This project, using the example of two classic "noir" films, demonstrates that analyses of film music may extend beyond musical concepts, as derived from functions of underscoring, etc., to include the overall conception of the film, where as well as playing a supporting role, the music becomes a constituent element of the entire conceptual mix.
Using two classic "noir" films as an example, the project derives models of emotive narration for the music. This, first, involves its narrative structuring function for the film, and, second, the use of the music as a representative of an overarching feeling that defines the film's narration. In Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity (1944), for example, Miklos Rozsa composed a score that circumscribes the emotional sphere of guilt that is central to the film noir genre. In Siodmak's The Killers (1946), the music was defined by a sense of despair. The poetological concepts and historical dynamic of both films can be tracked through to current neo- and post-noir films such as David Lynch's Blue Velvet (1986). As the outcome of the project for film music theory, it is shown that analyses of film music can extend beyond musical concepts, as derived from functions of underscoring, etc., to include the overall conception of the film, where as well as playing a supporting role, the music becomes a constituent element of the overall conceptual mix.