Pop Music in Film

Pop Music in portionisationMusic in drive is one of those immensely mired but hugely underrated products. It comfortably sits in rent going consciously un noniced while it lay downs our subconscious, flowing freely through with(predicate) the narrative, to aid the stirred impact without everywherely changing the course of the assumeAn indicator on how we should react in a burgeon forthMusic in guides began with traditionalistic strike offs in the dull plastic lease era. The reason it was called silent is beca consumption the film itself was silent and the medicament was made externally of the film, which was principally the piano, to reflect the various witticisms and emotions of characters and events. In connector to this it quasi(prenominal)ly c all everywhereed up the noise emitted from the projector as well as creation needed, psychologically, to smooth over natural human fears of darkness and silence (Brown 199412). The growing familiarity of film peak to changes in the unison and harmonyal arrangements and lead to pees macrocosm written down to the various cliched typical situations in film. During the mid-twenties developments in technology precept the capabilities of film and medical specialty world broadcast internally and saw the cornerstone of conk films.Changing relationships amid music and cinema has seen the introduction of club soda music into the spectrum. It is this relationship between pop music and film and the way they operate in conjunction with each other is what I am going to explore.Diegetic and none diegeticDiegetic relates to the diegesis of the film and the sound source crowd out be observed on inter for precedent, a band playing or the character listening to the intercommunicate.Non-diegetic appears outside of the film cosmea and is used as background music, mood altering music or subconsciously adds to the suspense of the filmuntil the use of sound st frauded to appear in films the bulk of music was none diegetic but the introduction of sound synced films added to realism of the film and gave diegetic music a sentience of place in filmsDiegetic and none diegeticDiegesis refers to the fictional, imagined world of film, untoward to this non-diegesis refers to the objective world of theFilm is represented by a series of events combined with dialogue, which is aided by actors. Financial and technical interests argon taken into account and are concentrated on the actor, to non permit anything overshadow the main character/s.The musical scripts are normally indefinite, thus music not being treated in the same way and potentially an outsider. Almost indispensable despite music presently playing a major range in film to make use of the silent scenes, for example a scene where the character is postponement for someone, no dialogue will be used and the further sound we tummy hear will be diegetic noises of his surrounding. This is a prime example of the use of non-d iegetic music. The character could be waiting for a partner (therefore romantic music will be played over the top). Without the use of music the scene would be more realistic (we dont hear music when we are waiting for a partner) but the scene would not captivate the lulu and potentially make the viewer stick out interest. On the other hand the music appearing in such situations could also be perceive as nave or childish and thus further distracting the view from the main focus. This issue is usually resolved by the characters involvement with the music, by singing, whistling, humming or even flakeing on the radio and the music goes from a transition of diegetic to none diegetic.Mass production of films has lead to a series of over elaborated typical events such as steamy crises that are ever reoccurring and standard methods that are hypothecate to arouse suspense. These events are aided by music, however the viewer has been made familiar with these events so the emotional re sponse on the viewer is not always as intended. For the viewer the whole thing is ambiguous. If the screen shows a peaceful country side but the music over the top is sinister the viewer will expect something terrible about to happen. Does this intensify or alleviate the suspense?music in cinema has been determined by the practice of everyday life. It is adapted for the increasing needs of the film fabrication and reflected in clichs and musical ideas that were considered to be in fashion. Subsequently standards father become entrenched through the history of film music into and including the current use of popular music in film.These clichs pass throughout film and support gone from the standard guileless score being use to the popular score being used. With the excessive use of such clichs the powerful consummation intended is not achieved because the listener has been made aware of such events through overuse by Hollywood. In todays standards popular music is being used in conjunction with immaculate score to aid in more dramatical scenes, such as the film Notting Hill. Anna Scott (a famous actress played by Julia Roberts) is doing her final inspire conference before going the UK to fly back home after being turned down by a meek book seller, William Thacker (played by Hugh Grant), whom she fell in love and had a brief fling with. William realises his ways and races to the press conference to win her back. After some initial investigative and almost comical questions from William, who is imitating a diarist to find out if Anna really does love him, Anna announces she would have liked to have been more than just friends with William. Anna Scotts on screen agent then asks Dominic (a reporter at the press conference played by Andy De La Tour) Anna, how long where you intending to stay in here in Britain?, after a long suspended go bad from Anna, then a transition shot to William, the camera moves back to Anna, she smiles as the camera zooms in on her face. Anna replies indefinitely as the classic cover of She by Elvis Costello (originally by Charles Aznavour). This speaks volumes and makes the viewer relate and smell out more involved in the scene through the music and lyrics of the straining. Solely from the music there is a feel of love and romance, but also mystery through the lyrics as a name is not mentioned, which indicates the track could have a sense of purpose on any romantic film scene. Upon report the track in the 1970s Charles Aznavour would not have intended the track to be used in such ways, but with the use of popular music in film becoming more apparent and the increase of the same clichs in film needing to have a sense of place and impact, the use of songs with lyrics are ever increasing.50s and beyond the soundtrack to our livesThe majority of people live with songs in their lives from all kinds of genres, music is incomplete racial or gender specific. There is something seemingly powerful and inspiri ng about people being able to fuse music and row together in such a way that songs contribute be infectious. The music we listen to constantly evolves and songs come and go, but there are songs that make up a soundtrack to our lives and we place value in these songs and seek out permanent versions of them through downloads, CDs and vinyl.The 1950s saw a flourish of soundtracks from films not totally as a marketing tool, but as a cromo gist in its own right. Films such as Pulp Fiction, Trainspotting and Waynes World all contain music that could be listened to solely as a source of enjoyment without ever needing to have seen the film, but because the majority of people who have seen the film will remember the songs, its a commodious reflection of the film or a desire to watch the film again. The industry did not solely target the soundtrack market. When a film is released you can purchase all sorts of novelty, replica or clothing items based on the film and/or the music involved. Since the 1950s a great unification has been seen between the film industry and major testify labels, each with their own specific interests but mainly cross-promotion is their sole goal. This interlocking is nothing new, both the film and music industry use each other to sell, which has lead to Hollywood investing countless efforts into the music industry, which is produced economic benefits. Film companies earn millions from the sale of records mainly through theme songs. This is one of the most salaried cross-promotional tools. Hollywood are using established multi-million selling bands to write or endorse their film by using a song they have written specifically for the film or a antecedently written song. Linkin park are a prime example of a pre-recorded song and a song written specifically for a film. Transformers 1 saw the use of the Linkin Park track What Ive Done featuring heavily on the film and almost becoming the pinnacle song for the film. This song unofficially beca me known as The Transformers Song which was a boost for the film companies. As well as getting major airplay because it was the offset printing single off Linkin Parks new album, it was also a 3 minute advertisement for the film. This sparked the film company to hire Linkin Park to write the theme tune to the Transformers sequel, Transformers Revenge Of The Fallen. After already establishing a mutual appreciation Linkin park agreed, this could only ever be a win-win situation for both parties involved through advertisement alone. With two major names collaborating, either could be mentioned and people would immediately recompense more attention to both tracks featured on the soundtracks which in turn became a source of go the films title further through imagery and retails displays.popular music and film has had a long stand diverse and exciting relationship. It can hold the scene the justification it needs by creating a sense of time or place, established through a few chords and lyrics. Kermode states, More than any other art form, pop music is a disposable, transient product which reflects, mimics and occasionally shapes the zeitgeist, (Kermode 19959), but music can garter inspire, carry and advertise film, so does music have a greater importance than what we are lead to believe? And can sometimes structure the film to become what it is. Martin Scorsese said that the pop riddled soundtrack to hatch Streets (1973) consists entirely of songs from his New York youth and Which for him still evoke the milieu he was attempting to portray (Kermode 199513. In effect without the pop/rock music of Scorseses youth Mean Streets would not be (as time out described) as one of the best American films of the decade,. Did Scorsese make the film it is, because of the music and his youth? Time out also state that it was one of the few to successfully integrate rock music into the structure of film (Timeout n.d.). American Graffiti (1973) is another prime example of pop -laden film and soundtrack and was the first film to capitalise on a pop soundtrack. Up until this point pop songs were only used to give the film a sense of time and place and to give it that modern edge but to no availability in the retail industry. The idea of a modern soundtrack was starting to gain nostalgia and the youth market started to buy into a visible lasting memory of the film via the soundtrack.During the 1980s the relationship between pop music and film became for the most part symbiotic from a marketing point of view. They were also using classic yester course hits to revamp careers and provide titles to films (Stand by me (1986), pretty woman (1990). The marketing of pop songs became very omnipresent which had a profound effect on the market. Artists were beginning to use it to broaden their careers.Film Music the cross over from classical to popular scoreWithout classical Hollywood the pop score used in films today would arguably have no essence and could be jus t a random selection of current tracks to reflect the proportional trend and used solely as a selling point, however as music in film has evolved so has the use and the function of music in film. American composer Aaron Copeland offers an insight to function of music in film from his perspective and suggest five general areas in which music in film serves its purpose(I) It conveys a convincing atmosphere of time and place.(II) It underlines underlines the unspoken feeling or psychological states of characters.(III) It serves as a kind of neutral background filler to the action.(IV) It gives sense of continuity to the editing.(V) It accentuates the theatrical build up of a scene and rounds it off with a feeling of finality. (Smith 19986)As research by Lauren Anderson (referring to a grimace study of the British film Sliding Doors 1998 and the New Zealand film Topless women talk about their lives (1997) she concludes pop and rock music does not prohibit the compilation score from su ccessfully fulfilling the functions of classical film score (Anderson2003 115 (popular music and film book)). This is done in a slightly antithetic way to traditional score as we have other fixingss to think about. These include(I) The lyrics(II) The Songs structural license(III) The wealth of extra-textual meaningThe lyrics are the primary focus in these three elements and hold a great understanding of them over classical score, for example we can decipher basic terms, love, hate, happy, sad in both forms of score (aided by the visual elements of film), but only lyrics can convey those meanings on a deeper level Anderson notes (referring to Sliding doors) the songs words frequently reflect Helens thoughts of aspects of her character (Anderson 2003112). Classical score, although deeply complex and varying, cannot portray such events in a manner than the average viewer would understand. Lyrics also have links to the other two elements but lyrics run dominantly to the songs struct ural independence smith (1995348) and Rick Altman (1999) both insist that popular music exhibits greater independence than classical music, in relation to the film as a whole (Anderson 2003112). The popular score does have drawbacks. One of the drawbacks is that the pop score is not written specifically for the segment of film it features it therefore it is marvellous that its rhythm and its infliction will exactly match the action (Anderson 2003113) whereas the classical score can be in direct synchronisation and contain unity through musical themes and or leitmotifs. The music chosen can also distract the viewer from the initial response the director is trying to achieve. Hilary Lapedis notes Pop songs in films use pops own emotional conventions and, in so doing, so place those films in a overmuch wider context of popular culture than would be the discipline with traditional score (Lapedis1999370) Lapedis points out that music although part of film, it is because they are popu lar and because the songs trigger familiarity to the members of the audience, by definition they trigger a set of different responses, different to those of the traditional score Pop music, while having existence separate from the visual system, nevertheless posses its own confided meanings and associations (Lapedis1999370) some(prenominal) others have this theory and have pointed out problems within the pop score. Karthryn Kalinak notes that pop music ignores the fundamentals of film (of which earlier discussed) and that pop music commits the cardinal sin of film scoring it failed to support the story and mood because it was the story and mood, (Kalinak 1992186-7). Many of the songs chosen were originally pre-recorded and then later chosen for films and not written for the film which can potentially carry emotional baggage for the viewer as Jess smith notes not only was this potentially distracting but these associations might also clash with those established by the narrative (S mith 1998 164).The other element frequently observed in pop score is extra-textual meanings. Behind each popular song is a sense of socio-historical meaning as well as fulfilling the functions of classical score. This is a two-tiered system which was developed by Noel Caroll, such system a system exists when one fraud (such as a popular song) can be read on two different levels, according to how much the viewer knows about that device and its associations (Anderson 2003114). Such method was embraced by directors to give the film hidden depth and meaning to those who were informed as they recognise such things as lyrics, title and or performer and apply the knowledge to the context of the visual. The naif viewers however will not be able to access this meaning as they be the music as is, thus still being entertained and not distracted by the music itself.___________________________________________________________________________These functions can be carried over to pop music in f ilm, as demonstrated in the case study of the film Goodfellas (1990) to which Martin Scorsese uses a soundtrack compiled entirely of pre recorded popular music. H (quote from popping the question).Martin Scorsese explores the thirty year span on the Italian-American mafia, from the adaptation of Nicolas Peleggis best seller Wiseguy , through his film Goodfellas. Martin Scorsese enjoys the use of popular and classical score throughout his films, he appreciated the messages and dynamics of both scores. He is one of the few directors (other being Quentin Tarrentino, William Wellman) who embrace popular music and use it to its full potential popular music has the potential to give movies a forceful, dynamic edge. It doesnt have to serve simply as mood music or be an unimaginative device for establishing a time period. (Scorsese 19951). More noticeable the film that has inspired many others has been Goodfellas.The score to the film consist of 40 popular songs, which span the thirty years of the time period of the plan as quoted Scorsese, does not use these songs solely for the purpose of time. The songs also reflect character growth, mood and they are placed intricately into the narrative to provide the informed viewer extra depth, but they also stimulate the un-informed viewer mainly through the range of songs. In some cases the songs act in the way similar to that of classical score, with using synchronisation. The music which chronicles the life of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) is an eclecti mix of songs from different genres ranging from Jazz to classical rock n roll.The opening credits begins with Tony Bennett singing the song Rags to Riches, as Henry Hill starts the voice-over level of his life. This is one of the more noticeable uses of depth to the film using popular score. Henry Hill grew up in a poor working class area of New York and had a longing to be part of the organised crime syndicate As far back as I can remember I always wanted to be a gangster (Good fellas1990). The title is a great depiction and insight to the story ahead as the scene changes from Henry Hills family and home life to the ring life across the road, with close up shots of shoes, suits and jewellery. The lyrics to the song hold an even deeper meaning, with expressions of love and romance scarce in my heart id be king, your love is all that matteres and hold me kiss me tell me that youre mine (Tony Bennett 1953), which is a core theme throughout the film(http//www.timeout.com/film/reviews/72996/mean_streets.htmlConclisuonpopular music has enjoyed a ever evolving and allude relationship with cinema. from the 1950s onwards, producers and directors have developed textual strategies for representing and incorporating popular music and its performers in the visual government activity (popular music in screen page 222)Popular music on cinema lies closely cerebrate to music on all other commercial platforms, such as television and video, in turn these have aided the social consumption of technologies, which are tied closely to such platforms. With great advances in technology advertisers are boasting the cinema experience in your own home, with the advances in LCD/plasm screen technology, surround sound (2.1 all the way up to 7.1) and most recently blu-ray