wolf

The case study was designed after assessing the assumptions of the thesis. The focus of the study was film music as audiation. The paradigm was constructivist, qualitative and interpretative. My ontological assumptions were that reality is subjective, and that there are multiple readings of a text (i.e. a film, music.) The epistemological assumptions were that the researcher could be the audience, is subjective and interacts with the study. The study aimed to be an instrumental case study in order to provide insights into the issue of film music as audiation, and to make generalisations about the issue. However an instrumental case study usually only investigates one case, whereas I looked a two cases jointly, so it was also a collective case study to show that there was more than one instance of a film displaying film music as audiation. To set the context of the film and to investigate the functions of each musical cue, the following questions were to be asked of each cue:

Questions to be asked of each cue

Is the music diegetic, non-diegetic or a mixture of both? (A mixture of both suggests it is quasi-diegetic)

Is the music source, source scoring or background?

For source/diegetic music ask:

Why is the source music necessary to the scene? OR
Does its inclusion still add something dramatically or emotionally?
What type of music is it? (include chronology, reproduction, presentation)
Why was this type of music chosen?

Is the music a bridging device? If yes, is it source scoring (quasi-diegetic)?

For non-diegetic, background music, ask:

Why is it necessary to the scene? (Is there identification?)
Does it bring any outside meanings with it?
Does it have any meaningful/significant lyrics within the context of the scene?
Does it add something emotionally or dramatically?
What type of music is it?
Why was this type chosen?

What is the filmic context?

Does the music refer/relate to other music in the film?

Does the music function as a theme or leitmotif? If yes, to who or what?