Genre theory in practice : turning horror films into horror film music : an adaptation of thematic evil from film to soundtrack EP

Abstract

The objective of this thesis was to showcase how film music composers and music producers utilise the genre theory of horror and the paradigms of horror film music when composing and producing music for horror films. To achieve this objective, horror genre’s history up until the introduction of films and original scores is viewed, the concept of genre theory is explained, and the paradigms of horror film music are showcased. The purpose of this thesis was to underline how important it is for music composers and music producers to understand genre theory in order to utilise it accordingly.

The author of this thesis explored and studied the findings of their research regarding horror’s genre theory with science fiction horror film soundtrack analyses. Additionally, a music production project was carried out by the author. The music production project was a soundtrack EP called Ex Inferis, and it consisted of five songs. The storyline of the songs was inspired by the science fiction horror movie, Event Horizon (Paul W.S. Anderson 1997). The purpose of the music production project was to demonstrate how to utilise the researched paradigms of horror music genre theory when producing a horror film soundtrack. This thesis includes a chapter where the EP’s storyline is explained in detail, as well as a breakdown and analysis as to how the genre theory was utilised in the production of each song.

Information for this thesis was gathered from professional publications in the fields of history, genre theory, films, and film music. The study results of this thesis suggest that there are clear, genre-specific paradigms that govern the soundscape of horror film soundtracks and their composition and production. These paradigms proved to be of crucial importance in capturing the sound of horror in music.

This thesis was carried out as a film music project for the Finnish sound design and music production company, Magia Music & Media Oy.