Making Better Movies with Moviestorm Vol 3: Sound and Light
Making Better Movies with Moviestorm Vol 3: Sound and Light
Making Better Movies with Moviestorm Vol 3: Sound and Light
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USING MUSIC AS LEITMOTIF<br />
Technique<br />
Use a musical theme to denote a character, then use the music to imply the character<br />
<strong>with</strong>out showing them.<br />
Using music to convey information to the audience is a powerful technique that requires careful work from the<br />
director, cameraman, editor <strong>and</strong> composer to set up <strong>and</strong> carry off. In the early part of the film, the musical theme<br />
(or leitmotif, as it's called in classical music) is established. Then later in the film, you can use the music to<br />
foreshadow a character’s presence.<br />
You can use this in all sorts of useful ways. If a character is only half-shown, the audience will assume who it is if<br />
they hear their leitmotif. You can also suggest that an on-screen character is thinking about on off-screen character<br />
by using the leitmotif. Great examples of this are Darth Vader's theme in the Star Wars movies, or Indy's fanfare in<br />
the Indiana Jones movies. When you hear that music, you know Indy's coming to the rescue or Vader's about to do<br />
something evil.<br />
When filming a scene that uses a leitmotif, you need to allow sufficient time for the leitmotif to be played, <strong>and</strong><br />
choose camera angles that support it. During pre-production, note when you plan to use the leitmotif instead of (or<br />
to complement) a visual <strong>and</strong> structure the scene around it.<br />
Left: if you've already established this character, you know who they are as soon as they open the door. This<br />
strong image would also make a good one for establishing the leitmotif: the viewer will associate that music<br />
<strong>with</strong> both the person <strong>and</strong> the mood. Center <strong>and</strong> right: using a romantic theme when the two lovers are<br />
together sets the tone. Using the same theme later when the man is alone suggests to the audience that he is<br />
sending a message to her <strong>and</strong> is thinking about her.<br />
This is a complex exercise, which will involve shooting a short film, at least 5<br />
minutes, maybe more. You will also need a score that includes at least one<br />
strong recognizable theme. You may find it easiest to simply take this from<br />
classical music.<br />
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