The Importance of Music in Telenovelas

Film scores have always been my favorite part about movies. I feel like the music in a film or show can either make or break the whole production. In class we talked about the different ways music is used in a soundtrack for a telenovela. There is the theme for the telenovela that is played during the opening introductory credits, which is similar to any other television show. In the telenovela I am watching, "La Hipocondríaca," is an upbeat song and is actually sang by the actress of the protagonist, Stephanie Cayo. The theme song or theme soundtrack for a telenovela seems to set the tone for the show, so it is important to have an appropriate sound for the show. If the show has a happier and more light-hearted plot, the theme song probably shouldn't be dark or saddening. I've been involved with band and music for several years now, and we actually got to attend a film score workshop two years ago in Orlando, Florida. We performed a composition and some sound engineers worked to put it with a clip from "Frankenstein." It was really cool to get the behind the scenes experience, but it took about 30 or so minutes to perfectly line up our piece with about 4 minutes worth of video, so I have a lot of respect for the sound production and music crews that work on these telenovelas. 

Music is almost like the backbone of a telenovela. There are incidental tracks embedded into scenes of the telenovela that pushes the viewer to feel a certain emotion towards the scene. Some of the emotions that we covered in today's lesson are intrigue, nostalgia, sadness, happiness, and suspense. When something crazy or dramatic is about to happen, the music may turn darker to let the viewer focus in on the suspense of the scene. A nostalgic underscore may play during a montage of flashbacks of a couple, which will make the viewer feel the nostalgia that the characters may be feeling. Most people don't focus on the music while watching the telenovela because they are focused on the story so the score may just seem like an embellishment to the show. Someone may not even notice certain pieces of a composition or soundtrack, but they will certainly notice if that music is taken away. Without the music, the scenes become a little more awkward and the emotions of the viewers are not as influential as they are with the added love song or bass line. When we were learning about production in class, Dr. A showed us a video of the filming process of one of the more intimate scenes between a couple. Of course during filming there is no soundtrack playing and the studio is completely silent, so it seems a little more strange to watch. Music is kind of like running water. You always expect to have running water when you turn the faucet on the sink, and it never crosses your mind to wonder if the water is going to turn on when you turn that faucet, but the second you turn the faucet and no water comes out, you immediately notice that something is missing. Music is essential (to the telenovela), and it is always present so you never think twice about hearing it, but you will notice the second it is no longer there because it adds so much to the characters and storylines. I also thought it was interesting how some telenovelas incorporate American and other international songs, like Adele's "Set Fire to the Rain," into their shows because we don't really use international music in the majority of our television shows.