The Potential Use of Film Scores in Guided Imagery Experiences

1. The Potential Use of Film Scores in Guided Imagery Experiences Brea Murakami

2. Aims of This Presentation • Demonstrate the efficacy of imagery in therapy • Present history of Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music • Explore origins of film music and its uses today • Give suggestions to implement film music into guided imagery experiences

3. Imagery • A mental function and lived experience that is a dynamic, quasi-real, and psycho-physiological process

4. Research • Daselarr et al. (2010) • Identified core imagery network in medial preforntal cortex • Planning, decision-making, personality • Grunet et al. (2007) • Imagery as rescripting tool for PTSD patients • Less depression and anxiety after 6 months

5. Imagery and Music • Music is a "pure" art form • No set meanings, abstract • Personal associations projected onto the music • Music works through time • Move between levels of consciousness fluidly • Musical Complexity • Multiple ideas expressed at once • Personal Exploration

6. Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music • A music-oriented exploration of consciousness practiced in psychotherapy and counseling settings • Goals shared between the therapist (facilitator) and client (traveler) • Music elicits spontaneous, non-directed images • Possible client experiences: • Emotional processing of psychological issues • Symbolic life experiences • Spiritual transcendence • Stages of GIM Session • Opening relaxation • Bridge to deeper levels of consciousness • Heart of program in which traveler interacts with imagery • Return to normal consciousness • Current GIM Repertoire

7. Efficacy of the Bonny Method • Quantitative • Jacobi and Eisenberg (2002) • Lowered pain perception and distress in patients with arthritis • Bonde (2004) • Improved self-understanding and emotional well-being in breast cancer patients • Qualitative • Case studies give the essence of therapy

8. "Pure" Art Music vs. Film Scores • Art music doesn't as clearly take advantage of established musical meanings • May be constrained by form • Composers motivated by artistic vision, not communicating an image • Film Music and the Bonny Method: • Both follow narrative action • Both work on a subconscious, emotional level • Support a visual experience

9. Film Scores • Instrumental music that supports a film's story • Often works on an emotional, subconscious level • Grew from operatic accompaniment • Wagner's Leitmotifs: short musical passages that characterize a person, place, or idea • Can transform with a character throughout a film • Rhythmic, harmonic, melodic changes

10. Styles of Film Scores • 19th Century Romantic Style • Full orchestra, lush texture • Similar to classical reportoire • Moby Dick Theme • 20th Century Modern Style • More chromaticism, atonality • Digital music = new timbres, expanded associations • The Matrix • Non-Western Styles • Speak to ethnically diverse clientele • Memoirs of a Geisha • Hybrid Styles • Blending for flexible, customizable sounds • WALL-E

11. Film Music and Semiotics • Composers work to communicate specific emotional ideas through musical symbols • Research ethnic, historic, geographic, stylistic elements • Out of Africa • Tagg and Clarida (2003) • Miami Vice theme song = chase, action, rebelliousness • Reliably evokes general ideas, open to individual interpretation

12. Playing the Psychology • Film music does not illustrate, but completes the psychological effect • Reflects the composer's emotional reaction to film • Synced with dramatic content • Underlines core relationships between different situations and people

13. Building GIM Programs • Bonny originally built music programs intuitively • Top-down approach • Film music is built on meaningful systems • Cataloged by meaning and situation • Bottom-up approach • Therapists can tailor individual programs • More evidence-based than intuition

14. Film Music and GIM Requirements • Film music meets Bonny's original musical requirements • Depth of experience • Supports complicated drama • Variety in color and form • 19th century, 20th century, non-western styles • Harmonic and Melodic Complexity • Leitmotifs, orchestration • Additional Pros: • Hybrid styles mix digital, chromatic, and ethnic styles within familiar tonalities • Shorter excerpts for transitions, flexibility

15. Challenges of Film Scores in GIM • Some scores are too successful • Instantly recognizable, restrains imagery • Must take traveler age and experiences into account • Ambient scores • Don't propel images forward • May serve as transition or plateau • Relative length of film tracks • Solutions: digital blending • Opening and closing tracks generally longer • Only one recorded version available • But, best expresses artistic intentions • Written scores difficult to obtain for analysis • But, film itself offers another mode of analysis

16. Future Recommendations • Increase therapeutic familiarity with film scores • Research into film music’s effects on imagery • Share ideas with MT community to receive feedback