Influence of Structurally Fitting Film Music on Emotions, Immersive Film Experience, and Film Evaluation

Abstract

Experts in the media industry frequently stress the significance of structural congruence between music and film in audiovisual media. Despite this emphasis, few studies have been conducted to investigate the effects of this type of musical fit. This study addresses this gap by examining how structural fit impacts emotionality, spatial presence, and overall film evaluation. Three different stimuli versions were created for a one-way between-subjects online experiment, each with varying degrees of fit (consonant, out-of-phase, and dissonant) between the music and film in an Arctic travel film (3 min). Music that fits the film's structural attributes can influence viewers' emotions. ANCOVAs (covariate: music expertise) reveal that music significantly affects feelings of transcendence and peacefulness. In addition, structural fit can determine how much viewers get immersed in the film's world. However, there is insufficient evidence to demonstrate that a structural fit between music and film affects viewers' evaluation of the movie. Music expertise, as a covariate, has no impact whatsoever. The results of the study can be classified according to the current state of research and indicate minor structural fit effects. The small effect sizes may be attributed to the implementation as online-experiment and the challenges of audio-visual stimulus material. For future studies, improving the validity of the stimulus material and considering additional covariates, such as music preferences and visual expertise, is recommended. The potential connections between structural fit, fluency, and entrainment are discussed as possible explanations.