4.3 Persona theory
The expressive power of music and films is a debate that has been undergoing for some time. While there is no conclusive representation of what quantifies to persona, it’s believed that the listener can shift his perceiving form of music and distinguish a psychological state. Thus, Cochrane (2010) believes that humans associate the music they listen to, with their emotions through relating it to the mental being. There can be a possible comparison between the music’s recognition of emotions and the identification of emotions expressed by other people. This happens if the music is a bit connected to a person and if the essence of the person’s feeling is unknown. The persona’s view in music stresses more demand on the listener’s experience as he hears the music as emotionally expressive.
These emotions could be imaginations activity from the listener that they belong to a person, although some think that the feelings aren’t connected to a person at all (Gracyk and Kania, (2011). An experiential survey of ordinary listeners can be done to stress on one side or the other, to bring more effective and imperative examples. However, to satisfy this thoughtful review, such practice needs to be carefully designed. Criticisms on this theory are that some theorists view competent listeners as someone who can detect or appreciate the character of music expressiveness with no imaginative engagement. Thus, there is a need for satisfaction that what the listener hears from music is emotionally expressive. There are different judgments of the expressed emotions by music, depending on the listener’s perception Cochrane, (2010). The listener may give an opinion based on the rhythm or the exact words heard from music. Similarly, the emotional expressions of music may depend on the practice account as a core sense of the persona.
4.4 Cognitive theory
The philosophy behind this theory is that thinking involves matching patterns of the listener’s thoughts to the designs of what he has experienced. It also includes mapping patterns of the spectator’s body experience to arrays in other realms (Cross, 2012; Thompson, 2015). Thus the theory claims that recognitions of music (or stored memory) are matched to the domain around us. How different people perceive music arouses emotions that are linked to their imagination and cognitive abilities. Thus music can arouse emotion and influence mood through modulating brain activities to form structures or imagery based on experience (Koelsch, 2014; Nannicelli and Taberham, 2014). This means music is neural correlated to one’s emotions; hence music can be used as a therapy to treat diseases affecting the brain.
Cognitive behavior of the brain activities is based on social, cultural, or biological perception and determines how we understand or connect with the world around us (Bondebjerg, 2014). Also, the brain activity links documentary genres to realities, thus why video viewers watch movies with an expectation of getting some reality on something or some truth or authenticity. Therefore films use different types of communication strategies to appeal and express feelings on fact. Furthermore, the spectator’s experience and memory of the world become embodied in his visualization of documentary forms—the emotional cognition formed from films forms the spectator’s social or cultural thoughts. Thus spectator’s emotions are linked to their perception and mental activities, among others, and they accompany his experience. This is why someone would cry when watching a particular film or documentary because the emotions will be linked to some real-world experience or cognition of some mental experience.
- Conclusion
Different forms of music have a different interpretation, and they affect the spectator’s emotions differently. While several philosophies and musical theories have tried to give different arguments on the view of music, it is clear that music affects people adversely. Hence their feelings will differ. Either way, their opinion or emotions will be based on their personal experience, social or cultural dimensions. This is why filmmakers use music films to reinforce some narrative of unity that underlines the psychological state of the spectator and the world around him. Music and movies establish one’s emotional mood or scene that arouses the viewer’s expressiveness.
Human beings are social and biological storytellers, and the use of music and films or film music conveys a message and language to the listener or viewer, making this think about the real-life differently and value the cultural and social dimensions of music philosophy. This helps link one’s real-life experience, emotions, and personal character, among others, to contents that are either directly or ultimately connected to one’s problem. Similarly, music expresses one’s personality, and this emotional state helps the listener understand his emotional state. However, the value of music or film work is depended on the experience it induces to the spectator. As analyzed above, music supports one’s illusion and imagination since its non-intellectual communication.