Film Music Terms and Concepts
diagetic or source music – source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film:
- voices of characters
- sounds made by objects in the story
- music represented as coming from instruments in the story space ( = source music)
non-diagetic – source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action:
- narrator’s commentary
- sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect
- mood music
Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from the a source outside story space.
Mickey Mousing – hitting action in time, and usually in rhythm as in cartoons
Spotting – deciding where the music goes – where it starts and stops
playing with the action on the picture– the music supports the same mood or theme as the picture, accompanies, enhances
(vs) playing against – the music plays a different mood, for a specific dramatic effect
underscore – or background score, the music that supports the movie. as a composer it’s probably a good idea to remember that your music should support the film – your music wouldn’t exist without it!
Leitmotif/Leitmotives – a theme or instrument associated with a specific character
A very early example of a film that has almost all of these definitions: