Bernard Herrmann was a pioneering American composer best known for his film scores, including Citizen Kane, Vertigo, Psycho, and Taxi Driver. He developed the use of leitmotifs, or recurring musical themes, to represent characters, objects, or ideas throughout films. For Citizen Kane, he composed the entire score during editing to perfectly synchronize music with the film, unlike typical practices of editing music to fit. His innovative scores were influential in establishing film music as an art form.