
• 16 participants, ages 15 and up
• 13 questions
• One scene, three different music/sound
accompaniments
• Testing and analyzing how feelings and
perception change
• Prove the influence of the music on the
scene
 Study
• Quantifying and studying the effect (and
the strength of this effect) of music on
context free film scenes.
• Film without music, music alone, and film
with music
• 5 different films
• Stress, activity, dominance
• Exuberant, anxious, content, depressed
 Results
1. Study

2. Survey

Key Words:
• Variation/change
• Classical (already
existing)
music/composed music
• Dissonance
 Conclusions
• Influence and importance of music in film

• Acknowledging it

• Emotional changes were clear

• Genre influences the results

• More opposite, greater change

• Role of the viewer

 References
• Britannica, T. E. (24 de Noviembre de 2013). Leitmotif. Recuperado el 30 de Enero de 2021, de Encyclopedia Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/art/leitmotif
• Chrysomallis, M. (23 de August de 2018). Leitmotif and Film Music. Recuperado el 8 de February de 2021, de primephonic:
https://blog.primephonic.com/leitmotif-and-film-music
• Currin, G. (19 de Julio de 2020). Why are humans so curious? Recuperado el 20 de Noviembre de 2020, de LiveScience : https://www.livescience.com/why-are-
humans-curious.html
• Dictionary, C. (s.f.). Significado de film en ingles . Recuperado el 20 de 11 de 2020, de Cambridge Dictionary:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/es-LA/dictionary/english/film
• Dictionary, C. (s.f.). Significado de image en inglés. Recuperado el 20 de 10 de 2020, de Cambridge Dictionnary:
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/es-LA/dictionary/english/image
• Elfman, D. (13 de Noviembre de 2020). Soundtrack vs. Score: Learn About the Two Types of Film Music. Recuperado el 28 de Enero de 2021, de MasterClass:
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/soundtrack-vs-score#what-is-a-film-score
• Epperson, G. (24 de Diciembre de 2020). Music. Recuperado el 28 de Enero de 2021, de Britannica: https://www.britannica.com/art/music
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%20depression.
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• Pachon, A. (1993). LA MUSICA EN EL CINE BELICO: EL SONIDO DE LAA GUERRA . Recuperado el 30 de 10 de 2020, de FILMHISTORIA ONLINE:
https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/filmhistoria/article/view/12179/14935
• Paris, O. (22 de Enero de 2018). Know the Score: A Brief History of Film Music. Recuperado el Enero de 30 de 2021, de Film Independent :
https://www.filmindependent.org/blog/know-score-brief-history-film-music/
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23 de Febrero de 2021, de ResearchGate: file:///C:/Users/maria/Downloads/Quantitative_and_visual_analysis_of_the_impact_of_.pdf
• Pavlović, I., & Marković, S. (January de 2011). The effect of music background. Recuperado el 23 de February de 2021, de ResearchGate :
file:///C:/Users/maria/Downloads/PavlovicMarkovic2011.pdf
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motion-picture
• Thom, R. (s.f.). Diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. Recuperado el 31 de Enero de 2021, de FilmSound.org: https://filmsound.org/terminology/diegetic.htm
• VIGO, A. A., & DE LA FLOR, M. (2014). INFLUENCIA DE LA BANDA SONORA EN LA EVALUACIÓN DE PERSONAJES. Recuperado el 30 de 10 de 2020, de
TESIS PUCP: http://tesis.pucp.edu.pe/repositorio/bitstream/handle/20.500.12404/5396/VIGO_DAVILA_ALEJANDRA_BANDA_SONORA.pdf?
sequence=1&isAllowed=y
Thank you for your attention

… and don’t forget to not only watch, but

also listen!