Film Music Keywords

Film Music Keywords

Diegetic:

·         Sound that the characters in the film can hear such as a radio etc.

Non-diegetic:

·         Sound that the characters in the film cannot hear.

Instrumentation:

·         The way in which instruments are used in the music.

Sync-Points/Hit Points:

·         A hit point is used to highlight a certain action in the film.

·         A sync-point is music which directly mirrors the action on screen.

Leitmotifs/Themes:

·         A leitmotif is a recurring musical idea associated with a person, location or event which is repeated during the film when a character comes on screen, a location is shown or when a specific event happens. These are often overlapped.

Mickey Mousing:

·         When the action in the film is directly mirrored in the music. Often seen in cartoons and comedies.

Orchestral/Electronic:

·         Orchestral is the choice of instruments used.

Emotion/Atmosphere:

·         Created by the music heard – sometimes through underscoring. Forces the audience to feel a particular emotion and changes perceptions of some scenes/events/characters.

Score/Cue:

·         A score is the overall film music.

Underscoring:

·         Background music that the characters cannot hear (non-diegetic) which adds to the mood of the film as well as the dramatic impact of the action.