Film Music Conventions

Here are a bunch of music conventions known and used in film. These aren't conventions that I am deciding to necessarily stick to but have been used in western cinema for many years and are a good starting point for knowing how to get a particular feel for a scene from your music instantly.

These will be crudely put together by the type of music/instrumentation/technique equaling the feeling, mood or intention.

Brass = Heroism
Violin = Passion
Romance = Major key, stable harmony, violins, upward melody
Terror = Lack of melody (unrecognisable), unpredictable rhythms, strident & dissonant harmonies,
              violins at the top of their range, brass at the bottom of their range
Suspense = Tremolo
Order & Stability = Close Harmonies
Disorder & Instability = Harmonies further from the tonal centre

For Female Characters:

Violin = Virtuous, girlfriends, wife's and mothers
Bluesy Saxophone = Sexually operating outside of the social norms
Jazz Music = Encoder for cultural ideologies about race and sexuality


(all of the above taken from "A Very Short Introduction to Film Music" (p.14, 27 and 28)

Bagpipes = Scotland
Oboe = Pastoral scene (shepherding, livestock caring)
Muted Brass = Sinister
Rock Music = Youth and revolt

(the above has been taken from "Film Music: a neglected art" (p.214)

There are many more conventions for music in film, culturally we associate certain instruments with certain nationalities or cultural heritage, we associate certain harmonic structures with appropriate moods and atmospheres. Following these conventions allows for an audience to instantly have an image in their heads eg. they can instantly relate to the feeling of sadness through a minor key.

For my project, there are several conventions that can be used. The minor key and harmonic closeness to the tonal centre can be used to create mood. Muted brass and high pitched violin may add to the feeling of uncertainty, it may not be terror that I am going for within my clip but there is definitely a sense of suspense and threat. Suspense will be raised through the use of tremolo. During the writing process of my project, I am trying to keep a log of how I am using instrumentation, harmony, melody etc. to affect the audience and the connotations that run alongside these techniques.