Over the past school year, I have had the the privilege to participate in Film and Worldview with Dr. Michale Collender. This class is at Veritas Scholars Academy online, and in this class we study movies and how they influence worldviews and cultures, what ideologies they embodied, and studying the art of film making. This last paper we wrote, we got to choose a topic to write on as long as it had to do with film.
EthnieMay Whitmore
Micheal Collender
Film and Worldview, Section A
Friday, May 2, 2025
Scoring Visual Media and the Role That it Plays in Films
Music plays an incredibly important role in how we experience movies. It evokes emotion, builds tension, enhances storytelling, and brings scenes to life. Without sound, it is difficult to fully convey the meaning of certain moments. While silent scenes can still be powerful, a film entirely without sound can feel dual—as if watching a book instead of reading it. Just as we imagine sound effects while reading, movies give those effects a voice. Film, when done well, combines moving images with music, dialogue, and sound effects to create an immersive experience. When we were creating our short films, we learned that poor sound quality makes our best work clingy to watch. Sound is essential. In fact, every scene in any form of visual media—films, shows, video games, or commercials—relies on three main components of sound: dialogue/script, sound effects, and music.Without sound and music, a movie can not live up to its full potential.
Scoring Visual Media (SVM) refers to composing music or adding sound to visual content. It’s a massive industry that does not just include movies but also commercials, video games, animations, and more. When we talk about sound in movies, we’re talking about multiple layers: what’s being said, what’s being heard, and what’s being felt. I learned a lot about this at a camp I attended at Berklee College of Music last summer. One of my professors, Professor Duncan, taught us how to dissect scenes and understand the sound’s role. He used an example from Toy Story 1 where Andy is moving, and all the toys are packed in a box—except Woody and a race car, who get left behind and chase after the others. Professor Duncan broke down the various sound elements: dialogue, sound effects, and music.
Sound effects help us feel the action. For example, in action or spy movies, every punch or explosion is carefully created and amplified. Specific people are hired to create the sounds that will become sound effects. The people who created these sounds are called Sound designers — these people are often unsung heros. Take a scene in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, for example. The sound of the raining burgers hitting the ground is created by slapping wet rags onto a wooden crate. They record or build those effects to create a realistic visual that it is, in fact, raining burgers. The goal is to affirm what we’re seeing with what we’re hearing. For instance, we would be very confused if we heard kissing sounds in an epic fight scene when guys should be getting punched. The key is audible affirmation of what we are visually seeing.
Music is the second key component when it comes to Scoring Visual Media. The emotional power of music sets the emotional tone. Happy scenes use bright, upbeat melodies; sad scenes often rely on somber strings. You wouldn’t play “Spring” by Vivaldi during a funeral scene, just as you wouldn’t use a mellow piano ballad during an epic battle. Different instruments evoke different moods: violins and cellos for sorrow or romance, drums and electric guitars for excitement or power, brass for warmth or celebration. Or even, no music at all, just raw sound. Take the example we had in class when we played the Batman theme over the fight scene in North by Northwest.
The third part of sound in SVM is dialogue. Dialogue includes how words are said; not just what’s said. This idea includes vocal tone, emotional expression, and even non-verbal sounds like laughing, grunting, or gasping. In silent films or animated scenes, these sounds are crucial to conveying emotion. For example, a deep, menacing voice wouldn’t work for an ad promoting something helpful like a prescribed medication. Instead, you’d want a warm, friendly tone encouraging you that life will be all right or even better if you just buy this product! On the flip side, a deep voice is perfect for a truck commercial where you want to sound bold and tough. Promoting something that is more masculine and cool. The key is to promote emotion through vocal sounds, not just words.
The master of all Scoring Visual media is the composer—the person responsible for scoring a film. Composers are responsible for creating not just what you hear, but the emotions that you will encounter. They are like wizards with way too much responsibility and power. Composers like John Williams or Hans Zimmer are masters at writing music that influences us throughout the entire movie. How do they do it? One word: repetition. Repeating a theme with slight variations helps create familiarity in the film music, while also creating enough variation it doesn’t feel like we are hearing the same thing over and over again. Film music is built from three core elements: melody, harmony, and rhythm. Think of it like a public bus: the engine starting is the melody, the gears and people inside are the harmony, and the wheels turning provide the rhythm. Composers wield the power and are responsible for creating one core melody, then taking different harmonies and rhythms to create a work that will keep the audience engaged while also portraying the right emotions in a scene.
In film, music falls into three major categories: Diegetic music, non-diegetic music, and hyper-diegetic music. Diegetic is music the characters can hear. A great example is from the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 when “Come a Little Bit Closer” plays on the ship’s speakers while Rocket and Yondu are escaping. The characters and the audience hear the music being played through the speakers of the ship, and the music affects the scene. Non-diegetic music is the part of the soundtrack that only the audience hears. It often plays in the background to enhance emotion, like a sad piano score during a dramatic scene. Hyper-diegetic music plays both roles—it begins as something characters can hear (like music on a radio) but then fades and becomes background music for the audience only. It blends diegetic and non-diegetic music to strengthen a scene’s impact. Hyper-diegetic is very common in action movies when we see that the specific song has meaning towards the character so it must interact with the scene before becoming one with the film audience. A good example of hyper-diegetic music is again in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 example. The song stars in-universe with the characters, then transitions into the background score, guiding us emotionally through the comedic scene. Even though we might never notice it, music plays an epic and important role when it comes to placement of sound (audience participation vs. character participation) in a film.
Sound is absolutely vital in film. It gives meaning to what we see, confirmation to emotions and sounds we didn’t know we needed. Without it, a scene would seem empty or confusing. The three components—dialogue, sound effects, and music—work together to tell stories and confirm visual and audible movements. Monologue isn’t just words; it includes all character-produced sounds . Sound effects affirm what we see, and music shapes how we feel. Everything has its time and place in film and not one part can be left out. When we use visual media thoughtfully, sound makes movies come alive. As Prof. Duncan at Berklee College of Music said, “If there is always sound, there is no room for music.” This issue means silence and timing are just as important as the music itself. Every part has its place, and when we can combine our melody, harmonies, and rhythms together, we can create something astounding.
Works Cited
- “Setting the Tone: The Crucial Role of Music in Movies.” East End Arts, 21 May 2024, eastendarts.org/music-in-movies/#:~:text=Music%20in%20movies%20is%20an,ways%20that%20visuals%20alone%20cannot.
- “Setting the Tone: The Crucial Role of Music in Movies.” East End Arts, 21 May 2024, eastendarts.org/music-in-movies/#:~:text=Music%20in%20movies%20is%20an,ways%20that%20visuals%20alone%20cannot.