Year 6 - Music
Film music: habitats
Compose and create: nature documentary inspired film scores
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Study Guides
This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
In this optional unit, pupils are introduced to the term, film music. They study many examples of film music composed for the BBC nature documentaries Planet Earth II and Planet Earth III and use these as their inspiration for composing their own film scores.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to compose a motif and use this to begin scoring a nature inspired film score, considering firstly the habitat in your narrative.
Key Notes
- A film score is an effective tool for adding emotion, tension and drama to a visual story.
- The Planet Earth series is an award winning documentary that highlights the impactfulness of powerful film scores.
- Creating a motif that represents something in the narrative helps us associate the sound with the visuals.
Vocabulary To Learn
- film score: on original piece of music composed to accompany a film or television programme that contributes to the narrative by adding emotion, tension or drama
- soundtrack: an recording of all the songs and music used in a film or television series
- habitat: an environment or place where an animal or plant normally lives
- scoring: creating original music for film or television that enhances the narrative
- motif: a short recurring musical idea in a film score that represents a place, character, emotion or idea
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Film scores and programme music are the same thing.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
A film score is an effective tool for adding emotion, tension and drama to a visual story. The Planet Earth series is an award winning documentary that highlights the impactfulness of powerful film scores.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'film score'
on original piece of music composed to accompany a film or television programme that contributes to the narrative by adding emotion, tension or drama.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Film scores and programme music are the same thing. Correction: A film score is synchronised to the film. It supports the visual, enhancing the story as it happens. Programme music tells a narrative, but is a standalone piece of music and is not bound to the storytelling.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 6 Music guide library.