The Use of Music as Emotion in
Film
 Cheryl Bates, D.M.A.
 Lone Star College-Tomball,
 Professor of Music
 Music Program Director

The Use of Music as Emotion in
Film
 How music contributes to emotional effect
 How general mood is supported by music
 How music affects emotional experience

“Music best enhances a film when it evokes and modulates a
 specific emotional response in the audience.” - Roger Corman
“When Your Ear Sets the Stage: Musical
Context Effects in Film Perception” by
Oliver Vitouch in Psychology of Music , vol.
29, no. 1, 2001 pg. 71-81.

Brief Historical Facts
 “Hearing is the sense that most deeply stirs our emotions.” - Aristotle
 Earliest known writing about emotional influences of film music by Hugo
Munsterberg circa 1915.
 Original use of music in film was to mask sound of the projector and keep the audience from talking but also found purpose in illustration of action.

Important Early Films
 “Le Voyage dans la Lune” (A Trip to the
Moon) 1902
 “Entr’acte” by Rene Clair with film score by Erik Satie 1924
 “The Jazz Singer” 1927

Eight Functions of Music in Film
 Masks extraneous noises of projector and audience original purpose
 Provides continuity between shots in a film

Eight Functions of Music in Film
 Directs attention to important features of the screen through structural or associationist congruence (realism).


Eight Functions of Music in Film
 Induces mood and emotional response
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= ldLPFF6tuVM

Eight Functions of Music in Film

 Communicates meaning and furthers the narrative
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgCejsy
S0t8

Eight Functions of Music in Film
 Music becomes integrated with film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
-bzWSJG93P8

Eight Functions of Music in Film
 Music can heighten the sense of reality in film and direct attention and concern.

Eight Functions of Music in Film
 Music adds to the aesthetic effect of film.

Concepts of Music as Emotion in
Film
 Fast, loud music arouses while slow, soft music calms.

Concepts of Music as Emotion in
Film
 Music establishes expectations and implications of which some are realized and some are violated.

Concepts of Music as Emotion in
Film


Music as Emotion in Film
 Musical emotion can aid in delineation of visual meaning.
 Music can control emotional response.
 Emotional meaning of music can transfer to visuals.
 Music aids sense of reality in the narrative.
 Emotion of music can change as quickly as visuals.

fin