Film music is used as a narrative device to do many things such as foreshadowing, establishing a place or a setting, creating mood and atmosphere, and show characters motivations and emotions.(Kalinak, 2010,p.20)
If we are planning to release this short film, any licensed music will need to be cleared to stray away from copyright infringements.(Kalinak, 2010,p.22)
A leitmotif is an identifiable and reocurring musical pattern, that is expanded upon during the film, this can be the films’ theme or a characters theme. For example you could expand upon it by making it the theme sound darker or lighter as the film progresses to represent a characters growth.(Kalinak, 2010, p.26)
Straying away from those conventions could create some dramatic effect. Even if aren’t consciously aware of these conventions, they will have associated it as film is a popular medium and music usually backs up the film. (Kalinak, 2010, p.27-28)
There are many musical conventions, such as orchestral music or synth music. being common in a film score. Heavy strings playing none diatonic for horror films and high strings for creating heroic adn uplifting sounds.
As Kalinak (2010, p.28) stated In horror scores the conventions they use are: the absence of melody, unpredictable rhyhtms, strident and dissonant harmonies, violins at the very top and basses at the very bottom of their ranges played with techniques that inhibit lyricism.
This is my inspiration for the Cafe track I am going to make. I will focus on the first song. The key elements of this track are that it is jazz, this means that the track is swung, especially the drums. The track is quite relaxed, you get this feeling by the tempo being slow ,this song is about 68 bpm, and the swing feeling it has The instrumentation of this track is: piano, drums and a double bass. The piano is the main focus with the double bass having a simple rhythm, and the drums are just quietly in the background. The instrumentation of jazz includes these instruments, but adds woodwind instruments such as the clarinet and saxophone, brass instruments such as the trombone and trumpet, percussion and an electric guitar.(dawkes,2019)
For my track I will go with more of a stripped back version, piano, drums, bass and another lead instrument.
For my orchestral piece I used “Gabriel’s Oboe” as my inspiration. Which starts at 2:59 in the video and ends at 5:29. This track is mainly strings and has a very complicated melody. Orchestral music usually involves a string section, which can include violin, viola, cello and double bass, a woodwind section that involves flute, oboe, bassoon, clarinet and many more, a brass section that involves horns, trumpet, trombone, tuba and more, percussion such as a timpani or others and a harp and a keyboard.
In my track I will make the strings the main focus, and add other instruments such as a bass and either a keyboard or an organ.
Relaxing Jazz Piano. “4K Cozy Coffee Shop with Smooth Piano Jazz Music for Relaxing, Studying and Working.” Youtu.be, 17 Jan. 2022, youtu.be/MYPVQccHhAQ?si=Izke73RV7KsJt7LI. Accessed 9 May 2025.
Kalinak, Kathryn Marie. Film Music: A Very Short Introduction. 1st ed., Oxford, Oxford University Press, 27 May 2010, p. Page 19-29.
Philharmonia. “Instruments.” Philharmonia, 2025, philharmonia.co.uk/resources/instruments/. Accessed 9 May 2025.
HALIDONMUSIC. “Classical and Orchestral Film Music.” Youtu.be, 13 May 2022, youtu.be/G9IQSJz__tI?si=voQEhoelYg6aB4m2. Accessed 9 May 2025.