Music In Film

What is Music?

I figured a good way to start would be to talk about what music is, before going in to how to use it in film. Many authorities have tried to define music in the past but it's proven to be a lot more difficult than anticipated, and I don't plan on trying to say my definition is correct, I'm just going to do my research and do my best to explain it briefly. Most early professionals defined music as organized sound, but if you look in natural or even industrial places, you can always find organized there. Technically, even speech (which is different from singing) is considered an organized sound. Another roadblock in defining music is the fact there there are several languages that don't have a word for music, this problem is most common in Native American and West African languages. On top of that, according to musicologist Jean-Jacques Nattiez, music and just plain noise are always going to be culturally defined, and it is likely impossible for there to be an intercultural definition for music. Going into the Wikipedia page, I'd like to discuss the 4 umbrella definitions they gave about music.

First they spoke about the organized sound definition, which I already briefly touched on, which was essentially given so music had a broad scope, which is true to music, but musicians decided to dial it back since they believed it gave the definition too broad a scope. They also added a sentence from a guy named Levi R. Bryant who defined music not as a language but a market-based problem solving method, similar to mathematics.

Second they talk about definitions based on music universals, or at least reference it. The universals are pitch, timbre, loudness, duration, spatial location, and texture. Definitions based on this concept would probably work, if different cultures didn't interpret sounds and the makeup of music different from English.
Thirdly there's the general socially accepted definition, according to Webster's dictionary "The science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity." 
Finally they talk about a definition based on subjective experience, or one that focuses on the experience of music. According to Italian composer Luciano Berio, "Music is everything that one listens to with the intention of listening to music."
Personally, the definition I agree with is the fourth one. Music can be anything to anyone, and just about everything on the planet can be used as a musical instrument. I think this free flow definition can help explain how I plan on using music in my films.

How Is Music Used In Film?

The first site I found was called Quora, and it had a couple of artists opinions on the subject. A lady named Yvette Renshy says music is a powerful tool and is used to create mood or emotion but can also be used to completely change the meaning of the scene. You can turn a romantic scene between lovers become a suspenseful scene with a change of music from soft to hard and screeching. A scene of a man running can be accompanied by happy and triumphant music, or by foreboding, dark, and pulsating music. Two very different interpretations of what's going on can come from that. Music can also be used to make scenes more memorable, since it has been proven that music helps with memory, listening to songs you heard in a movie can often make you recall them. This happens to me a lot when I listen to songs that were featured in movies like Into The Spiderverse and Guardians of the Galaxy. Sometime there are even themes that you can remember, most notably in my mind listening to the theme for Rambo always makes me want to sit down and watch the classics again. I liked another artists, Pritam Mishras definition for music. He described it as the escort for the viewer into the film, nudging them in the direction the film is trying to go for with a scene. Music can also make a scene even more intense, especially in chase scenes and fight scenes. 
I found more info on a site called The Boar that actually quotes some directors. The article is more about the place of film music in the wide world of music but I think it still has relevant info in how you can use music in film, or just in general how and why it's used. It starts out the gate stating that scores and soundtracks have become a part of the filmmaking process and play a huge role in delivering tone and provoking emotions. The director of the original 6 Star Wars movies, George Lucas, once said "the sound and music are 50% of the entertainment in a movie," the author of the article makes a point to bring this up and I can see why. Star Wars is one of the largest cinematic franchises on the planet, and essentially the creator of it says that the music and sound of it is an essential and large part of the experience. They author goes on to talk about the works of Quentin Tarantino and Baz Luhrmann's and how their use of music add so much energy into the film. They also mention that sometimes the soundtrack can help convince you to watch the film, which I can actually see that through my own experiences. I love rewatching Into The Spiderverse and the Guardian's of the Galaxy movies not only because they are solid movies on their own, but because I love their soundtracks. I also watched The Last Witch Hunter starring Vin Diesel simply because I loved the cover of Paint It Black by Ciara, and well, I can say that I was disappointed by the movie but the use of the music got them money from me. I have a separate example that doesn't pertain to film but rather a video game, I was already interested in the series and had played the trilogy before it, but the only reason I got as hyped as I did for the 4th entry into the Gears of War series was because of Disturbed's cover of the Sound of Silence. Filmmakers also have a habit of having artists cover classic songs to match the tone of their production, which I think it smart, while likely not something I will ever implement.

Bibliography

Ali, Hanna Irene. “What Is the Purpose and Place of Film Music in the World of Music?” The Boar, 4 Mar. 2018, theboar.org/2018/03/film-music/.
“Definition of Music.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 29 Aug. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_music.
Renshy, Yvette, et al. “Why Is It Necessary to Keep Songs in Movies?” Quora, 27 Oct. 2014, www.quora.com/Why-is-it-necessary-to-keep-songs-in-movies.

Activity Log 10/07-10/11

Monday 10/7: Absent
Tuesday 10/8: What is Music? (started)
Wednesday 10/9: What is Music? (finished) How Is Music Used In Film? (started)
Thursday 10/10: How Is Music Used In Film (finished)
Friday 10/11: No School