Music in Film

Music in Film

Music has been a crucial element of film since its birth. In the days of silent film, music played an integral part in representing the mood and themes of a scene, as well as conveying the emotions of a character. Many of the thriller openings I have analysed, when researching the codes and conventions of the thriller genre, make use of tense orchestral scores such as Se7en and Black Swan. Music, within film, acts as an emotional shorthand and is often used in thrillers to indicate to the audience that something terrible is about to happen to the protagonist. It can also represent the end of a tense moment, showing the start to a lighter part of a film. As interested in creating an original score as I was, due to my musical background, as a result of limited time I have to complete the project, I feel I would be better using an existing song. Through using an existing song I can still add to the tense atmosphere of my thriller opening, however I also have the opportunity to show the audience that the film is set in the 1980's. At first I thought it might be a good idea to use an iconic song from the eighties by artists such as Michael Jackson or Prince. The Beegees song “Stayin’ Alive” was also mentioned as a result of the irony it would create. It became apparent that this was also an opportunity to create the dark personality of the antagonist and further make the audience feel uncomfortable without using orchestral music. This lead to me finally choosing Tame by Pixies, which was released towards the end of the 1980's in 1989.

I plan for the audience to initially hear the intro of the song through the headphones of the killer as he walks through the corridor. As he reaches the door and kicks it down, the music would then intensify, becoming diegetic as the song progresses into the a crescendo through the heavy chorus. The fierce, almost psychedelic, styling of the chorus will highlight the brutality of the whole scene and make the audience feel like they are in the killer's position as it will be supported by a shot from the killer's eyes. Using a rock song carries many sinister connotations and makes the audience see the killer as an evil person who thinks he is a rock star. Within the group we did some research into serial killers, in order to produce some background notes for our actors, and thought of this after reading about the 1980's serial killer Richard Ramirez who used to listen to ACDC's 'Highway to Hell' in his car before taking another victim. Here it showed that Ramirez thought what he was doing made him a rock star, as if he were unbeatable, as we will similarly try to recreate within our opening.

The quiet opening of the song will create a level of suspense as the audience wonder where the killer is going and why the music is so quiet. Tame includes elements of aggression which will support the brutality of the murder of this innocent blonde woman who appears to have done nothing wrong. Even lyrics within the song such as 'hips like Cinderella' and 'talkin' sweet about nothing' may be seen as a link to the appearance of the blonde victim as she will be presented to be a stereotypical ditzy blonde, as she fails to deal with the dangerous situation. As the song draws to a close, there is the sound of the singer panting, this may be seen as a break for the audience after the distressing murder they have just witnessed; it may also be seen as the killer's heavy breathing as sign of his sexual desires being fulfilled, supported by the stroking of the knife in a previous shot.