Silent movies are a relic of the past. Today, no movie is complete without accompanying music. The music of a movie would itself be divided into two categories:
- Film score: Score consists of original music that is written for a movie by specially skilled film composers. The main purpose of the film score is to provide background music for the events on screen. Hence, a good film score is in sync with the script of the movie and heightens the emotions of occurrences on screen
- Soundtrack: Soundtrack is a broader term and includes all the songs used as part of a film. Vocal music is a common part of soundtracks, while film scores are typically instrumental. Songs are normally sourced from other artists.
No movie and its storyline is complete without a good soundtrack and score – it is a means of emoting effectively that is integral to the screenplay. For modern composers, screenwriters and directors, it is essential to understand how to tell a story with music.
- Making your film feel timeless
The use of leitmotifs can make your story seem timeless – short, recurring, melodic phrases are effective means of signaling specific emotions, foreshadowing emotions, foreshadowing events and illustrating a character’s arc.
Through the medium of music, it is possible for a film to place itself in any time of its choosing. An example would be when a particular cultural period, such as the 1920’s jazz era, is sought to be invoked by a film. A film could place popular music from the era at the appropriate moment, and transport the viewer to the era. A skilled composer could even emulate such music in the score of the movie.
Indeed, one of the benefits of such song placement, is the use of royalty free music and copyright free music. Independent artists take advantage of songs that are placed in the public domain, i.e. available for universal use without payment of royalties. Alternatively independent artists also use songs where copyrights on the music have expired. The use of royalty free music and copyright free music is a cost-effective way for artists to add the songs of their choice to their film.
- When to use score versus song?
Another skill that a music composer needs to have when working on a film is to understand the context for placement of music. An art film is one in which ‘score’ normally dominates over ‘song’. However, in commercial genres such as comedy and thrillers, it is more standard for ‘song’ to dominate over ‘score’.
The choice between ‘score’ and ‘song’ is also affected by the events occurring on screen. Normally ‘score’ is used in quieter moments in a movie, where the attention of the viewer is meant to be drawn to the activity on screen. A ‘Song’ is typically used to transition between scenes, or as a backdrop for a scene where extended attention of the viewer is not required, such as action scenes.
A film composer must therefore be skilled in choice of music to truly master how to tell a story with music.
- How Beatoven helps you in this process?
Beatoven helps you understand the nuances involved in composition and arrangement of music for films. Beatoven also helps you identify the best royalty free music and copyright free music to place in your films.
So when you feel that you want to know how to tell a story with music, Beatoven is one tool that you would not want to leave out of your arsenal. Get started on your journey now.
