Music and Emotion in the Classic Hollywood Film

This academic article by Samuel L. Chell analyses the role of music in cinema while using the classic movie "The Best Years of Our Lives" as an example. The article explores the relationship between the viewer and what is happening on screen through the lens of music. Music represents the "character's internal being" and promotes the viewer's belief in the fiction happening on screen. While we watch movies we unconsciously see what is happening as if it were happening to us, and music helps to decrease the distance between us and the screen, making us be closer to the action. The different music throughout helps close the gap between seen and unseen, as we do not usually see inside the mind of someone, but because of music we may, for example, know how that character is feeling. The tonal properties of the music, major or minor, loud or soft, serve as audible images of the viewer's own reaction to what is unfolding on screen, and furthermore the music gives the two dimensional photographed images human depth. This depth is created through emotions, empathy, and the connection between the spectator and the action in the movie. Another interesting fact in this article is that most viewers do not remember if a film had any music at all, which shows the ability for a score to put itself in the subconscious.
This source is very useful because it backs up what is found in the movie "The Best Years of Our Lives" with scientific facts and studies. It proves, like my other source, the great influence music has on the viewer and the movie's reception. My other source said that depending on the music the viewer would interpret the scene differently, and this source proves that even more by saying that music can represent the viewer's reaction to what is on screen. So not only does different music cause a different interpretation, but also a different reaction. A lot of emotions the characters feel in the melodrama are hidden in order to have a plot twist later, but the viewer may know these emotions not because of words spoken but because of the emotional impact of the music, which closes the gap between what the viewer sees and does not see (or hear from the character).
I will use this source in order to have concrete evidence of my interpretations of how music affects the movie. I may begin to explore the unconscious effect that music has on the viewer that the viewer does not realize but which affects them and how they view the movie. This source has also intrigued me to learn more about how much we really connect with a movie and in what way and why, and how we close that gap and analyze and add together what we see and hear in order to create our own interpretation of the movie.

Resource #1

The first resource I have found that is useful is an academic journal article, "Film Music Influences How Viewers Relate to Movie Characters." The planned topic of my research is music's influence on the audience and how they see the movie. This article is about an experiment that wanted to find out if no music, thriller music, or melodramatic music would influence how the audience interpreted a character's ambiguous facial expression and how confident they were in knowing that character's state of mind. The results were not completely surprising. When the clip was accompanied by melodramatic music, the audience was more confident with knowing the character's state of mind, and described their facial expression with words like "love". Love was mentioned more often than fear when listening to melodramatic music, and in contrast "anger" was used more often than fear to describe the scene accompanied by thriller music. By being more confident in knowing the character, the audience more often than not empathizes and connects with the character, making the character more likeable. When the same clip was accompanied with thriller music, the audience was not confident with knowing the character's state of mind, causing them to not connect as often with the character and like them less. When comparing melodramatic and thriller music with no music, characters are more liked when listening to melodramatic music and least liked when listening to thriller music. Not only can music change the mood of the scene but also the mood of the audience and their feelings toward the character, and, as a whole, the movie.

This source is very reliable. Every step of the experiment is listed, along with citations of previous research that is pertinent to their study. The people who created the study made sure that there would be no bias or outliers, making each viewer view the same trigger clips and distracting clips in different order and asking the same questions in the same order. They also did a couple pre-tests to make sure that the music chosen was melodramatic and thriller, and that the scenes chosen to be "trigger" scenes had close ups on ambiguous facial expressions.

This research definitely gives my paper a scientific backbone to have proof that my topic of study is not only something based on my own and the opinions and findings of others, but that it was proven by facts. It helps me emphasize the fact that music can change an audience's feelings toward characters and change a scene completely. A scene can go from ominous to happy depending solely on the music. This source will be one which I will use as a basis for my further research into how music is used in melodrama and in turn how that is perceived by the audience.

Research Essay Topics

A key feature of the melodrama that has caught my attention is the music that accompanies the action. Music is a crucial component of the melodrama because as a result of it, the scene changes mood and makes the viewer feel the action on a different level. For example, if something bad is about to happen the music is eerie and scary, which makes the viewer feel scared as well. If the scene is a happy one or a resolution, the tone is major and the music is uplifting, making the viewer feel happy as well. Usually when we watch movies we don't pay attention to the music but if you do, you realize that the emotions you're feeling throughout the movie are influenced not only by the action on screen but also by the music. If you take out the musical accompaniment in a movie the emotions on screen and your own become bland and not as distinct. I would approach this topic by watching melodramas and analyzing what scenes and the emotions in those scenes are accompanied by. Then I would try to maybe see what the movie would be like without the music accompanying it. I could maybe accomplish this by watching a silent movie with and without music and see the difference. I would also maybe research the process in which movie directors work along side the composers who compose the movie's soundtrack or how in modern movies they choose pop songs to go along with screenplay.

Another topic that is of interest to me is how modern romantic comedies or teen movies incorporate key features that originate from the melodrama into the movie to enhance it. For example, I recently watched the movie "That Awkward Moment" where of course a guy and a girl get into a relationship. While they have their fling and before a relationship, they steal a key to Grammar C park in New York City. Then problems come up and the guy does not want to be in a relationship because he made a pact with his friends to stay single. He does not go to the girl's father's funeral as a result because that would mean they're in a relationship, and a few days later he goes to see her but she says he wasn't there for her when she needed him most, so their relationship is over, and she gives him back the key to the park. In the end he makes a big public speech where he reminds her of the first conversation they had, and tells her she knows where to find him. Of course they meet in Grammar C park. This movie utilized symbols that are typical of the melodrama, as well as coincidences and the audience knowing some information that the other characters do not. If I chose this route I would probably watch a couple movies and see how they used melodramatic techniques and how that enhanced the story line.