SAE Magazine 13-2

122 As you turn the volume up you can hear that between the film’s ambience and the shouts of joy by the unsuspecting crowd you can hear a distinctive and suspenseful two-note ostinato. All of a sudden you realise that you are re-watching Spielberg’s 1975 horror flick Jaws without even catching a glimpse of the horrific shark. John Williams’s memorable two-note motif com- posed for this film has become one of the most recognisable themes in film music history and has even sprung some spoofs within popular culture. Not only is the theme carrying its remembrance role outside the film’s border but its simplistic two-note motif is also a great representation of the suspenseful tone the film holds. This eventually brings us to the two major parts of the thematic tool: the overall musical representation and its role in and outside the film. Understanding the theme So how do we define this tool of musical craft? For the answer we must directly link music theme with the all known “leitmotif”. The leitmotif has been popularised in late romantic era by no other than famous opera composer Richard Wagner. He used this tool to clearly define characters, events and moods. We can even argue that Wagner’s approach to ‘scoring’ an opera is completely related to modern film scoring. The leitmotif can then be defined as a recurrent musical phrase or idea representing a character and situation, a medium connected to the use of music themes. If we look into music repre see that themes have a p own rules in which they film’s habitat. These rules fined on two different way study their use carefully. Heard it? Hear it aga One of the main aid in sp number of appearance o These music segments a film’s plot, idea, characte the eventual outcome – th Take for example 2002 sc James Newton Howard u motif recurring throughou scenes. He slowly builds up the barely noticeable harp l orchestral blast in the la Mel Gibson’s character an Speaking of aliens, John similar method for his wor Extra Terrestrial where he Production & Know How // Film Music And The Importance of Themes Michael Giacchino’s minimalistic

SAE Magazine 13-2

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