Music In Film 108 Terms

Front 1

Spotting

Back 1

Deciding exactly where each piece of music in the film begins and ends; deciding precisely on which scene or "cut," the music comes in and gods out.

Front 2

Motive/Motif

Back 2

A small melodic unit, typically only a few notes, that is treated like a theme, or that can be a small part of a larger theme.

Front 3

Melody

Back 3

Sequence of notes (one following the other) that is heard as a "unit;" which can be sung or played by one person, or a whole orchestra each playing the same notes.

Front 4

Theme

Back 4

A recognizable melody or piece of music that RECURS throughout the film, related to a character, place or event in the film

Front 5

Mood

Back 5

The description of the emotions and feelings the music evokes for the film.

Front 6

Montage

Back 6

A series of different(short) scenes edited together in a film to show the passage of time or events; montages are almost always accompanied by music.

Front 7

Pitch

Back 7

A musical note; specifically, how high or low a musical note is

Front 8

Monophonic

Back 8

A single melodic line played without any other musical material or accompaniment.

Front 9

Harmony

Back 9

The element of music that is created when 2 or more pitches(notes) are produced at the same time.

Front 10

Chord

Back 10

A chord occurs when 3 or more pitches are sounded simultaneously. Chords often accompany, or are played with a melody

Major - a happier, brighter sounding chord

Minor - a darker, sadder sounding chord

Front 11

Dissonance

Back 11

Created when pitches of the chord clash with each other.

Front 12

Tempo

Back 12

The speed at which the pulses in the music are heard

(when watching a music cue in a film, this is also referred to as the 'pace' or 'pacing').

Front 13

Orchestration

Back 13

The task of assigning and distributing various musical ideas (melody, harmony, rhythms) to the instruments; which instrument plays which specific parts(s) of the music.

Front 14

Source

Back 14

Music in a film which is emanating from a source on the screen(within the movie) sutch as a radio, club, or tv. The characters in the film can hear the source music.

Front 15

Underscore

Back 15

Music in a film that does not come from a source on the screen, but "underscore" the film. The characters in the film cannot hear the underscore.

Front 16

Cue

Back 16

Term for each individual piece of music in the film.