Stewart, H. (2013, September 13). How do film-makers manipulate our emotions with music? Retrieved November 27, 2014, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/0/24083243
Summary:
The way film-makers manipulate our emotions with music is not necessarily in the lyrics or quality of the music, but instead certain frequencies or sound waves can trigger certain physiological responses. When Bette Davis was starring in Dark Victory, she feared that Max Steiner's music would outshine her acting skills. Many scientists have studied how music and sound waves effect our emotions and sound triggers the same responses as sex and drugs. Certain low frequencies can trigger fear within audiences while watching a horror or thriller movie when nothing to excited is happening on screen.
Quotes:
"A 2010 study by the University of California found that human sensitivity to non-linear alarm sounds, such as ones made by groundhogs to warn about predators, is being employed by film composers to unsettle and unnerve."
"Far from being a purely aural experience, scans suggested that the regions of the brain that light up with music are those linked to euphoric stimuli such as food, sex and drugs."
"Science writer Philip Ball, author of The Music Instinct, says soundtracks can produce the same reaction in us whether the music is good or bad."
Reflection:
I believe many of the responses that music triggers can also be triggered by other things. Science is immensely involved with how music can manipulate our feelings. In film we have our visuals being stimulated as well as our sense of sound. The psychological impacts that those two factors have on an audience can influence the way they respond. By creating a certain frequency or by using a specific string of sounds the audience is almost expected to have a certain response. Whether it's fear during a horror movie by using sharp and unpleasant sounds or compassion in a drama or comedy by using pleasant components of music. A composer or a soundtrack curator's job is to specifically put together a well-made score or soundtrack to convey the certain emotions the director wants to get out of the audience.
Summary:
The way film-makers manipulate our emotions with music is not necessarily in the lyrics or quality of the music, but instead certain frequencies or sound waves can trigger certain physiological responses. When Bette Davis was starring in Dark Victory, she feared that Max Steiner's music would outshine her acting skills. Many scientists have studied how music and sound waves effect our emotions and sound triggers the same responses as sex and drugs. Certain low frequencies can trigger fear within audiences while watching a horror or thriller movie when nothing to excited is happening on screen.
Quotes:
"A 2010 study by the University of California found that human sensitivity to non-linear alarm sounds, such as ones made by groundhogs to warn about predators, is being employed by film composers to unsettle and unnerve."
"Science writer Philip Ball, author of The Music Instinct, says soundtracks can produce the same reaction in us whether the music is good or bad."
Reflection:
I believe many of the responses that music triggers can also be triggered by other things. Science is immensely involved with how music can manipulate our feelings. In film we have our visuals being stimulated as well as our sense of sound. The psychological impacts that those two factors have on an audience can influence the way they respond. By creating a certain frequency or by using a specific string of sounds the audience is almost expected to have a certain response. Whether it's fear during a horror movie by using sharp and unpleasant sounds or compassion in a drama or comedy by using pleasant components of music. A composer or a soundtrack curator's job is to specifically put together a well-made score or soundtrack to convey the certain emotions the director wants to get out of the audience.
