Film Music Terms and Concepts

Film Music Terms and Concepts

diagetic or source music – source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film:

  • voices of characters
  • sounds made by objects in the story
  • music represented as coming from instruments in the story space ( = source music)

non-diagetic – source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action:

  • narrator’s commentary
  • sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect
  • mood music

Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from the a source outside story space.

Mickey Mousing – hitting action in time, and usually in rhythm as in cartoons

Spotting – deciding where the music goes – where it starts and stops

playing with the action on the picture– the music supports the same mood or theme as the picture, accompanies, enhances

(vs) playing against – the music plays a different mood, for a specific dramatic effect

underscore – or background score, the music that supports the movie. as a composer it’s probably a good idea to remember that your music should support the film – your music wouldn’t exist without it!

 Leitmotif/Leitmotives – a theme or instrument associated with a specific character

A very early example of a film that has almost all of these definitions: