Diegetic vs. Extra-diegetic
We will use the same definitions for diegetic and extra-diegetic for music as we did for sound.
Diegetic music is used in a realistic way and you can usually see the source of the music.
Extra-diegetic music is used in unrealistic way and you will not see the source.
Watch this film clip from Little Shop of Horrors to see if the music is used in a diegetic or extra-diegetic way.
NOTE: Even in musicals, where we expect people to break out into song, music can be used more realistically or less realistically.
Watch the film clip from Little Shop of Horrors
If you guessed extra-diegetic, you would be correct. We never see the source of the music.
Before we watch this next film clip, we need to understand some background for The Producers (1969 version).
In order to produce plays for Broadway, the producer needs to raise money. The producer will try to persuade backers to buy percentages of the play or musical. If the play has a long run on Broadway, the backers will receive whatever percentage of the profits they purchased: the longer the run, the more money. If the play closes on opening night, there is no profit because 100% of the money goes toward the cost of opening the play or musical (building the sets and costumes, etc).
Leo Blume, played here by Gene Wilder, comes up with a crazy idea. If you could produce a play you know will be a flop (i.e., that closes on opening night), instead of selling shares that add up to 100% of the cost of producing the play, you could sell 300%, because no backer would be expecting money in return. After the 100% cost is subtracted out of the total sum, 200% is left over for the producers. This is illegal, of course, but the two producers decide to take a chance. So, they choose the worst play, the worst director, the worst actors, the worst costume and set designers, and this is what you get.
Watch the film clip from The Producers
This is from the 1969 Best Original Screenplay version by Mel Brooks. Years later, he adapted his script as a Broadway musical (which holds the record for the most Tony Awards at 15). It then was adapted back to film, this time as a musical. Both versions are fun.
This is an example of a diegetic use of music. We do not see the orchestra, but we know there are musicians in the orchestra pit because the conductor is leading. This is also diegetic because when we go to see a Broadway musical, it is realistic for actors to sing and dance on stage.
Think back to Singin’ in the Rain. At the end of the film, when Kathy stands behind the curtain and sings the title song as Lina quietly mouths the lyrics, that is a diegetic use of music — we see the orchestra playing. When Don dances and sings in the rain, that is an extra-diegetic use of music because there is no orchestra out in the street with him.
Another contrast between diegetic and extra-diegetic use of music is in the film, Jaws. When the people are on the beach, we hear a song coming from a portable radio (diegetic). Then we here the notes “da-dum, da-dum,” identifying the shark. That is extra-diegetic because the shark is not making music.
That brings us to foreshadowing. In Jaws, when we hear the “da-dum, da-dum,” music, we know the shark is about to attack. Foreshadowing can be used in other ways, of course, but if we associate music with an evil action, for example, that music prepares us for what is to follow.
At the end of The Phantom Menace, when Yoda gives Obi-Wan permission to apprentice Anakin even though Yoda senses something wrong in the boy’s future, Williams plays a few measures of Darth Vader’s theme to foreshadow the path Anakin will someday take.
Music can be used to heighten the dramatic effect. Hitchcock did not feel the shower scene was frightening enough, so he asked the composer, Bernard Herman, for help. Herman came up with the screeching violins, which has been used many times in other horror films. A non-horror use of screeching violins is in the animated film Finding Nemo when we are introduced to the little girl with braces who is notorious for killing fish.
Music can add levels to visual images in a film by using irony through counterpoint. We had a marvelous example of this when we discussed editing in Good Morning Vietnam. The visuals were of the violence of war, while we heard the song “What a Wonderful World.”
Music can be used to set the time. In Back to the Future, when Marty is transported to the 1950s, we hear music from that decade playing in the background to differentiate it from the 1980s he just left. If we hear harpsichord music, we think of the time before Mozart.
There are instances, however, when music might be misleading in identify a time. In A Knight’s Tale, we hear the music from Queen, “We will, we will rock you.” Queen was not around in Chaucer’s time. In this film, the music was used in a postmodern sense. Another example of postmodern use of music is in the film Moulin Rouge. Even though the film took place in the early part of the Twentieth Century, we hear Elton John music from the 1970s. The same can be said for Jackie Chan’s Shanghai Knights, which took place in 1887; Roger Miller wrote England Swings in 1965. It is perfectly legal to use music in a postmodern way. Time is not important to the postmodernists — that is a definitive characteristic of postmodernism.
Music can be used to set the place. If we hear salsa music, the film might be taking place south of the border. If we hear a male Bolshevik choir, we are possibly in Russia, or possibly on a Russian submarine as in The Hunt For The Red October. If we hear bagpipes, we might be in Scotland.
Watch the film clip from Hitchcock’s Strangers On A Train. See if you can identify the three ways music is used.
Strangers On A Train
First of all, the music helps set the place. If we close our eyes, we know we are at a carnival, a circus, or an amusement park.
Secondly, the music is diegetic. The source is the calliope within the carousel. The characters can hear the music because they sing a song as they ride the horses.
A third example is counterpoint. We hear the cheerful music of “Casey Would Waltz With The Strawberry Blonde” while the woman is being strangled. (Notice the marvelous shot reflected by the glasses on the ground.)
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