Music for Short Film

DEADLINE DAY

Organised student Vs last minute student:

We decided to have no dialogue in the short film, and thus the entire film relies on the set design and music to convey the message of each scene accurately. 

We need to create two types of scenes that juxtapose each other and evoke the change in emotion of the subject onto the viewer. This is best done through choice in music to portray the scenario of each scene. As there is no dialogue, it is down to the sounds to present the story and contrast the two situations clearly. A face with a neutral expression can be pushed into “feeling” many different things just by what kind of music is used. 

Creating an atmosphere is one of the strongest function of music in the movies. It can set the tone of the movie. Just by the way the score comes in for the first time in the movie makes it possible to know the genre and the “level of drama” of the movie. Of course exactly this really strong function can be used to create plot twists.

Music can influence very strongly whether we find a scene to be serious or laughable. This ability allows one to create parodies of characters or situations in the movie. One very simple example would be a character who pretends to be very evil and acts like this, however the music just gives him/her a quirky wannabe-evil march.

e.g:
- apprehension to more relaxed 
- stress / anxiety 
- funny 

Happy and jolly music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBHEF1nxbi0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrPEoqp4sjg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twAZWKVGxD4

Tense and stressfull music:

dramatic:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYj8ciqAPcA&list=RDQM150kn_9vYB8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRLdhFVzqt4&index=5&list=RDQM150kn_9vYB8
hero: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glzCYyPJjpM

Examples
- Now We Are Free - Gladiator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbHPTPUpQ1I
- Hanz Zimmer - Time - Inceptions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxabLA7UQ9k

The simplest examples of this are found in thriller and horror films, which employ dissonant, screeching sounds we unconsciously associate with animals in distress.

The Effect of Music in Films

Example: The Shining hallway scene with different music 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=orPTbSIrtTM

A 2010 study by the University of California found that human sensitivity to non-linear alarm sounds, such as ones made by groundhogs to warn about predators, is being employed by film composers to unsettle and unnerve. In films like Hitchcock's 1960 classic Psycho, straining strings and overblowing brass are mimicking the noise of panic in nature. For audiences who enjoy a lush romantic score, a 2011 experiment at Canada's McGill University studied the neural mechanics of why humans get goosebumps from great tunes. Far from being a purely aural experience, scans suggested that the regions of the brain that light up with music are those linked to euphoric stimuli such as food, sex and drugs. Blood flow in the brain is responding to areas associated with reward, emotion and arousal.

Extreme vibrations:

Science writer Philip Ball, author of The Music Instinct, says soundtracks can produce the same reaction in us whether the music is good or bad. "Our response to certain kinds of noise is something so profound in us that we can't switch it off," he says. "Film composers know that and use it to shortcut the logical part of our brain and get straight to the emotional centres." Some filmmakers are now using infrasound to induce fear in audiences. These extreme bass waves or vibrations have a frequency below the range of the human ear. While we may not be able to hear infrasound, it has been demonstrated to induce anxiety, extreme sorrow, heart palpitations and shivering. Naturally-occurring infrasound has been associated with areas of 'supernatural activity', as well as being produced prior to natural disasters such as storms and earthquakes. Producers of the 2002 French psychological thriller Irreversible admitted to using this technique. Audience members reported feeling disorientated and physically ill after just half an hour of infrasound, leaving before the most shocking visual sequence on screen. In the 2007 horror Paranormal Activity, audiences also reported toweringly high fear levels despite a lack of action onscreen. It is believed this was caused by the use of low frequency sound waves. "It doesn't affect everyone equally," adds Ball, "but it does seem likely that in cinemas we will see, or at least feel, more of it in the future."