"Competence is based on decipherable codes learned through experience. As with language and visual image, we learn through exposure what a given tempo, series of notes, key, time signature, rhythm, volume and orchestration are meant to signify" (Kassabian, 2001, p.23).

Codes created through these elements often have certain meanings that contribute to the scene which they are used with. However consideration needs to be given when using these to make sure that they are appropriate for the scene and decipherable by the intended audience. As Kassabian states, these codes are learned through experience. A listener without the required experience is unlikely to receive the message intended through the music.

"While the fallen woman gets dotted rhythms, increased chromaticism, and saxes, often in jazz or blues style, the virtuous wife's violins and flutes sweep upward melodically in even rhythms and lush but simple harmonic language". (Kalinak, cited in Kassabian, 2001, p. 18).

Although this quote refers to Hollywood's notions of women in the forties and fifties, it is important to bear this in mind as these are particular characteristics that may still be held with audiences today. It is useful for the Romeo and Juliet scene because Juliet is a young, virtuous girl and the music should reflect this. The violins and flutes are instruments that I have chosen to use in my romance scoring for the Romeo and Juliet scene, with the addition of the harp.

"Dramatic Scoring maximally matches the visual events on the screen. The "shark" theme from Jaws, for example, intensifies as the shark gets closer to the swimmer, and climaxes at the moment of attack. Rather than being organized as a reaction to other events in the film, dramatic scoring moves concurrently with the action" (Kassabian,2001, p.45).

This particular technique of scoring is useful in action scenes to intensify the drama and draw the audience's attention to important moments within the scene. This was something that I attempted when scoring the action seen from Guardians of the Galaxy by using brass stabs to occur at the same time as some of the punches and kicks during the fight to fully emphasise their impact.

"The purest form of film music is music that supports the film, but also works on all the subjects-not just commenting on what you're seeing on screen but operating on another level that you or they are feeling emotionally" (Schelle, 1999, p.349).

This, combined with Lissa's functions of music (cited in Tagg, 2012) provokes me to think of which points in the scenes need to be scored and what will be added to the scene through the music. Sometimes it is not the most obvious hit points that need to be scored, but by alluding to other, more subtle elements, the music can enrich the scene by adding details.

"Stylistically, music in horror films tended to allow greater freedom for composers to experiment with harmony and instrumentation... in particular the genre of the horror film turned to unresolved dissonance, atonality, and timbral experimentation as part of its characteristic stylistic qualities" (Lerner, 2010, p.ix)

Using sounds and techniques that sit uncomfortably with the audience, such as stinger chords, shock effects and the unresolved dissonances can add to the unease and threat of the scenes. The music can be created in such a way that the scene becomes more intense. When scoring for the horror scene in Silence of the Lambs, I attempted to recreate some of these elements using sounds like bowed cymbals and dissonant swells as Dr Lecter moves towards Clarice.

Bibliography

• Kassabian, A. (2001). Hearing Film: Tracking Identities in Contemporary Hollywood Film Music. London: Routledge.
• Schelle, M. (1999). The Score: Interviews with Film Composers. Los Angeles: Silman-James Press.
• Tagg, P. (2010). Music's Meanings: A Modern Musicology for Non-Musos. New York: Mass Media's Scholar's Press.
• Lerner, N. (2010). Music in the Horror Film. New York: Routledge