What is a Leitmotif - 4 Ways to Tell a Story With Film Music
What is a leitmotif in film music - 4 different ways composers like John Williams and Howard Shore use leitmotifs.
What is a Leitmotif? ►► bit.ly/3IJWhjQ
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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:49 - Leitmotif Definition and History
01:56 - Technique 1: Character
03:32 - Technique 2: Setting
05:15 - Technique 3: Emotion
07:12 - Technique 4: Evolution
09:32 - Wrap Up
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What is a leitmotif in film music? Well, if you survey the filmography of composer John Williams, you’ll find countless leitmotifs and some of the greatest film music ever. Jaws, Jurassic Park, Superman, E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind - movies that have iconic scores thanks to the use of the leitmotif. In this video, we’ll review the work of composers like Williams, Howard Shore, and Michael Giacchino who use the leitmotif in four distinct ways.
The leitmotif has its origins in opera and became most well-known in the work of Richard Wagner. Wagner built leitmotifs into his work to signify characters, locations, emotions and even ideas. In a way, the leitmotif is a shorthand for the audience, a way to directly associate music in storytelling. Naturally, film composers have embraced this same technique to enrich how stories can be told with sound just as much as images.
The first type of film music leitmotif is used to signify characters. In Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, composer John Williams relies heavily on the unforgettable shark leitmotif. In this case, the music stands in for the shark itself since we see very little of the monster until the end. And if you think a film music leitmotif needs to be complicated to work, remember that the Jaws theme is built on just two notes.
The second type of film music leitmotif is used to invoke setting. In The Lord of the Rings, composer Howard Shore imbues nearly all of the major locations of Middle Earth with it’s own musical leitmotif. From the light and lilting motif of The Shire to the foreboding horns of Mordor. In science fiction and fantasy films, these musical leitmotifs help situate the audience in unfamiliar worlds.
The third type of film music leitmotif is used to express an emotion. In Pixar’s Up, we have a rather heartbreaking use of the leitmotif. We run through Carl and Ellie’s life in an early montage with a motif that is first light and playful when they’re in love and then mournful when tragedy strikes.
The final type of film music leitmotif is used to follow the evolution of a character. Play the “Imperial March” and most people will immediately think of Darth Vader. When we first hear in the Star Wars films, this leitmotif suggests the evil power of Lord Vader. But, in The Phantom Menace, when we meet him as an innocent boy named Anakin, John Williams adds the faintest touch of the leitmotif to foreshadow his eventual transformation from the light to the dark side. And at the end of Return of the Jedi, as Vader lays dying, we hear a slow and final iteration of the leitmotif.
#FilmTheory #VideoEssay #Filmmaking
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VIDEO EDITOR: BRANDON SCULLION
♬ SONGS USED:
“Jurassic Park Theme” - John Williams
”The Murder” - Bernard Herrmann
”Avengers Theme” - Alan Silvestri
”Indiana Jones Theme - John Williams
”Mr. Moustafa” - Alexandre Desplat
”Ride of The Valkyries” - Richard Wagner
”Jaws Theme” - John Williams
”Hedwig’s Theme” - John Williams
”The Shire” - Howard Shore
”The Road Goes Ever On Pt 2” - Howard Shore
”Theoden King.The Funeral of Theoden” - Howard Shore
”Grond, The Hammer of the Underworld” - Howard Shore
”Many Meetings” - Howard Shore
”My Heart Will Go On” - Horner/Dion
”Married Life” - Michael Giacchino
”The Ellie Badge” - Michael Giacchino
”Duel of the Fates” - John Williams
”The Imperial March” - John Williams
”Anakin’s Theme” - John Williams
”The Battle of Endor III (Medley)” - John Williams
”Mission Impossible Theme” - Lalo Schifrin
”Der Ring des Nibelungen” - Richard Wagner
”Halloween Theme” - John Carpenter
”Terminator 2 Theme” - Brad Fiedel
”Exorcist Theme” Mike Oldfield
”Back to the future Theme” - Alan Silvestri
”Godzilla Theme” Bear McCreary
”Friday the 13th Theme” - Harry Manfredini
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Chapters: 00:00 - Intro 00:49 - Leitmotif Definition and History 01:56 - Technique 1: Character 03:32 - Technique 2: Setting 05:15 - Technique 3: Emotion 09:32 - Technique 4: Evolution 07:12 - Wrap Up
Reminds me that I've never seen a movie as ruined by relentlessly banging on the same notes as the otherwise superb High Noon (1952)--and, somehow, composer Dmitri Tiomkin was lauded for it.
Which font are you using on your video?????
This dude's voice is butter. The writing is airtight. The editing is clean. Literally the whole package right here.
Agreed 👍
True, they should teach other people to produce such high quality videos.
Almost didn't click on the video because the title card didn't have a bunch of circles and arrows on it :P
@@Roddy556and a shocked face of the creator or the fake mr beast type smile, those videos are never interesting, they’re aimed at gen z with short attention spans that need jump cuts and zooms to keep them hooked 😂
I just love this. When you finish a movie and the song is still playing in your head, you know you've watched a damn good movie.
And when it's still playing in your head the next week ;)
John Williams has earned all the praise he's ever gotten. The music in the SW prequels is absolutely amazing
John Williams and Hans Zimmer have created like 80% of my favorite all time movie soundtracks
His work in the prequels has gotten more appreciation with time
Sequel music was much better IMO
@@littledude6669 😂😂😂😂
@@charleepietm7679 what?
My favourite leitmotifs are when characters are represented by instruments, with melodies playing out ideas and emotions. Two characters fighting would have their sets of instruments playing the 'conflict' theme etc.
Happens in a track I like from the game Detroit Become Human
This is so Darth Vader
The second that I saw the video name I knew I was gonna cry. The use of Up is astounding and heartbreaking
Hits us deep 😢
Good, I'm not the only one that suffered ^^
Lord of the Rings will always be the best one to have ever done it in my opinion. Nothing beats that amazing score.
It's an all-time classic!
In Blue Sky Studio's "Horton Hears a Who", composer John Powell introduces a lietmotif in the opening scene. Throughout the film, it conveys Whoville's safety and Horton's belief: "A person is a person, no matter how small."
That movie also has the best soundtrack of all time for a climax, if you ask me.
Beautiful 👌
The Lord of the Rings soundtrack is amazing. Another thing, could you talk about the opening scene of the "Intouchables" (2011), the soundtrack from (Ludovico Einaudi), the cinematography or the screenplay
Amazon has entered the chat and unzipped its pants
Thanks for the suggestion!
If you like the lord of the rings soundtrack you should propably listen to Antonin Dvoraks 9th symphony there are many similarities
@@lolesoto oh interesting, i will, thank you
LOTR Soundtrack is EPIC
Kylo Ren and his theme is the perfect example of a masterpiece of a leitmotif. Such a flexible theme that can be played in many different ways to not only convey Kylo’s presence but also his rage, anger, threat. Not only this but his leitmotif can be played to convey Kylo’s conflict, sadness and insecurities. Even when Kylo returns to the light, the leitmotif is still played but in a higher key, conveying his turn.
Another from the franchise!
Agreed, Williams completely inverted it for that piece of trash known as “The Rise of Skywalker”
@@howtouploadinfullquality3638 its been 3 years, time to move on buddy
@@nikolasmoneta1493 What? 😂 Bro I only watched the movie once
@@howtouploadinfullquality3638 The Rise Of Skywalker is incredible. Take your misplaced negativity elsewhere, kiddo.
Every Studio Binder I watch makes me think "this is the best one" and I immediately want to share and enjoy with loved ones, turning them on to the brilliant layering of cinema, from light to sound to story. Thank you. You may be the best thing on the internet.
I always liked that super subtle empirial march melody in Anakin's theme. Also, I can't handle that montage from Up. Just watching this short excerpt from it made me cry.
The power of a leitmotif is that I’m crying right now from just hearing the snippets of the music in this video.
Studio Binder Appreciation comment: They knew they'll get copyright claims on this video and still made and put the efforts in knowing full welll they won't earn a single dollar in ad revenue. Love you people!!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
We got you guys :)
Harry potter has great music that evolves over time. First time I saw the opening with breaking of the bridge and swoops across london with that suspenseful strings I really got goosebumps!
As a German I love how passionately this guy tries to pronounce the German names right :))
🙏
They could just.. search their pronunciations. J being read as Y in "yacht" in the German language is not hard info to find
Music defines some of my earliest memories of pop culture. Sight has more detail, but hearing is somehow more engaging sometimes.
Definitely true!
I just watch Lotr (all three) when I saw this video. You can tell how important leitmotif is in the scene where they light the beacons. Without the music the audience is just watching these tiny little dots on mountaintops appear slowly, but with the leitmotif you feel the uniting of Rohan and Gondor and its so triumphant I'm sure many people have cried at it. I just think that scene is an incredibly feat of storytelling because if I showed that to someone who has never seen Lotr and told them its one of the best scenes they'd think I'm crazy. But the set up for lighting the beacons was from the first movie, too. Leitmotif plus set up from several hours (years) and movies before and its a tearjerker.
LOTR trilogy is majestic
love how you can break down these things into short and concise videos
Cheers!
Now if this isn't the best KZhead channel about filmmaking, I don't know which one is. Thanks a lot guys! I've been learning from you for the past 2 years ;)
Currently learning music theory, and I’m loving seeing the sheet music on screen!
Not a film, but the Undertale OST by Toby Fox is probably one of the best examples of leitmotifs I know of His use of leitmotifs is so well done that people who haven’t even played the games can form connections between different characters and locations
Getting me to watch the sad part of UP again- ON A MONDAY MORNING... thinking about sending you an invoice for the loss of working hours...
haha we couldn't avoid it
This is a really helpful video to hear the sense of music. Not only leitmotif to tell stories, but every medium that has different sense or feel to capture time.
Up's Leitmotif was sooo good that a short recollection of it actually makes me tear up.
Dwarrowdelf from lord of the rings is perhaps greatest music ever put into film , it convey perfectly the weight of thousands of years, glory of past , sadness of present and awe of beauty..its just can't be described in words , only can be felt. That scene creates an emotion of awe that my childhood version will feel in a magastic dream...
One of many things LOTR does amazingly
Another amazing lesson!. Would love to see a behind the scenes on how you put these all together . Love them
Thanks for the suggestion!
The Lord of the Rings has for me easily the best soundtrack of all time. Aside of that John Williams is the master himself. It's true that his most recent works in this last five years (the last two movies of Star Wars mainly) don't have particularly great soundtracks, he has consistently masterful in all his works. My favorite ones are Star Wars from I to IV. It's funny that he has been nominated for the Oscar for the new trilogy when the soundtracks haven't been as outstanding but not for episodes I, II and III, which soundtracks are even better than the ones in the original three for me. It's clear that the hate of the time caused this. But still, it surprises me when they are such masterpieces.
He's already cemented his legacy ❤
Totally agree. Truly the most epic film and score, doubt we’ll ever see film making on this scale ever again. This score gives you everything!
Say what? John Williams' last few works may not be quite as spectacular as some of the other things he’s done, but they sure beat the heck out of most other scores in recent years. I usually don't agree with the Academy, but the nominations were very well deserved this time.
@@Flashplayer65 John William's work for The Fabelmans is outstanding. If it wins the Oscar I wouldn't be surprised. It couldn't be considered as a compensation as so many other awards. Although, personally, I prefer The Batman and Babylon slightly more.
Studio Binder: *Starts talking about Up* Me: So you about to get me crying during a movie analysis video? Is that what we're doing today?
We educate and entertain/weep
Thanks for this Inspiring presentation about the Leitmotif. I understand more his Signification. I understand that the Theme Score is the Soul of the Movie. The Leitmotif is the Soul of the Character, the Identity of the Movie. Brilliant!
👌💖
I watched the composer of the Craig James Bond talk about using the leitmotif to introduce him in Casino Royal. Nothing regarding the John Barry theme turns up until he's at the casino and says his name, then a short phrase in input. Throughout the film, you never get the whole leitmotif, he just adds another phrase to what has come before with each archetypical "Bond moment", right up until the last moment of the film, when the brass virtually yells the first notes of it as the screen goes to black, and then it's there in all its glory, ready for the next film. It's a very clever way to reboot the character yet still have a solid foot in the better bits of the past.
It was a beautiful way to use it 💯
Bond films are unique in that each one has its own original song for the intro, and then the composer has to build in those melodic recalls throughout the picture to varying levels. Each film's exclusive song basically becomes its own macro Leitmotif score. Not sure I can think of another example of that!
Another brilliant guide from you, guys. I'm really happy that I once subscribed to your channel!
Welcome to the club!
You are really amazing! Words fail me to describe how many times you have saved me and brought me hope and knowledge. Your work saves and will save many movie lovers like me. Tks again.
Happy filming!
I am studying Masters of Semiotics, and this explanation is amazingly helpful, simple and comprehensive, thanks for the great work.
Thank you for opening my eyes for those details. I am a junior game developer and have still so much to learn and I learn so much from your videos too about how to entertain people ♥
Happy to help!
Brilliant video! A script is the body of a movie, editing its clothes and make up, characters are movie's blood vessels, a story is its heart and the music is the soul of every movie! Thx! Subscribed definitely!
Hunchback of notre dame is my favorite example of a leitmotif
brilliantly explained! cineastes like me have known about leitmotif in movies we watched, but I certainly could not fully describe it. thank you.
That's what we're here for!
Wow, I learn about leitmotif long time ago but this is the most detail and simplest way to explain. Thank you for the video
My favorite leitmotif is definitely the responsibility theme from the original spiderman movies. Great video
Beethoven was very good with Leitmotif. A famous one is the first four notes of his 5th Symphony, first movement. His 3rd, 4th, 6th and 9th Symphonies use well known themes. Bruchner's 5th is the basis for the Seven Nation Army theme.
I am so grateful to Studiobinder for so many reasons, for these great videos and for proving me with a template to write my screenplay. Such wonderful, professional people.
You guys are explain things very effectively and short. Those subjects would be explained in hours buy you guys can make it in 10 minutes. Also with good telling and examples.
The Shining opening scene has a wonderful example of Setting leitmotif.
Exactly 👌
This vid is very entertaining and insightful. Salute.
The scene from tenet trucks in place,chef kiss
👌💯
We spent a couple of lessons learning about leitmotif in our music class, I still had no clue what it was about. I watch one Studiobinder video about the same thing, I understand it completely
😂 magic of the movies
@@StudioBinder Absolute facts
We talked about this in my sound design class today and because of this video I was prepared 💪🏾. Thank you Studio Binder
Great job!
You didn't mention Once Upon A Time In The West. It doesn't get any better than that. ❤️
A great example too!
Always a pleasure
Likewise!
Also should be there leitmotif of Joker in The Dark knight ! totally love it ❤ unforgettable
I love your videos! Your channel makes me appreciate and love film even more! I discovered the channel while I had Covid and was addicted ever since! so thank you so much for helping me get thru quarantine.. can’t wait to see what videos will come next :)) 💗
Happy to help!
Another home run hit right out of the park.
🔥
I love that in the Book of Boba Fett when Fett is talking about needing some muscle you can hear the opening bass recorder and immediately know The Mandalorian is coming
just cryed in this video in the Up part 😭
Happens to all of us
TLOTR and HP nailed it perfectly! Period.
Dear studiobinder Thanks for teaching me film technics and film making. Thank you for guideing me and other aspirents Loads of love from India, Unnikrishnan
This is put together so well!
Leitmotifs is a short recurring musical phrase. They are crucial in cinema. They are used in Characters - highlight characters and their traits. What kind of character they are, what side they are on. Settings - highlight settings and their moods. Emotions - highlight/elevate emotions and their meanings. What the character or characters are feeling in that scene/moment. Leitmotifs are guides to feelings, musical tunes are that repeated severally. Idea. It can be Evolutionised as well. A tune that will foreshadow the character's turn in rhe future. A call back but for music.
why am i crying at studiobinder video
These videos are so damn good! Love how you teach. Very informative and visual.
Let's just all go ahead and agree: When you want to demonstrate exceptional compositional technique in music, you just can't go wrong with John Williams.
You included some excellent selections in this overview.
Glad you liked them!
Love you Studiobiner ❤️
Up music gets me every time! 🥺
Always a gut-punch
Absolutely wonderful!!
Enjoy!
It's really helpful, thanks for the information.
Glad it helped!
That scene where Ellie passes her Adventure book to Carl. Instant tears again.
i love your channel so much its helping me to write my script
Thanks for teaching us
Really good and useful video, thank you 👍
That's what I was searching for
Hope it helped!
Awesome as always!
💯
John Williams is the real master of this technique...
What Spielberg is talking about at 2:55 is that sometimes the shark shows up without the leitmotif, but the leitmotif does not once show up without the shark
Yep, the leitmotif was a signal
nice final quote
👍
As an concept- and game-artist, i really must say, it depends on the theme. Well, it's kind of an mix actually, imagery and sound. On my projects (speciall during my studytime) i've allways sayed, the impact of my visuals depends on the sound that i'm useing. Sound/music for it self is emotional, but the image get's mor strength by sound/music. Whenever i designing something, i've got some matching sound in the background, to the image/theme i'm working on. By this way, i can say "yeah, yes, this image works, this is gonna going pretty cool".
Yup it all works together
what i have learnt am going to be a great film maker because i have a good teacher, you are really a good teacher
Happy filming!
Yelena Belova’s theme is the latest great character leitmotif I’ve heard, I screamed hearing it in Hawkeye’s series when she appeared
I've heard the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words", and now you've turned it into "a good melody is worth a thousand words". Point taken, but I think such phrases underestimate the power of words. From a simple quote such as "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way" to Quint's USS Indianapolis speech, the right combination of words can also convey more than either pictures or melodies.
Thank You
I’m proud of myself for instantly recognizing the Grand Budapest Hotel theme when he was explaining what a Leitmotif was
Such a great video. Thanks!! :)
happy to help!
As always, perfection
👌🙏
Wonderful choices!
Glad you liked them!
You guys should start including animation techniques and stuff! The same rules probably apply though.
Thanks for the suggestion!
great explanation
Thanks!
Thank you.
Thanks for watching!
Wow never thought that it was such a fundamental concept for movie too. In a game the equivalent to 1&2 would be a Character BGM and Area BGM the 3 not so sure, maybe a theme song? since it's like the most critical piece in soundtrack. 4 is like a fundamental of reusing track.
A very useful video!
That was the goal!
I learnt something today...even though I knew about this ..I didn't know why I was not using it...
Thank you very much ❤
👌💖
LOVE YOU BINDER
Love our viewers ❤
Trying to figure out the score of my horror short I’ll be filming in a few months. Y’all posted this right on time!
Good luck!
I love this YT channel
Who are you people and why do you keep teaching us all this great stuff???
How about Sam Raini's Spiderman... like we feel Spiderman's feelings through the music. We can tell either he is dancing through the air or the man is depressed.
Excellent example!
Superb video
Glad you liked it!
5:32 magical moment