Movie Analysis- Musical Effect on a Film

           Music can be used to produce a wide array of emotions: sadness, fear, happiness, anger. Music Directors take advantage of this by choosing songs linked to the emotions being evoked in certain scenes during a movie. They can lighten the mood or add sarcasm by playing a more upbeat song during a serious scene. Additionally, music can foreshadow what is going to happen next in the film. The possibilities are endless. Costabile and Terman write that, “film music plays a critical role in developing a viewer’s working narrative of the film” (317). Music is not something that should be dismissed when discussing a movie since it sets the stage and creates a narrative of its own. Wag the Dog uses music, or the lack thereof, throughout the movie to set the scene, create a comedic effect, or add to the emotions being conveyed in a scene.

            There are two types of music that can be used during a film, diegetic music and non-diegetic music. Diegetic music refers to music that exists within a character’s scene in the film. It is music that the film characters should be able to hear. Non-diegetic music refers to music that exists outside the character’s world, only heard by the viewers (Tan). Non-diegetic music is used most commonly in the movie Wag the Dog, however there are still some scenes where diegetic music is used. The song “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” is heard by Brean and Ames during a TV commercial accusing the President of sexually exploiting a Firefly girl. This is also an example of why Wag the Dog is considered to be a dark comedy. Diegetic music is used frequently by the character Johnny Dean, played by Willie Nelson, who is considered to be the music man in the group. Dean is repeatedly filmed strumming on his guitar and coming up with lyrics for possible songs, most of which add to the comedic effect of the movie. In a study comparing the effects of diegetic music vs. non-diegetic music in a movie scene, Siu-Lan Tan found that diegetic music “can lead to dramatically different perceptions of the overall tension of a scene, the attitudes and motives and relationship of characters, and other elements of a scene that are fundamental to our understanding of the unfolding story.”

            One of music’s first purposes in film was to generate emotions (Fischoff 5). Music can make you feel happy, sad, or scared. Wag the Dog takes advantage of this right away in the movie by playing “An American Hero” during its opening scene. With the drum line and guitar you get a patriotic vibe, signaling that politics or patriotism will somehow be incorporated into the movie. The song “Working on It” is used throughout the movie during times when the characters are going to get something done: as Dean is arriving at the underground office, leaving the office for the plane, and going to the producer’s house. With its folky, faster tempo style you get the feeling that something is in the works, about to happen. Wag the Dog also uses music to make us laugh, putting the comedy in “dark comedy.” Willie Nelson’s character, Johnny Dean, had me laughing throughout the movie with his creative process of writing songs. An example of this is the scene at the producer’s house when his creative group gets together. Dean is playing off whatever the producer, Stanley Motts, says. Johnny sings phrases like, “Sit on my lap if you love me. But don’t put your hand down there.” This makes you laugh until you remember the serious issue of the President molesting a Firefly girl.

            Overtime music has come to have many purposes in a film, two of them being: serve as a neutral background filler and build a sense of continuity (Fischoff 11). Music as a neutral background filler is used to fill empty spots between conversations, not cancel out the character’s voices. It’s barely audible, but just enough to where it adds to the scene. This is used in various scenes throughout Wag the Dog. During Schumann’s funeral, Brean and Stanley enter an office with the music from the funeral, “God Bless the Men of the 303”, still playing on the TV set. It plays loud enough that you can hear it, but not loud enough to take your attention away from the characters in the scene. This scene is also an example of diegetic music since Brean and Motts would have been able to hear the TV.

Additionally, music is used to build a sense of continuity between scenes. Without music, flashes of disconnected scenes would appear chaotic. Music is used to connect and unify those scenes (Fischoff 11). The song “God Bless the Men of the 303” is used throughout the last parts of Wag the Dog to unify everything that is happening. The song starts after Stanley says, “What’s better than the triumphal homecoming of a war hero?” (“Wag the Dog”) It continues to connect shots of Schumann’s funeral, Brean and Stanley’s conversation in the office, Stanley’s exit, and the parade to honor Schumann and the men of the 303. The continued music was especially important during all of the cuts of the parade. Watching the parade scene with its eight cuts without music did not instill any emotions or patriotic feeling in me. The cuts just went from one view to another. However, when added back music, the scene flowed and added feelings of patriotism and pride. The music created continuity with this scene and the previous scenes that used the song, “God Bless the Men of the 303.”

As you can see, Wag the Dog uses diegetic and non-diegetic music to instill certain emotions like happiness or sadness during a scene. They also use music as a way to provide comedic relief throughout the movie with songs like, “Thank Heaven for Little Girls”, “Good Old Shoe”, and “I Guard the Canadian Border.” Additionally, music is used in this movie to serve as a background filler and create continuity between scenes. Without music, Wag the Dog would not be the Academy Award nominated movie that it is. Music is not something that should be dismissed when discussing a movie since it sets the stage and creates a narrative of its own.

Works Cited

Costabile, Kristi A., and Amanda W. Terman. "Effects Of Film Music On Psychological Transportation And Narrative Persuasion." Basic & Applied Social Psychology 35.3 (2013): 316-324. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

Fischoff, Stuart. “The Evolution of Music in Film and its Psychological Impact on Audiences.” CAL STATE LA. Trustees of the California State University, 24 June 2005. Web. 25 April 2016.

Tan, Siu-Lan. “How Film Music Shapes the Storyline.” Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers LLC, 30 October 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Wag the Dog. Dir. Barry Levinson. Perf. Robert De Niro, Anne Heche, Dustin Hoffman. Baltimore Pictures, New Line Cinema, Punch Productions, Tribeca Productions, 1997. DVD.