WANT TO STUDY ANYTHING YOU WANT?

Independent Research G/T

Intern Mentor G/T

Paul Eckert, Room 302

 RESEARCH TOPIC OVERVIEW

How visual media and entertainment (movies, shows, etc.) can make more
memorable music that appeals to both general audiences as well as critics
WHY THIS TOPIC?
MY LIST OF ADVISORS
-Craig Lysy: Film Music Critic at IMFCA

-Sheldon Mirowitz: Professor at Berklee College of Music

SOURCES USED
CRITICAL ACCLAMATION

Studies show that

audiences
recognize music
better when
written by critically
acclaimed artists
CULTURE
Music is only remembered if it is already embedded into our culture or if
the movie it was a part of received critical acclamation
8 FUNCTIONS OF MUSIC IN FILM
1. Masks Extraneous Noises
2. Provides Continuity Between Shots
3. Directs Attention to Important Features on Screen
4. Induces a Certain Mood
5. Furthers Narrative in Ambiguous Situations
6. Symbolizes Past, Present, and Future Events
7. Heightens Audience Immersion into Film Setting
8. Must Break Certain Rules of Composition and Become Different from Its Predecessors
LEITMOTIF
BREAKING RULES OF COMPOSITION

Modern Film music is actually better.

Composers have access to better
recording technology, full orchestras,
pop songs, and electronic music.
Function 8 states that music has to be
discernable from sound effects in
order for audiences to actually discern
it
6 FUNCTIONS OF MUSIC ON EMOTION
1.Evokes Emotional Responses
2.Assigns Meaning to a Certain Object
3.Adds Emphasis to Expressions of Onscreen Actors
4.Contributes to the Sense of Reality
5.Creates a Changing Environment
6.Draws Interest from Audience to Film
EMOTIONAL AROUSAL
The results of this experiment provide clear
evidence for a direct link between emotions
and the rewarding aspects of music listening
by demonstrating a robust dynamic
relationship between increases in emotional
arousal and reported increases in pleasure -
Salimpoor
2009 Study where subjects were asked to pick a
song and be tested for signs of arousal
Out of the whole song, there were only brief
moments where audiences showed signs of
pleasure
EMOTIONAL VALENCE AND MEMORABILITY
listening to music (even when we listen passively) activates many
psychological functions (emotion, memory, attention, imagery and so
on) located in a distributed, overlapping brain network - Eschrich
Study in 2008 in which subjects were asked to recall musical pieces a
week after listening to them
Results show that music with the most emotional valence were the
most memorable, regardless of timbre, tempo, etc.
MUSIC MEMORABILITY AND MEDIA
Most people can only remember themes that last up to a minute

An analysis done on why classic video game music seems to be more

memorable than modern game music concludes that audiences also
tend to remember simple melodies rather than complex ones that
overlap eachother
 CONCLUSIONS...

Leitmotifs should be incorporated into the

soundtrack to aid the narrative
Scores have to be unique and discernable
Audiences will better remember a score if they
had a pleasurable film experience
Needs to be simple and short
INTERN MENTOR:

Jake Dinoto Ayush Jain

Ana Kadivar
Chick-Fil-A Johns Hopkins Applied
Dr. Lisa Ishii, Johns
management Physics Lab
Hopkins Medical
 INDEPENDENT RESEARCH
Stays in contact with advisor, but usually doesnt meet up with them
http:mrhsgtinfo.weebly.com

Jeewoo Choi Hassan Ansari Gavin Ross

irling solar enginesSmart
in phones & teen Reducing opioid
automobiles socialization & heroin
addiction
 ANY QUESTIONS?

(DOESNT HAVE TO BE ABOUT THE TOPIC, YOU

CAN ASK ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL AS WELL)
 WORKS CITED
Collins, Karen. Music as a Source of Emotion in Film. Music and Emotion. Edited by Patrik
Juslin and John Sloboda, New York, Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 249-268
http://rhythmcoglab.coursepress.yale.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2014/10/Music-as-a-Source-of-Emotion-In-Film.pdf

Connolly, Ryan. Film Riot - How to Manipulate People with Music - Score a Movie or Film!
YouTube, 15 Dec. 2010 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brStDyPNI7w

Cook-Wilson, Winston. Why You Cant Hum Any of the Tunes from John Williams Star
Wars Soundtrack for The Force Awakens, Inverse, 23 Dec. 2015
https://www.inverse.com/article/9553-why-you-can-t-hum-any-of-the-tunes-from-john-williams-star-wars-soundtrack-for
-the-force-awakens

Dyck, Brad. One Musician to Another: Mike Morasky Original Sound Version, 07 Nov. 2012
http://www.originalsoundversion.com/one-musician-to-another-mike-morasky-interview/

Eschrich, Susanne. Unforgettable film music: The role of emotion in episodic long-term
memory for music. BMC Neuroscience, Thomas F. Munte, Eckart o Altenmuller, 28 May, 2008, BioMed Central,
http://bmcneurosci.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2202-9-48.
 WORKS CITED (CONT.)
Every Frame a Painting. The Marvel Symphonic Universe, YouTube, Brian Satterwhite, Taylor
Ramos, Tony Zhou, 12 Sep. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vfqkvwW2fs

Fielding, Charles. College of Santa Fe Auditory Theory. Charles Fielding, Santa Fe University
of Art and Design, http://www.feilding.net/sfuad/musi3012-01/html/lectures/018_timbre_I.htm

Film.Music.Media. Composer Interview: Garry Schyman, YouTube, Garry Schyman

interviewed, Interviewed by Kaya Savas, 21 Apr. 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzlan3YJYBg

Gorbman, Claudia. Unheard Melodies: Narrative Film Music BFI Books, 1987, pp. 71-990.
Indiana University Press, http://pzacad.pitzer.edu/~mma/teaching/MS114/readings/Gorbman-1.pdf

Nerdwriter1. Lord of the Rings: How Music Elevates Story, YouTube, commentary by Evan
Puschak, 17 Feb. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7BkmF8CJpQ
 WORKS CITED (CONT.)
Now You See It. How Film Scores Play With Our Brains YouTube,1 Oct. 2015,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCpYbSz1KqE

Plantinga, Carl. Affective Trajectories and Synesthesia. Moving Viewers: American Film and
the Spectator's Experience, University of California Press, 2009, pp. 140168.

Shirts, Peter. Why is Classic Video Game Music Better? Signifying Sound and Fury, Jan 19,
2015, http://www.signifyingsoundandfury.com/2015/01/why-is-classic-video-game-music-better.html

Simon, Juliet. A Conversation with John Williams, BMI, 2 Dec. 2015, http://www.bmi.com/special/john_williams

The Relevance of Temp Tracks. Epic Sound, 2016,

http://www.epicsound.com/resources/temptracks/

Wierzbicki, James. Hearing Film: Tracking Identifications in Contemporary Hollywood Film

Music. Journal of Film Music, Anahid Kassabian, viii, 2001, pp. 460-462. New York and London: Routledge, 0415928532.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meRsFO2RzCg