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The Scheme of Themes

Explore the various themes, motifs, and leitmotifs used in film music, including background instrumental motifs, theme songs, and recurring tunes associated with characters. Learn about the principles and influence of renowned composer Max Steiner.

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The Scheme of Themes

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  1. The Scheme of Themes Jeffrey Riehl

  2. THEME • Any music (esp. tune/melody) heard more than once during the course of a film • Includes • Theme songs • Background instrumental motifs • Tunes associated with characters • Other recurring nondiegetic music

  3. MOTIF • “A theme whose recurrences remain specifically directed and unchanged in their diegetic associations • Motifs function as denotative tags for specific places, things, characters in the film • Their use and reference is quite specific

  4. WAGNER AND LEITMOTIF • Memory-motifs include three features • It must first be stated in conjunction with a verbal text • It functions specifically to evoke a memory • The memory it evokes belongs specifically to a character in the drama • Wagner was fundamentally concerned to root motifs in denotation • Leitmotifs function in a way that is analogous to proper names

  5. Leitmotif (continued) • Leitmotifs can: • Underscore the obvious presence of a character, place, or thing that is clearly present on screen • Indicate the presence of someone/thing that is otherwise obscure • Indicate the psychological presence of a character or idea (character A is thinking about the absent character B, so we see A while hearing B’s leitmotif)

  6. PRINCIPLES OF CLASSICAL HOLLYWOOD FILM MUSIC • Invisibility • Inaudibility • Signifier of emotion • Narrative cueing • Continuity • Unity • The rules may be broken so long as the break is in service to the other principles

  7. MAX STEINER (1888-1971) • Austrian born • 1905 moves to England • Outbreak of WWI, he emigrates to US • First film score: 1915, The Bondman • 1929 hired by RKO Studios • Basic approach: film music should be a function of the dramatic content of film and not merely wallpaper

  8. Steiner (continued) • His scores function beyond the foreground level by: • Commenting on visual images • Augmenting action • Heightening dramatic impact • Most directors felt that a Steiner score would make a good picture better, and a great film superb

  9. Steiner Quick facts • Scored 111 pictures at RKO • 25 Oscar nominations • 3 Oscar wins • Since You Went Away • Now, Voyager • The Informer

  10. Famous Steiner scores • 1933 King Kong • 1935 Anne of Green Gables • 1934 Age of Innocence • 1939 Gone with the Wind • 1942 Casablanca • 1944 Arsenic and Old Lace • 1945 Mildred Pierce • 1948 Key Largo • 1950 The Glass Menagerie • 1952 The Jazz Singer • 1955 Battle Cry (last Oscar nomination) • 1965 Those Calloways (last film score)

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