Classical Research Argument Essay

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Film Science:

What Does Music Affect?

Music in film can make an audience cry or laugh, cheer for the main character or despise

the villain. Music’s impact in film goes beyond background noise or filler noise. Film music can

be borrowed music from another source, specially composed for a specific film, an

accompaniment soundtrack, or even silence. Silence in a film can be as effective as the addition

of music because the silence is punctuating the events of the film. When music is borrowed to fit

a new film the effects of the soundtrack do not diminish. Therefore, the effect that music has on

the audience is based on how the music, along with the film, create such moving scenes.

Generally, audience members and critics of film science agree that musical elements in a film

can determine the effectiveness of a film, but why. How does music effect the human brain and

what parts of the brain are affected? Experiments have been conducted to test the effectiveness

of music in film. Likewise, experiments should be conducted to test how the human brain is

changed with the addition of music. For example, with the results from the Iowa State University

experiments as a stepping stone, future experiments could focus on what parts of the brain are

affected by the musicality of a film.

Many theories have been proposed about why music has such a profound effect on

audiences. Such as, the music of a film affects a person’s psychological transportation into the

movie and therefore affects the people watching the film. At Iowa State University, this

hypothesis was explored in a series of two experiments. In the first experiment, two groups were

assigned to watch a movie in a controlled theater environment. The first group watched a

selected film with the original soundtrack accompaniment. The second group watched the same

film but with the soundtrack muted. In the second experiment, three groups were again assigned

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to watch a selected film with variations in the soundtrack. The first group watched the selected

film without any music. The second group viewed the movie with a soundtrack that followed the

main events of the storyline. However in the third group, the film was viewed with music that

was incongruent with the events of the movie.

The results from the first experiment, as expected, reported that the group who viewed

the film with the original soundtrack reported greater transportation into the film and therefore

were more susceptible to “narrative persuasion”. These results support music’s effect on an

audience but the film was meant to be viewed with the original soundtrack. From the results of

the second experiment, the hypothesis was confirmed. With the results from the second, more

deviated, experiment the audience reported greater transportation into the film only when the

film was viewed with congruent music. Therefore, the music alone does not affect the audience.

The music accompanying the film adds to the story but does not affect the audience when their

eyes and ears do not view the film with the same impression (Costabile).

The experiments above proved the effects of music but did not shown why the audiences

were so effected by the change in congruency or with the addition of music. Also, no one has

discovered what part of the brain is effected by the accompaniment of music in film. The focus

so far has been on if the music truly does affect the audience. However, studiers of film science

generally agree that the effects are present, but why. To follow the above testing, different

viewings of a film could be shown with different types of music to see how and where the music

is affecting the human brain. Conducting this second round of experiments would be more

invasive but would allow scientists a view the effects of the music from an audience members

brain activity. The experiment would be with volunteers, of course. In testing how the brain is

affected by music in film, receptors would be placed on the brain of an audience member and

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brain activity would be recorded during the viewing of the film, through differential viewings as

well. The film in the experiment could be any genre but focus would be on what different types

of music affected the brain activity the most. Differentiation in soundtrack genre and

effectiveness would be recorded.

“To comprehend fully what music does for movies, one should see a picture before and

after its scored, first in rough cut and then in final cut. Not only are dramatic effects heightened

by the addition of music, but in many instances the faces, voices, and even the personalities are

altered” (Fischoff 3). Why should the human brain be studied? Interestingly, the human brain

associates certain faces and sounds with an underlying meaning. For example, when a baby cries

mothers have an uncontrollable reaction to help the child. The human brain puts a structure to

events that are heard as well as seen. Films are not different for the human brain, though

audiences realize that the movie is not reality. The sights and sounds in a movie theatre during

the viewing of a film centralize in the brain to be understood. Music has an ability to alter

conclusions about situations with tone. In a scary movie the audience can pick up on subtle clues

in the soundtrack to tell them that something frightening is about to happen, for example. Even if

nothing bad was going to happen in the film for another hour the human brain would react to the

subtle hints and changes in tone of the soundtrack. Therefore, changing the experience of the

movie as well as the audience’s emotions and reactions to what they are seeing on screen.

Studying brain activity during the showing of a film could reveal why the soundtrack has such a

profound effect on an audience, even if the film does not present similar cues and hints.

One hypothesis is that “music adds heightened realism or supra-reality” (Fischoff 3).

Which is a filmic reality that is different from actual reality. The filmic reality consists of the

storyline and the main conflicts of the film. Thus, an alternative meaning in the storyline is

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interpreted in film because of what the accompanying soundtrack is telling the audience. The

hypothesis that music could add a sense of heightened realism asserts that music has control over

the audience, instead of the film. In turn, the human brain would be controlled by the soundtrack.

Film science is an old field of study. However, with the use of modern technology, new

understandings could be made about why music in film has such an impact on the human brain.

Using previous experiments about the effects of music in film on the audiences transportation

into the story and the degree of narrative persuasion based on the music, new experiments could

be conducted that would enlighten studiers of film science.

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Works Cited

Costabile, Kristi A., Amanda W. Terman. “Effects of Film Music on Psychological

Transportation and Narrative Persuasion.” Taylor & Francis Group, LLC (2013): pp. 316-

323. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.

Fischoff, Stuart. “The Evolution of Music in Film and Its Psychological Impact on Audiences”

(n.d.): pp. 1-5. Web.calstatela.edu. Web. 19 Nov. 2014.