by Ben Stamos
To Each Film Genre Its Music
The choice of music in individual movies is driven by the emotion that the music elicits and what the director is trying to achieve. Just think about the heebie-jeebies you felt each time that eerie tune announced the arrival to the scene of the likes of Darth Vader or Jaws. Or the frantic instrumentals in West Side Story that mimicked the hustle and bustle of Manhattan’s backstreets. Whenever the main character meets his love interest, slow strings announce the change in mood.
Since movies within a same genre share common themes, each film genre as a whole has its musical conventions and style, too. Music in horror films amplifies fear and builds up scary scenes with dissonant and unsettling single notes on a piano or violin. The orchestral scores in Western movies reflect the wide landscapes of the wild west. In action movies, the orchestral score builds up a staccato rhythm supported by heavy drums to intensify the suspense.
Nowadays, the classical orchestral film score has evolved into hybrid styles that incorporate other music genres like jazz, rock, pop, and ambient music. A growing number of orchestral film scores also use electronic music and audio sampling.
Regardless of these evolutions, music in the film industry clearly follows conventions. But filmmaking is art and conventions can always be broken for the sake of the movie. The following 4 guidelines can help you find the perfect music for your next movie or video project.
How to Choose the Right Music for Your Film
- Use royalty free music. Granted, you are on a tight budget and your first impulse tells you to scour the internet for copyright-free music. However, going the free route has a major disadvantages. First, free music often comes with hidden licensing conditions that can still make you liable for copyright infringement. Second, free music (e.g., YouTube’s Audio Library) is usually of lower quality and potentially overused by other video creators on the net. You put your heart into your project, so it deserves high-quality and original music that will contribute to its character.
- Watch, listen and match. YouTube is rife with amateur videos with pompous, epic music overpowering the static, low-key action of the scene. Understand your scene’s weight and rhythm. A fast-paced scene usually needs fast-paced music, and vice versa. Discrete action calls for discrete music, and vice versa. A scene about a happy couple engaging in a sunlit stroll in a park with spring blossoms would do well with a happy ukulele tune. Replace that music with a dark and ominous cello played in a minor key and your audience will think something terrible is about to happen to the sweet couple.
- Less is more. First off, ask yourself if and why a certain scene needs music. Sometimes silence can have a far greater effect. Remember Cast Away? No music was used at all throughout the movie until Tom Hanks escapes the island. Less volume is also more. Make sure the music levels are balanced in the mix and don’t drown out the dialogue or ambient sounds.
- Check yourself. Always review the scene with the music and ask yourself the right questions, “What do I want my audience to feel and does this particular music help me achieve that?” If you don’t feel it, don’t use it.
