The Use of Music in Film

Music is a crucial element to film since its birth, in the days of silent film, music has played an intricate part in representing the mood of a scene as well as the mood of the character's. Many thriller openings which I have analysed when researching the codes and conventions of the thriller genre use tense orchestral music such as Se7en and Black Swan. Music in thrillers often indicate to the audience that something terrible is going to happen to the protagonist and can also represent the end of a tense moment, showing the start to a lighter part of a film. However because of the limited amount of time I have for the project and the lack of resources to do this, I feel I would be better using an existing song to add to the tense atmosphere of my thriller opening. Through using an existing song, I also have the opportunity to show the audience that the film is set in the 1980's. At first I thought it might be a good idea to use an iconic song from the eighties by artists such as Michael Jackson or Prince. I soon realised that this is also an opportunity to the dark personality of the antagonist and still make the audience feel uncomfortable without using orchestral music. This lead to me finally choosing Tame by Pixies, which was released towards the end of the 1980's in 1989.

I plan for the audience to initially hear the intro of the song through the headphones of the killer as he walks through the corridor. As he reaches the door and kicks it down, the music will then intensify and become diegetic as the song goes into the heavy chorus. The fierce chorus will highlight the brutality of the whole scene and make the audience feel like they are in the killer's position as it will be supported by a shot from the killer's eyes of his victim. Using a rock song carries many sinister connotations and makes the audience see the killer as his evil person who thinks he is a rock star. I thought of this after reading about the 1980's serial killer Richard Ramirez who used to listen to ACDC's 'Highway to Hell' in his car before taking another victim, that part of the book stood out to me as it showed that Ramirez thought what he was doing made him a rock star, as if he were unbeatable.

The quiet opening of the song will create a level of suspense as the audience wonder where the killer is going and why the music is so quiet. Tame includes elements of aggression which will support the brutality of the murder of this innocent blonde woman who appears to have done nothing wrong. Even lyrics within the song such as 'hips like Cinderella' and 'talkin' sweet about nothing' may be seen as a link to the appearance of the blonde victim as she will be presented as quite ditsy as she fails to deal with the dangerous situation. As the song draws to a close, there is the sound of the singer panting, this may be seen as a break for the audience after the distressing murder they have just witnessed; it may also be seen as the killer's creep breathing and a sign of sexual desires being fulfilled, supported by the stroking of the knife in a previous shot.