Author: Declan Roberts

This 1992 documentary shows so well how music works with movies. Interviews with directors, composers, musicians, editors, sound mixers, and film scholars, as well as with Herrmann himself and his first wife, shed light on music itself and its relationship to movies, while also illuminating Herrmann’s contribution.

Briefly surveys the 1941–58 activities of Pierre Schaeffer, who created musique concrète in Paris in the late 1940s. Also outlined is his work of 1948–53 — between the beginning of his research into noises and the writing of his manifesto “Vers une musique expérimentale”, originally published in the Revue musicale 236 (1957).

When “Psycho” first played in movie theatres, the film’s horror was matched by i”He thought that it would be most effective if the audience simply heard Janet Leigh’s screams, her struggling, the sounds of the knife and then the water running,” Steven Smith says. “His collaboration with Herrmann was so close, however, that Benny knew, `Well, I have a different idea,’ and he wanted to try writing music for that. And he knew that if Hitchcock didn’t like it, they didn’t have to use it. But Benny went ahead and wrote what has become, I think, the most famous hue in the history of film music for the shower scene. And I think one of the proudest moments of his career as a film composer was when Hitchcock later told him that he, Hitchcock, was disappointed with the way the shower scene was playing; that it did need music. And Benny later said that he told Hitchcock, `Well, I did compose something. Would you like to hear it?’ And he played it for Hitchcock, and Hitch said, `Well, absolutely, we’ll use that.’ And Benny, rubbing it in, said, `But you said no music,’ to which Hitchcock replied, `Improper suggestion, my boy. Improper suggestion.'”

An important element of sound design is mixing. The audio mix is an important element in realism and it also functions to set tone and mood. The audio mix determines the relative volume and levels of every audio element in the film.

If the film is striving for realism, then a good sound mix will be absolutely necessary. No sound can be too loud or too quiet. All of the dialogue will need to be at the perfect level.

For a horror movie, the sound mix might play a part in the jump scares, or a low-pitched sound mix can contribute to the eerie tone of the film. If making an experimental film, the sound design is part of the experimental nature. In that case, there might not be a need for perfect sound mix.

The mix is usually the last element of the sound design process, but it can be just as important as all other elements.

Music plays a major role in developing the themes and tones of visual work. It shapes how we perceive visual imagery on our screens. Most films require music to convey the emotions that the director is trying to get across. However, in some cases music is not needed like with the film No Country for Old Men. Having no score helped it stand out and earn support from critics however many thought this would lead to scoreless films in the future which did not happen. In my own work i think having a score is an essential element as in horror and thriller the score generates fear in the viewer.

I will be using the film “Psycho” directed by Alfred Hitchcock and scored by Bernard Herrmann in 1960. The film is of the horror/thriller genre and explores the destruction of the American dream, internal darkness and duality. The score for the film has often been described as revolutionary as it rejected the idea to use jazz and be-bop and instead opted for orchestra which later came to define the sound of slasher films for a generation.

After Booking the recording studio to record Foley i found that patterns are essentials when performing footsteps and the best course of action is to mimic the actor’s steps, movements and expressions to fulfil the task of recreating the sound to the highest possible standard leaving the viewer to assume it was recorded by the actor.

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