CHAPTER 55
Underscoring Meaning: Williams and Music for Film
OVERVIEW
This chapter provides an introduction to music in film. Discussed here are the two main types of
film music: source music and underscoring, the second of which is exemplified in John
Williams’s Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand music’s ability to enhance the meaning and expression of film through the
techniques of source music, underscoring, and running counter to the action
2. To understand the film music of John Williams (exemplified in his music for The Empire
Strikes Back) as effectively employing orchestral resources and leitmotifs that enhance the
film’s dramatic and emotional impact
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Share with your class a series of film scenes that explore the techniques of underscoring,
source music, and running counter to the action. The textbook lists a number of well-known
examples: Williams’s score at the end of E.T. (underscoring); the music heard from Jeff
Jeffries’s (James Stewart’s character) neighbors’ apartments in Hitchcock’s Rear Window
(source music); and the baptism scene from The Godfather (running counter to the action).
Discuss with your class how each example contributes to shaping the effect and meaning of
these scenes.
2. Discuss the thematic content and structure of John Williams’s Imperial March with your
class, addressing the extent to which the music establishes not only the character of Darth
Vader but also the menacing threat of the Galactic Empire. Next, to illustrate Williams’s use
of the Imperial March theme as a leitmotif, play a number of scenes from The Empire
Strikes Back where Williams’s score employs the march theme to underscore the narrative
and/or emotions of the characters. As in the Lecture Suggestion above, discuss with your
class how each example contributes to shaping the effect and meaning of these scenes. Have
the class note the different ways in which the leitmotif functions dramatically (e.g.,
reinforcing the on-screen action, recalling an absent character or memory, and reflecting the
unspoken thoughts/emotions of a character). One notable scene, as mentioned in the
textbook (p. 313), is when the Imperial March theme is transformed in to a “gentle tune
played by the woodwinds and harp” at the death of Vader. Moreover, how does the march
function dramatically at the end of the film, when the credits roll and it is heard in its
entirety? What impression does this make on the audience as they leave the theater?
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. Consider a few of your favorite films in different genres (drama, comedy, romantic comedy,
documentary, etc.). How does the film music function in each context? Do you hear
differences in the types of film music in these various films (underscoring, source music,
running counter to the action)? If so, do you find these different types of film music to be
consistent in other films of the same genre? As you survey these other films, can you find
any examples that use types of music (underscoring, source music, running counter to the
action) unexpectedly or in ways that seem unusual?
2. Popular TV series such as Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and Girls and video games such
as the Final Fantasy series and Elder Scrolls have incorporated many features and
characteristics of traditional cinema, including the elaborate use of underscoring, source
music, and music running counter to the action. Choose a recent popular TV series or video
game. How does music function in its traditional cinematic roles? Do leitmotifs emerge? Do
the composers supply underscoring? Is source music prominent? Does the music suggest a
time or place? Do any aspects of the music diverge from the traditional roles of film, TV, or
video game music?
TEACHING CHALLENGES
Teaching the terminology of this chapter may be challenging in that underscoring and source
music don’t necessarily constitute a complete soundtrack, which can also include music
previously composed (and not originally for the film). This is a small issue, but one that can arise
in associating underscoring with composed film scores (as emphasized in the text). A notable
example is Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (1994), whose underscore is not composed but rather
is entirely made up of previously recorded pop songs.
SUPPLEMENTAL REPERTOIRE
Williams: Star Wars; Superman; E.T.
Bernard Herrmann: Psycho; Citizen Kane
SUPPLEMENTAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hickman, Roger. Reel Music: Exploring 100 Years of Film Music. New York: W. W. Norton,
2006. A basic yet informative introduction to film music. Williams is treated in a series of
sections, beginning with “The Classic Revival: 1977–1988.”
Hubbert, Julie, ed. Celluloid Symphonies: Texts and Contexts in Film Music History. Berkeley
and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2011. An excellent collection of essays and
source readings in film music since the early twentieth century. Part 5 includes a 1997
interview with John Williams.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Underscoring Meaning: Williams and Music for Film (Chapter 55)
I. Sound and Film
A. Music sets the mood
1. reflect emotions of a scene
2. “running counter to the action”: music contradicts the scene
a. The Godfather baptism scene: Bach’s organ music
b. Pulp Fiction: lighthearted rock music
3. place and time: instruments suggest a time period
a. Braveheart: bagpipes
b. Brokeback Mountain: guitar
c. Avatar: “Na’vi”
B. Underscoring and source music
1. underscoring: unseen source
2. source music: functions as part of the drama
a. Rear Window, only source music
b. Boyz ‘n the Hood, defines figures of the story
C. Tendencies observed in film composition
1. Wagnerian principles, leitmotifs
2. assimilation of popular trends
3. search for new sounds
II. John Williams: Star Wars and Beyond
A. John Williams (b. 1932)
1. award-winning composer, conductor; native of Long Island
2. education: UCLA, New York’s Juilliard School
3. television series and themes, including Gilligan’s Island; 1950s
4. conducted Boston Pops Orchestra, 1980–93
5. more than 90 film scores include: Jaws, Star Wars, Star Wars sequels, Close
Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, Indiana Jones trilogy, E.T.: The Extra-
Terrestrial, Home Alone, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, first three Harry Potter
films, War Horse, Lincoln
6. style: revival of grand symphonic film score, Wagnerian ideas, highly lyrical,
unforgettable themes, accessible neo-Romantic idiom
7. classical works: fanfares for the Olympics, President Barack Obama inaugural music
B. Star Wars multifilm score
1. musical unity
a. multiple leitmotifs, sequels and prequels
b. leitmotifs support nature of the characters
c. musical motives can transform, reflect different events
2. Imperial March
a. first appearance of Darth Vader theme
b. dark character: minor tonality, chromaticism, low-instrument timbres
c. full orchestra, brass featured
C. Listening Guide 44: Williams, Imperial March, from The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
1. form: theme and variations
2. regular quadruple meter
3. powerful brass melody recurs
4. middle section: lighter, disjunct ostinato, unpredictable French horn statements
5. closes with fortissimo pounding ostinato