1. How music is used in
contemporary media research
Bailey Furman
2. Source 1
This video showed me how Murry Gold, a famous TV shows music composer, makes
and composes his different soundtracks. This includes the thought process that he
has and how he produces the music, to what people thought of his music in his early
days, and some examples of his very early work. He also shows how he makes
different styles of music than other composers and usually creates however he feels
about what he's watching regardless of the time era and what type of music was
typical from that time, setting him aside from other composers
Murry Gold first started creating music in 1994. He initially started in theatre and
progressed onto television. He became most famous for composing for Doctor Who
from 2005 – 2017. He is disliked by a lot of TV directors because of his approached to
music, however, he is loved by many others due to his non typical sounding music.
BAFTA Guru. (2012). Murray Gold: Conversations With
Composers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vl33oYcNlo. (accessed
8/10/20)
3. Source 2
Film Riot. (2016). The Psychological Effect of Music in Film
. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW9g8aMdmio&ab_channel=FilmRiot.
(accessed 8/10/20)
This video shows the effects that music has on different scenes. They do this by
filming different shots of people walking or interacting and showing them both with
different music and showing how the different music makes the audience feel how
you want them to feel and has a big infulence on the scene. This video also shows the
effects of music on the brain when watching a scene. Different music is related to
different emtions. So for example when a minor scale is played, a sense of fear is felt
by the audience.
This video also shows the differences on the audience when the charactors within the
scene can hear the music too. The video talks about how when the audience knows
that the charactors can hear music too within a scene, it takes away a lot of the
emotion the music is meant to give, this is because it makes the audience feel as
though the charactors are also part of the audience therefore making them less
scared for the characters as it seems more dethatched from reality.
4. Source 3
This article shows how important it is for a game to have a soundtrack. It shows that
music in video games set the scene for the rest of the game and what the player
should expect. It also becomes iconic to that game. The music in video games can
usually be turned on and off, so the music must influence the player enough
emotionally so that they keep the music on. The different parts of the game also have
different types of music like they would do in films, this is to manipulate the player
into feeling different emotions at different parts of the game, so they know what to
expect next.
Anara Publishing. (2020). The importance of music in video games
. https://www.anarapublishing.com/the-importance-of-music-in-video-games/.
(accessed 8/10/20)
5. Source 4
Kellen Beck. (2020). How music shapes the way we play video games
. https://mashable.com/feature/music-shapes-video-games/?europe=true. (accessed
8/10/20)
This article shows how we associate different types of music to different types of
game genres. This article tells me that the players in video games associate different
types of music to different genres of games. For example, platformers such as Donkey
Kong and Mario have very distinct and upbeat tracks. This is so that the player of the
game knows what type of game that it is. However, horror games for example, have
very scary and tracks that are in the minor key to create suspense. The reason that
these genres have different types of music to them is because they all have a
stereotype of the types of music that should go with them, so therefore, the
composers compose to these stereotypes to appeal to people that like the genre
because they will hear the music and match it with a type of game that they like.
The reason that these genres have these stereotypes is because it's the music type of
music that goes well with that type of game. They make the player feel emotions that
they are supposed to feel at different moment and create suspense.
6. Source 5
This trailer starts off with music immediately, the music starts quiet and builds up as
the dialog begins. This instantly sets the scene for the rest of the trailer and for what
type of TV show it is for. The music builds up throughout the whole trailer which
makes the viewer suspenseful and eager to know what the build-up is for. The type of
music used shows the audience that the show is going to be dramatic and have a lot
of action which would make it instantly appeal to people who like action TV shows
and shows that have an emotionally story. The music used in the trailer is the theme
for the new Doctor which gives a preview on what type of Doctor the new version is
going to be like through the score of the music. The audience can tell that he is going
to be heroic, very brave and action packed. The use of the music being the
soundtrack for the new Doctor will be used frequently throughout the show, so using
it in the trailer makes people already think of Doctor who when they here this music
and what type of show it is. This may subconsciously appeal to more people that may
never of thought that they would like Doctor who, this is because the music may be a
similar style to other shows that they like so they may be more inclined to watch
Doctor who.
Thedoctorwhosite. (2010). Doctor who series 5 full trailer
. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVVVFFPt_oA. (accessed 8/10/20)
7. Source 6
This article shows how recently there has been a trend in using cover songs for film
trailers. This is to help appeal to audiences from different time periods from when
the songs were popular. The article also shows that because the songs are popular,
people are more likely going to know the song and each time they there hear it they
are going to think of the movie trailer, enclining them to watch the film. The article
also shows us that old songs are used with more intense guitar and purcussion to
make it more typical of trailer music to make it fit the trailer more and add more
suspense. The reason for this is so that their trailer can stand out to the viewer but
also not come across as cheap and the music not being fitting, the added percussion
and guitar would make the music fit the trailer more and seem like there is more
effort and budget put into the film being advertised.
Trailaurality . (2017). A look at trends in trailer music
. https://www.synchtank.com/blog/a-look-at-trends-in-trailer-music/. (accessed
8/10/20)
8. Source 7
Alexander Haynes. (2017). The importance of music in video games – developing a
story with no words. https://lwos.life/2017/12/28/importance-music-video-games/.
(accessed 16/10/20)
This article shows how music progresses the story of a video game. It shows how
different types of music push the story in different directions. This is done to pace the
game currently and evoke emotion when playing the game. The different types of
music also help the player learn what is going to happen next in the game. For
example, by repeating the same song when a player goes to fight a character will
make the player realise when that music is played that they are going to have to
concentrate on fighting something in the game. The use of tempo in games also helps
players feel a lot more worried and ready to face something challenging. Whereas a
slower tempo would make the player feel a lot more at ease.
9. Source 8
Olajide Paris. (2018). Know the score: A brief history of film
music. https://www.filmindependent.org/blog/know-score-brief-history-film-music/.
(accessed 16/10/20)
This article shows how music has evolved in films through the years. It shows that
when film making first began there was no music in films. Either pianists would
perform live on a stage to the film live as people were watching it, in 1929 the ability
to sync music with film was starting to become possible and music in film was being
used more and more. The 1930s were when film music started to become popular.
orchestral composers started composing for films and recording whole orchestras
from film music. In the 1970 synths started to be used to record sound effects and
music for more modern and futuristic film franchises due to the futuristic sounds
they can produce.
10. Source 9
NPR. (2008). The evolution of video game
music. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89565567&t=160285
7827075. (accessed 16/10/20)
This article shows how the tempo of music in video games effects the players heart
rate and how much they panic. A study shows that when people played space
invaders without the music and as the aliens got closers peoples heart rates didn't
increase as much as they did when they had the music turned on and it got faster.
The article also shows us that music all used to be 8-bit because the CD-Roms that
the games were run on at the time could not handle the music files, but as
computers and video games progressed, they could begin to use real music and video
games slowly moved away from using 8-bit music.
12. Theme Tunes
• This theme tune starts off very loud and in your face. This could be to represent all the loud sounds of war as
the film is about intergalactic wars. The score then gets a lot slower and quieter, the next part of the score is
in a higher octave and ascends the chromatic scale would represent the always ascending adventure that the
film shows and how because it's in space it's never ending, and they are always going further out. The next
bit has a fast hit snare drum. This could be likened to the snare drum that soldiers march to which would
also relate to the themes of war and soldiers that the film has. The next bit of the score is very quiet and
starts off slow and slowly builds up in tempo and volume and is also in a minor key which would represent
the fear felt when fighting a war. However, this all resolves into a loud major key which could represent
victory. The rest of the score is then a lighter version of the start of the score which could represent a much
more relaxed version of the score before, because the score at first could have been represent the
preparations for war. The entire theme tells a story and gives you an idea for what the rest of the film is
going to be like. It also sets the scene and emotion for the start of the film so that you are made to feel a
certain way a second that the film starts even though you are not attached to any characters or stories yet.
ColtsRock56. (2012). Star Wars Main Theme
(Full). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D0ZQPqeJkk. (accessed 16/10/20)
13. A part with music and no speaking in a show
• The use of music in the closing scene of this episode of black mirror helps to establish an ending to the
episode and helps the audience to feel like the ending of the story and every character in the story has been
tied together. The music slowly builds up and the drums slowly start to build up as more and more
characters from the episode get exposed for the bad things that they have done and when the drums are
playing in full all the characters are exposed to everybody else in the world for all the bad things that they've
done. The drums could make the audience relate to the headache and the loudness of all the anxiety that all
the characters are feeling from knowing that everybody now knows about their bad secrets. The lyrics in the
song that say 'keep breathing' could help the audience realise that they characters are trying their best not
to panic. When the song says 'I hope you choke' this could be telling the audience how to feel towards the
characters of the story and could help the audience to feel angry at them and make their embarrassment
and punishment feel justified.
Khatia Gremelashvili. (2017). Black Mirror - Exit Music (for a film) [Shut Up and
Dance].https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcCghXB-xT0. (accessed 16/10/20)
14. Bibliography
• BAFTA Guru. (2012). Murray Gold: Conversations With Composers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vl33oYcNlo. (accessed 8/10/20)
• Film Riot. (2016). The Psychological Effect of Music in Film
. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW9g8aMdmio&ab_channel=FilmRiot. (accessed 8/10/20)
• Anara Publishing. (2020). The importance of music in video games
. https://www.anarapublishing.com/the-importance-of-music-in-video-games/. (accessed 8/10/20)
• Kellen Beck. (2020). How music shapes the way we play video games
. https://mashable.com/feature/music-shapes-video-games/?europe=true. (accessed 8/10/20)
• Thedoctorwhosite. (2010). Doctor who series 5 full trailer
. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVVVFFPt_oA. (accessed 8/10/20)
• Trailaurality . (2017). A look at trends in trailer music
. https://www.synchtank.com/blog/a-look-at-trends-in-trailer-music/. (accessed 8/10/20)
• Alexander Haynes. (2017). The importance of music in video games – developing a story with no words. https://lwos.life/2017/12/28/importance-music-video-games/. (accessed
16/10/20)
• Olajide Paris. (2018). Know the score: A brief history of film music. https://www.filmindependent.org/blog/know-score-brief-history-film-music/. (accessed 16/10/20)
• NPR. (2008). The evolution of video game music. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89565567&t=1602857827075. (accessed 16/10/20)
