In film, there are countless ways to visually establish characters.
"- Have you missed us?"
- Settings or emotions.
But we can also emphasize them sonically by using leitmotifs.
This musical technique has existed for centuries
and can help us tell a story without words,
connecting our audience to characters and ideas through simple melodies.
This is "What is Leitmotif".
Before we get to the cinematic earworms,
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Let's begin.
A Leitmotif is a short, recurring musical phrase.
They can be tied to a specific character, setting, emotion, or idea.
Leitmotif comes from the German "Leitmotiv"
which comprises "leit", meaning 'leading' or 'guiding',
and "motiv" meaning well, 'motif'.
The term was coined by the critic Friedrich Wilhelm Jähns
while describing the recurring musical patterns of composer, Carl Maria von Webber.
But the technique has become mostly associated with composer, Richard Wagner.
Wagner's magnum opus "Der Ring des Nibelungen"
utilizes many leitmotifs
in order to identify recurring characters
like this iconic theme, "The Ride of the Valkyries"
as the female warriors carry fallen warriors to Valhalla.
Film composers also adopted the idea,
injecting leitmotifs into their scores for the same reasons.
So let's take a look at some of the most effective examples of each.
Character leitmotifs have created some of the most famous movie music in history.
Great character leitmotifs are inseparable from their characters.
Perhaps the most iconic use of a character leitmotif can be found in "Jaws".
"- You're going to need a bigger boat."
- We all know it.
Two notes back and forth.
Over and over.
Ominous and simple.
Anytime we hear these notes, we know that the shark is near.
Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams
established this connection from the first scene
and use the association through the rest of the film.
"- Part of the genius of John Williams is how he
spots music and how he plays his music in a movie.
John did not want music to celebrate a red herring.
He only wanted music to signal the actual rival of the shark."
- The sharks' leitmotif is particularly crucial
because, for a large portion of the film, the shark has never seen.
So the only way we know it's approaching is through sound rather than sight.
Creating an even more terrifying effect.
"Jaws" shows us the power of the character leitmotif.
Now let's talk about how they can also represent entire worlds.
Setting leitmotifs are tied to a specific location.
With the right music cue,
we can understand the personality of a place instantly.
Peter Jackson's "Lord of The Rings Trilogy" makes heavy use of the setting leitmotif.
Composer Howard Shaw gives almost every significant location its own melodic phrase.
From the innocent and lilting tune of The Shire.
To the mysterious and magical choir of Rivendell.
Or the triumphant highland sounds of Rohan.
And the foreboding horns of Mordor.
Each leitmotif immediately encapsulates the feeling of each location
and these setting leitmotifs motifs can be used towards more abstract ends.
For example, when the hobbits are longing for home,
we hear a mournful interpretation of "The Shire" melody
evoking the location.
Even though we're not physically there.
Leitmotifs are often used in association with a specific emotion.
"- Jack, I want you to draw me like one of your French girls."
- This is especially true if a particular emotion is crucial to a character's arc.
In "Up", the emotional leitmotif is heartbreaking.
By the montages end, the audience associates, this melody
with Carl's past life and love with Ellie.
Then when the melody re-emerges throughout the film,
we are given a direct and unspoken understanding of Carl's emotional state.
Like when Carl revisits Ellie's adventure book,
bringing his emotional catharsis front and center.
Then in his final use in the film, the melody has now played delicately on piano.
"- Russell for assisting the elderly
and for performing above and beyond the call of duty,
I would like to award you the highest honor I can bestow.
The Ellie badge."
- Carl's happiness has been restored by his connection with Russell.
Through this leitmotif "Up" is able to signify Carl's emotional growth
without explicitly stating it.
Music is more intuitive and is therefore often more effective at
communicating emotion to an audience than dialogue.
We've covered the basic applications of leitmotifs.
Now let's take it one step further
and see how light motifs can be used to track
a character's evolution through multiple films.
John Williams' "Star Wars" scores are filled with leitmotifs
associated with characters, settings, and emotions.
Now let's take a look at one of his most subtle, but powerful uses of the leitmotif.
In the original films,
"The Imperial March" became the musical identity of Darth Vader.
It's a powerful piece dominated by rhythmic strings
and a melody blasted by brass instruments.
For the prequels when we meet him as young Anakin Skywalker
listen closely to Anakin's theme
and see if you can spot the leitmotif.
Here we catch just a fragment of the melody played solemnly on strings.
A musical reference that foreshadows the darkness
that lies within this still innocent boy.
"- Fear is the path to the dark side.
I sense much fear in you."
- And then as he lays dying in "Return of the Jedi",
we hear this theme bringing the leitmotif in his character, full circle.
The melody has played one last time.
Quietly and slowly.
Leitmotifs are as crucial to cinema today
as they were to operators in the 17th century.
They can highlight characters and their traits.
Settings and then modes.
And emotions and their meanings.
As Wagner once said,
leitmotifs are guides to feelings,
helping storytellers create a cohesive
and powerful narrative with sound as well as images.
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That's all for now.
Remember a good melody is worth a thousand words.