Musical Themes are short melodies or fragments constructed to represent a character, place or object. And will be played whenever said character, place or object is displayed on the screen or referenced in the story. The music is written to show the characteristics and convey a certain emotion with the image that you see.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
An example of a theme is in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The Dwarves with Bilbo and Gandalf enter Rivendell for the first time. The camera stays watching the characters enter through the caves, at this time you hear the music building to a climax of screeching violins and light timpani that create a feeling of suspense. The camera then pans and zooms over a wide shot of Rivendell and as that happens you hear the theme for Rivendell.
Between 8 and 40 seconds is when you hear the theme. The dynamics of the piece vary, beginning with a piano(soft) introduction of female vocals, in a choir, singing legato notes. The notes are mainly mid-range but they use both the lower and higher ends of that range, creating a calm an peaceful environment that would not be achieved with male vocals as, in my opinion, female vocals relate more to childhood and have a clam and protective feel that comes across with a sense of motherhood, which i feel is reflected in the clam legato notes of the female choir The vocals decrease in volume and fade out to allow the actors to speak along with the rest of the music. At the same time as you hear the female choir you hear violins playing a repeating melody of piano (soft) legato notes but changing the position and the range that they are played in. This adds to the calm and peaceful atmosphere created by the music, because the repeated melody created by the violins imitates a wave style. The build up at the beginning represents the waves rising and the steady decent, is the waves slowly drifting back from the shore. Just as the camera pans, to show Rivendell, you hear staccato Harp layered in between the Vocals and the Violins, the melody is short and you only hear it once, the notes are piano(soft) to compliment the rest of the piece and although it is quiet, it is still noticeable as it is played at a slightly higher range than the other elements of the fragment. The Harp adds a more magical sense to the melody, as its short and light. Also, it's placement in the fragment and timing with the images helps to portray it's slightly magical and unreal properties as it is played just as the elegant structure of Rivendell is revealed. These elements put together create a light and 'airy' texture to the theme strengthening it's portrayal as a peaceful and magical place. As well as creating a sense of elegance and importance which is conveyed more by the choice of instruments. Voilins, Harps and Female Vocals have a connection to a period in the classical era when Chamber music was popular among the upper class, not so much for female vocals, but Violins and Harps were regularly used in that period, and so, to me, the choice of instruments really reflects upon Rivendell as being a very elegant place that is very unknown to those who have not been privileged enough to ever visit. Another example of a musical theme is the Imperial March, which I'm sure everyone knows from George Lucas' Star Wars : Return of The Jedi. The fragment is played whenever Darth Vader is referenced or the dominant character in a scene throughout all of the movies. In this video clip you see Darth Vader arriving at the Death Star whilst it's under construction.
At about 17 seconds you hear the Imperial March as you see Darth Vader exit his ship. Unlike The Hobbit, it is played in the background behind SFX for the space ship. The placement of the music at this time would suggest that he is still the dominant character of the scene but he is being shown in a milder manner, as he hasn't done much to create a devastating impact in this scene. The theme is created with a full orchestra giving it a very thick and heavy texture, however at this point it has been stripped to Timpani and a slightly heavy Brass section, as well as being played at a much slower tempo. This creates a much less intimidating effect than when the theme is played at it's full texture and tempo because it has been stripped down to very little almost as if his importance as a character has deteriorated slightly, as well as keeping to the pace of the scene. At 1.15 the Imperial March comes in at full swing the emphasise Darth Vader's final line "... the Emperor is not as forgiving as I am." The use of the full orchestra creates a thick texture in the music adding a darker effect to the scene. The Brass section plays in the lower range of notes playing full staccato notes that create the main melody. The low range of the notes played by the Brass section adds a more menacing feel to the scene. Behind the Brass section Strings play but at a much lower level, they play staccato notes, which are much more noticeable towards the end of the theme, to exaggerate some of the notes played by the Brass section. This is done by playing at a slightly higher range than the Brass section which naturally occurs between the two instruments. The combination of these two instruments create a layer effects and the different levels empahsise the different levels that Darth Vader works on, the heavyness of the texture helps to create this effect and add a sense of evil to it. The Timpani creates the backbone of the piece and yet again gives it it's pace for the rest of the music, as it is faster than before it hurries the scene on more but also adds more importance to the scene and Darth Vader as the music follows his movement as his exits. There is a slight twinkle of chimes over the top which seem slightly modified this adds an element of Sci-fi to the piece relating to the space atmosphere the scene is set in. The combination of these elements played at a higher volume, making it the dominant sound heard by the audience, adds a sense of power and in forces it with it's thick texture whilst creating layers to emphasise the power and force Darth Vader has. Previously I mentioned that the themes were also used to reference a character's work. An example of this is in George Lucas' Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. The music is not used to refence Darth Vader himself but in fact the work of other members of the 'dark side' that will benefit him in the future films. In the scene you see the preparation of the clones that are designed for the republic but have the Sith Lord (spoilers if you haven't seen it sorry).
During this clip you hear the original Imperial March however, it's mixed with new melodies overlaying it. All the sound in the clip is non-diegetic as are the two previous clips this put the audience in a spectators' perspective but inside the film rather than as a reminder that you are sat outside of the world that the film is set in. As it keeps it main structure from before it's thick texture still remains to keep it's evil feel as well as it's dynamics of the loud heavy Brass section, underlying Strings playing staccato melodies to highlight the Brass and the overlaying Sci-Fi style Timpani. As all of these elements still remain it still has the same effect of different layers however the dynamics of the layers have changed. The Brass has become slightly lighter in pitch, it still has the same texture but it's placement is less dominant in the scene to allow for more mechanical sound effects to be put over the top, this placement puts the melody as a signpost for part of the plot, the melody relates to the 'dark side' in the film, however what the audience sees is the clones that were built with the intention of being for the republic (the good side) in the film, the creates a contrast between sound and film the keeps the audience interested. In my opinion the lighter tone of the Brass section gives a false sense of hope, as quite often lighter tones relate to the heroic side in these senarios, for example Luke Skywalker's theme is much lighter and has a more heroic feel to it.
If you look at 1.38 to 2.41 you here the variation of the theme created for Luke Skywalker. The theme is created in Bb(B flat). The choice of instruments are a full Strings section, a Flute and a Harp. All of these instruments are much higher in pitch than the ones used for the imperial march. The legato notes are peaceful, however the texture of the string section is thick giving him a sense of strength. Which contrasts with the Imperial March as it is the heavy Brass section, which plays is a much lower pitch, that gives 'the dark side' their strength. Looking at the two you can see how lightening the pitch of the Imperial March in Star Wars: Attack of the clones creates a false underlying sense of good but at the same time creates suspicion as to the true intentions for the creation of the clone army. At the beginning of the clip you hear Violins play a legato melody the repeatedly ascends then starts at the lowest note again, this effect gives the impression of a climax point in the film and gives the audience the feeling that the republic play a good role that is more than likely to win. The Violins they increase in speed and shorten the notes changing them from legato to staccato, but maintaining the structured of the melody, this quickly turns the hopeful melody in to something chaotic, building to an unpredictable end. This set up allows for the mixing of the Imperial March to be a contrast that puts the ending to the chaotic climax as something that the audience may not want. The music in this piece almost acts as a glance into the future of the story line and it's darker ending of the imperial march detracts faith from the audience in the heroic characters in the film but at the same time installs a slight glimmer of hope by lightening the Brass section.
