You are in your room, enveloped in darkness. There was light just a moment ago, but where has it gone? Is your laptop glitching? TikTok told you that this website, which may or may not be illegal, has the newest movie releases. You pray that it has not given you a virus. But wait… what is that sound? It starts as a faint pulse… Is it your heart? No, it is getting louder. You are anxious now. Suddenly, your laptop roars to life. A bright white light illuminates your face, and then, your speaker goes BOOM!
This is not just suspense; it is sound design influencing your emotions. Music in movies is not just background noise – it is an emotional Google Maps.
Light the Candles, Let Me Set the Scene
Every melody is composed to make you feel something. Need romance? Cue a soft piano melody or an upbeat pop song that plays when the show’s protagonist is running to catch a train to confess their undying love for their ex-fiancé’s older brother. Need a good cry? Play a mellow instrumental or, better yet, a powerful ballad right when an angel gives up their immortality to spend a single day with the love of their life.
Music in film determines how you feel and interpret a scene. You could be watching a person walking in an alleyway – the visual itself is neutral. But imagine if the music starts to swell dramatically. Now, the alleyway will mean something. Are they about to be attacked by a swarm of labubus? Will they fight a 104-year-old vampire who died from influenza? Are they about to see the person who broke up with them through a 27-second voice call? The music tells you to pay attention and become emotionally invested in the scene. Your anticipation of what is coming next is guided by your emotional GPS. The music acts as an usher, directing your emotions throughout the movie until the end credits start rolling.
Your Musical Nickname
Have you ever noticed that villains almost always get the coolest musical numbers? A full-on orchestra with a choir chanting something vaguely menacing in Latin? That is not something accidental; that is a leitmotif. A leitmotif is a theme throughout a movie that is associated with a character. The best way to think of it is as a personalised ringtone, but with the drama amped up a thousand times. Think “The Imperial March” when Darth Vader enters a room, or “My Heart Will Go On” when Jack and Rose are on the screen. These leitmotifs are basically emotional cheat sheets. They remind us of the who’s who and what’s what of the movie without characters having to utter a single word. This sounds like peak musical branding to me.
You Should Probably Montage It
One thing you could have picked up on by now is that movies love a good time jump: one minute, you know absolutely nothing about kung-fu, and the next you are the Dragon Warrior. But how? Glorious music, that’s how. Montages are the corsets that keep the movie snatched. They make three minutes of running look like a lifetime of hard work, all with the help of a killer soundtrack, of course. Think of “Eye of the Tiger” playing while Rocky is training for the biggest fight of his life, or the IKEA date montage in 500 Days of Summer. Montages smooth over what would otherwise be considered as awkward transitions. This cinematic shortcut makes the viewing experience so much more exciting and interesting.
The nuances of a film are felt through its sound. If you have ever teared up during a montage or cheered when the loud crescendo announces that your favourite superhero is here to save the world, then you are a victim of musical manipulation.
