Wendy Jordan
The functions of film music have always included the enhancement of the narrative and the satisfaction of audience expectations. These have been achieved by the evocation of emotion, memory and experience. However, some directors have used music in more ironic and provocative ways, and in the last decade, this new artistic freedom has been fostered by the development of the hybrid score, in which both specially-composed and pre-existing classical and popular music have been successfully deployed. Today, directors and composers can select from an increasingly eclectic palette of musical elements, affording greater opportunities for them to realise creative objectives, and to satisfy or confound genre expectations.
In the academy, however, film studies scholars have mostly focused on narrative, representation, ideologies, and the technical aspects of film. The analysis of film music, although not totally neglected, has lacked the rigour, precision and detail needed for music to acquire an equal status in the film-making process, and its rightful place in the creation of meaning. While a number of perceptive writers promote the study of the music score in film, and have even devised new terms and theories to describe conventional music effects, musical detail remains scant. It is my view that without a close musical analysis of film scores we cannot appreciate the finer nuances of contemporary film, and to further this understanding, the contribution of the musicologist in film studies has become crucial.
As a classically-trained musician, with a love of popular music, I am particularly interested in the role of the musicologist, and especially those rare practitioners working within film studies, who are ideally placed to examine the music itself and its relationship with other filmic elements. My central question, 'What are the functions of contemporary Hollywood film music?', has never been fully addressed in film studies, and certainly never from a musicological standpoint. In addition to the ways in which music enhances narrative, representation and ideology, the aesthetic, emotive and commercial functions of film music need to be considered. In recent films, such as those by Quentin Tarantino and Baz Luhrmann, the music text is often foregrounded at the expense of other filmic elements; and both narrative and editing are frequently determined by the choice of music. The functions of music in contemporary film continue to change, and film scholars need to know how and why.
Publications
Music Forms and Styles (Published W&R Chambers, 1987, reprinted 1988, 1991)
The Language of Music (Published W&R Chambers, 1987, reprinted 1988)
Musical Instruments of the World (Published Times Federal, 1994)
Essential Guide to Music (co-author, Published Hodder & Stoughton, 1998)