If somebody had asked me what makes a film successful, I would have been not able to answer at once. Acting, directing, screenplay, soundtrack, costumes, settings, camera operating, and a great many of other factors are equally valuable; they all contribute to the general perception of the film by the auditory.
In my essay I will focus on one element of the system – music; and I will try to discover how that magnificent tool makes a film admired.
Anabel J. Cohen in his Music as a source of emotion in film states that “emotion characterizes the experience of film, as it does the experience of music.”1 One can only agree with that statement. When watching the film, one gets involved into the world created by the well-done job of the team of director, camera operators, composer, actors and many others. The director is a primary actor backstage, who decides on the contents of each second of the film. The very hard task is the choice of composer for the film, because music is the atmosphere itself; it creates the circumstances for the better understanding of what’s happening on the screen, it helps to emphasize the dramatic sides of things and events, it brings emotion in some places where the emotion created by acting is not enough.
Scott Reinhard Wiessinger in his “Film and music: an overlooked synthesis” mentions that “music and film are two art forms that, in case of film, exist together so ubiquitously that a mainstream film that does not use music is extremely rare.”2 If to look back to the history of cinematography, one can dwell on the period of mute cinema. What was the role of music back then? It was vast and very important. Music, except for brief subtitles, was practically the only one tool, which assisted actors in expressing emotions. Music was exactly what made mute films so dramatic. And it is still playing that role in nowadays’ world of cinema.
Citizen Kane, the biographical film of 1941 about Charles Foster Kane, the newspapers tycoon, is one of the greatest films of its time. The film was directed by Orson Welles, who wanted to show a man’s life that “was filled to bursting with possessions, power, associates, wealth and mystery.”4
A Single Man of 2009 directed by Tom Ford is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. That film tells us the story of one man, a homosexual who stayed alone after the loss of his boyfriend Jim and never found somebody as precious for him after.
Those two films describe how lonely a person can be in the world crowded with people. Charles Kane, who never had a soul mate, but only imagined having it embodied in Susan, and George, who had lost his soul mate Jim, - they both lack something vital. That is what is called “Rosebud” in Citizen Kane – the loss. Charles Kane was losing something all his life, from the loss of his parents till the loss of his life. George was living in the world of his memories all his life after Jim’s death; and after he had let his nenories go, his heart stopped beating, because his affection towards his happy past with Jim was exactly what had been keeping him alive.
What unites those two films, except for the similarity of the plot elements and characters, is the role of music in the films. Music is what makes them full of tension from the very beginning till the time the closing titles appear on the screen.
Music for Citizen Kane was composed by Bernard Herrmann. Time calls Herrmann’s music “tension made audible” and states that it is a “crucial factor in the psychological profiles of some of the cinema’s most warped, enigmatic and powerful creatures”, among which it names Charles Foster Kane.5 That is to say, the background music creates that thrilling air around Kane. The music emphasizes the brutality and, at the same time, the ease of the personality of that man; it shows how easily he makes decisions and how gravely he takes the consequences. The music represents the impression Kane makes on other people in the best possible way.
Music for A Single Man was written by Polish conductor Abel Korzeniowski. One should merit him for his outstanding talent. His music is masterful – it is sad and hilarious at a time, it is captivating and enigmatic. With the first sound of music you hear millions of pictures start being built in your mind. Korzeniowski’s music helps us to understand George deeply. The violin, which most often dominates, is like a symbol of the inexpressible sorrow that George feels, but is not able to express anymore. The sounds of music reach our ears; and we plunge deeply and fully in the world where nothing exists, but only George’s pain.
Cohen points out that film music “directs attention to important features of the screen through structural or associationist congruence”.1 Along with melodies, composer uses variety of sound effects. For example, in the scene after George finds out about Jim’s death and comes to Charley, we hear no music – no words George is saying, only the sound of rain. This half-mute scene is full of grief. You cannot hear George crying, but you do feel it with all your heart. The sound of counting clocks in the scene, where George is trying to commit suicide, is like the countdown.
The scene in Citizen Kane, in which Charles Kane crushes everything in the room after Susan has left him, is also not accompanied. The hero is not saying a thing, his face is distracted and emotionless, like he has lost the sense of everything at a time; and all we hear is the sound of suitcases hitting the walls. The only word “Rosebud” has left Kane’s mouth, and there is silence again. Absence of sound conveys the state of the character, the emptiness of him and his deepest feeling of loss.
Music underlines the mood of the characters and adds to the better understanding of the relationships among them. Charles and Susan’s dialogues in their mansion are always accompanied by echo, which symbolizes how far away mentally they are, even sitting near each other.
In both films the directors use the flashback to describe characters’ lives. That is a rather powerful tool; it makes us understand better the reasons of the characters’ actions and decisions.
Composers have their own methods to contribute to the beautiful and logical structure of the film. Cohen states in his work that “through the association in memory, music becomes integrated with the film and enables the symbolization of past and future events through the technique of leitmotiv. In leitmotiv, a particular music theme is continuously paired with a character or event so that eventually the theme conjures up the concept of the character or event in its absence.”1 He also mentions that “music heightens the sense of reality of or absorption in film, perhaps by augmenting arousal, and increasing attention to the entire film and inattention to everything else.” 1
“Music as an art form adds to the aesthetic effect of the film.”1 It makes the scenes finished, supports the plot and makes some moments more convincing and captivating.
Thompson, Frank and Sinclair in their Effects of underscoring on the perception of closure in filmed events describe the results of the 3 experiments they held to examine the influence of musical underscoring on judgments of closure in filmed events.
They say that “underscoring in films may be used to shape the viewer’s sense of closure in episodes. The degree of perceived closure in film episodes, in turn, may have an important impact on a viewer’s impression of the film. Perceived closure may affect the perception of continuity or discontinuity between episodes, the type of expectations that are formed, and ultimately one’s memory for a film. In nonmusical contexts, closure has been found to influence memory performance, the perception of duration, and the manner in which people draw inferences. Thus, it is likely that the manipulation of closure in underscoring has ramifications beyond the effects investigated here.”3
The sounds of violin supporting the last scene of A Single Man seem to sound even more dramatic and heart-breaking than in all the other melodies accompanying the scenes of the film. One hears George’s heart beating, and with every sound it seems to go up and up Then it just stops for a second – and you understand that it is the end.
The tension of the final scene of Citizen Kane with that mysterious word “Rosebud” on the sleigh eaten by the flames of fire, the meaning of which nobody succeed to discover, is supported by the dramatic and, in some way, dreadful music. Then the camera focuses on the signboard which says “No trespassing”, and the melody becomes top poignant before the screen fades away.
Fifty years after the film was released, Roger Ebert, the honored American film critic, calls Citizen Kane “as fresh, as provoking, as entertaining, as funny, as sad, as brilliant as it ever was.”4 One cannot imagine how A Single Man will have been appreciated by audience of the future. But for me there is no doubt, that those two films will always be merited for the masterfulness of the composers who worked on them.
“Musical sound provides a cue for the listener concerning whether the narrative is intended to be perceived as scary, romantic, funny, disturbing, familiar, comforting, other-wordly.”8 Music is what assists both actors and auditory. Music is what makes the film impressive and emotionally strong.
Choosing the best methods and elements in filmmaking is valuable for creating an ideal product of cinematography. You need talented actors, expressive music, appropriate setting, beautiful costumes, sharp-sighted cameraman and do not stop with that. With no acting there will be nobody to shot, but without music there will be nothing to.
If you ask me what makes the viewer forget about everything in the world, but the film he is watching, I will answer promptly – music does.
Bibliography
- Cohen, Annabel J. Music as a source of emotion in the film. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
- Wiessinger, Scott Reinhard. “Film and music: an overlooked synthesis.” MD diss., Montana State University, 2009.
- Thompson, William Forde, Frank A. Russo and Don Sinclair. “Effects of underscoring on the perception of closure in filmed events.” Psychomusicology 13 (1994): 9-27.
- Ebert, Roger. “”Citizen Kane” a masterpiece at 50.” Roger Ebert’s Journal. April 28, 1991.
www.rogerebert.com/rogers-journal/1991/04.
- Corliss, Richard. “Bernard Herrmann at 100: Music of the Fears.” Time. October 22, 2011.
entertainment.time.com/2011/10/22/Bernard-herrmann-at-100-music-of-the-fears.
- Citizen Kane, Blu-Ray, directed by Orson Welles (1941; Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, 2011).
- A Single Man, DVD, directed by Tom Ford (2009; NY: The Weinstein Company, 2010).
- Lipscomb, Scott D. and David E. Tolchinsky. “The role of music communication in cinema.” Lipscomb.
www.lipscomb.umn.edu/docs/Lipscomb_Tolchinsky_ICMPC8_proceedings_final.pdf.
