The Film Score: Diegetic or Non-Diegetic?
Music has been present in movies nearly since the introduction of the cinema. Since early film cameras were unable to capture sound, the logical solution to capture the ear’s attention during showing was to play music along with the image. This gave birth to the notion of non-diagetic music, that is music although is present, does not have a visible source on the screen. The use of non-diegetic music was so aesthetically pleasing that it’s practice did not end with the induction of “talkies”. ... However, as non-degetic music became more integral to films, it began to take on a larger and larger roll. Since its inception, the music has garnished functions other than simply fitting the pace or atmosphere of the film. These multitudes of functions make it necessary to reconsider the term “non-diegetic”. As the music became increasingly involved with the on-screen image, it is becoming harder to consider it “outside of the film world”. This paper is an attempt to showcase some of the functions that non-diegetic music performs that make it a much as a part of the film world as the components of the shots it accompanies.
Early in cinematic history, it was believed that non-diagetic music was so far removed from the film world that there could not be a well-balanced relationship between the two. Either the sound illustrated the image or the image illustrated the music. ... The film contained almost no dialogue and made better use of synchronous sound by timing music to action. ... According to film historian Carl Lehber, Walt Disney, who loved music, wanted to make a series of cartoons diametrically opposed to Steamboat Willy in that the animators the studio would begin by finding a piece of music, then animate a story within the frame work of that piece. ... If music were to dominate the scene, these stars would have to take second billing. ... Image would dominate shorts staring Mickey and his pals, allowing the star of the particular featurette to act separate from the constraints of the music. ... This series was populated by generic characters whose actions as well as the entire image would be subordinate to the music. ... According to Curtis, it is in the Merrie Melodies and Silly Symphonies shorts that the line between diegetic and non-diegetic music began to blur. In these cartoons, music sections of non-diegetic music would substitute sound effects. ... As Curtis states “It became harder to decide what is dialogue, what is music and what are effects,” (196). Curtis
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recalls one short in particular which the non-diegetic music made its way into the cartoon world. ... At one point however, the character flips on the radio and a rendition of the non-diegetic music emits from the speaker.
Curtis believes that the aforementioned points bring up the “inadequacy of the ‘diagetic/non-diegetic’ distinction that functions so centrally film sound. The feature length animated film Fantasia further illustrates Curtis’s argument.
The definitive cinematic marriement of animation and music is Walt Disney’s Fantasia. The then denounced but now praised collaboration of the studio’s top animators and classical music showcases a multitude of functions that non-diagetic music can perform. ...
At first glance, the music seems to only simply refine the mood of the piece. ... The first bars of music are simply a flurry of stringed instruments set against a small town dominated by a monolithic mountaintop.
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