Leitmotiv technology

The leitmotif technique is, in addition to the mood technique and underscoring, one of the three compositional techniques of film music in which leitmotifs are used (sometimes also the identification motif ). The procedure is based on the compositions of Richard Wagner and was already used in the silent film era . A specific musical motif is assigned to a person or a situation, which occurs again and again during the course of the film. Typical representatives of the Leitmotiv technique were the late romanticists Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Max Steiner . The two best-known contemporary examples of the use of leitmotifs in film are the scores for the Star Wars series by John Williams and for the film trilogy " The Lord of the Rings " by Howard Shore . Compared to mood technology, however, the leitmotif technology is used less today.

Characteristic

The leitmotif technique known from opera and especially from Richard Wagner's musical dramas has the task of musically representing people, objects in the plot or narrative threads that play a central role in the film. For this purpose, important characters, objects of action or narrative threads are assigned their own motifs, so-called leitmotifs , which are then incorporated, repeated and varied into the overall composition depending on the requirements of the story. In this way, premonitions, changes in the situation or references that affect the film plot can be conveyed without being visible on the screen.

There are three types of leitmotif usage:

• Motive quote (characteristic melody): The motif appears again and again unchanged.
• Idée fixe: The motif develops with the protagonists.
• Fully developed leitmotif technique: musically fully developed movements, mostly in classical compositions.

Nowadays, the leitmotif technique is mostly used in the (weakened) form of a guiding theme. This form of composition is referred to as a development score . The musical theme is introduced with the theme music and is taken up again and again during the film plot (example: play me the song of death ). In this way, recognition by the audience is guaranteed.

See also

• Theme song

literature

• Claudia Bullerjahn: Basics of the effect of film music. Wissner, Augsburg 2001, ISBN 978-3-89639-230-5 .
• Anselm C. Kreuzer: Film music in theory and practice. ISBN 978-3-86764-094-7 .
• Anselm C. Kreuzer: Film music: history and analysis. ISBN 978-3-631-51150-3 .
• Josef Kloppenburg: The Handbook of Film Music: History - Aesthetics - Functionality. ISBN 978-3-89007-747-5 .
• Monika Retter: Systematic analysis of film music - based on film adaptations. Sierke Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-86844-175-8 .

Web links

• Leitmotif  technique based on the film "Play me the song of death" - Thomas Sagefka, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg , Institute for Media, Communication & Sport, November 20, 2004.
• Underscoring in contrast to mood and leitmotif technology using the example of the film "Indiana Jones - The Last Crusade"  - Jessen Mordhorst, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg , Institute for Media, Communication & Sport, December 2004.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ansgar Schlichter: Identity motif . In: Lexikon der Filmbegriffe, edited by Hans. J. Wulff and Theo Bender.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Filmmusiktechniken ( Memento of the original from October 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Colloquium "Film Analysis" at the University of Potsdam , 2004.