Composing : Music in scenes or nah?! by Fran Harris

If there is no dialog, often there is music (or foley or sound effects). Sometimes I find that the action, lack of action, or body language seems to suggest emphasis and that any sound at all (other than just person/animal sound or just body language) is distracting. Some typical examples in the films I scored are below: a person being asked to make a decision or a group of people holding hands in prayer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGXKsSZylmo (15m57s to 16m14s)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6OQTukehcE (9m56 with some dialog to 10m38s)

I think it all points to intent. Sometimes complete silence leans towards the feeling or mood that your aiming for, other times just to right song ties a scene together. I think that music plays an important part in the subconscious enjoyment of a film.

Some movies are bad in my opinion, not because the story was completely horrible, but because the emotional communication of the music wasn't in-line with the visuals on the screen.

Sometimes you can play around and deliberately throw the audience off balance, but it has to be deliberate and with a payoff. A good example of that is FaceOff's Somewhere over the rainbow during a huge shootout, that was deliberate and it worked. Far too often I see films with music plastered haphazardly all over it, or missing entirely.

Music and how it is used is just as much an art form as the script, and when treated as such you can usually tell.

It definitely heightens whatever the mood of the moment is in the scene, but the best directors/editors/composers (in my opinion) are thoughtful with it. I love the impact when you have a film using a lot of different music and levels to create chaos and then it all goes SILENT. Moments like that are fantastic :)

Gr8 insights Emily J I’m scoring a single location psych thriller and there were moments when the silence was more harrowing than “scary” music.

Daniel Husbands sooooo true about emotional communication on screen and music - and when it’s baaaaaad, it’s painful.

Joel Irwin I check out your links - there was some awesome sound — not just music - but sound choices that really elevated the visuals. Thanks for sharing.

Emily J ,

You’re so right - I’m back from seeing

Dune 2 and Hans Zimmer did a great (art) work with all the scenes, and emotions going on throughout the movie.

I mentioned to someone who commented,

“ …

Yes, Hans Zimmer did a great work / orchestration and in some places great turnarounds and tucks into the next scene(s).

(Quiet scenes)

Yes - great plot too ! All the regular things one would like from Dune is wrapped within the power, religious, human relationships, and the love theme throughout.

I respectfully disagree - not on the movie (and the book). But I just saw Dune 2 and thought the music is full of effects, but nothing sticks in my mind. You could play me some parts and I could not recognize that it is out of Dune. In my understanding I want the film music to be more than illustrating the scenes and emphasize the emotions.

I do remember one scene where the music (orchestra) seemed more like music w Djembes in the background- quite nice.