Impact of music on images (film) and how it manipulates the emotive response
Recently, I attended a screening of Park Chan Wok’s 2022 film “Decision To Leave” (헤어질 결심)
Whilst watching this, I had recently been thinking about how sound effects the emotive response in film, a topic that came as a result of looking into the work of Paul Mykietyn. This led me to notice so many subtleties regarding the relationship between the sound and what was happening in the picture that I may not have noticed had I not had these thoughts in mind.
First and foremost, I noticed how the composer drew the line perfectly between the romantic elements and the thriller elements of the film. From the melodious strings and interweaving orchestral sounds (relating to romance) coming in and out throughout the film, to the sudden plucks of string instruments and rising drum beats (relating to themes of thriller), the composer truly blended the two themes wonderfully.
Below I’ve inserted a video of the soundtrack to the final scene of the film. I find that it fuses the theme of love and pain so beautifully. The melody of the strings really carry the piece for me; they begin to move through a lovely comforting melody (along with the flute sounds), but then at times subtly evolve into something oddly chilling. This kind of sound for screen work is something I hope can inspire my own composition work in the future.