“Driver Picks the Music” Supernatural- A Journey With Music as Fuel Kristina Mariell Dulsrud Klungnes Master’s Thesis Department of Musicology UNIVERSITY OF OSLO Spring 2016 I II “Driver Picks the Music” Supernatural- A Journey With Music as Fuel Kristina Mariell Dulsrud Klungnes III Copyright Kristina Mariell Dulsrud Klungnes 2016 “Driver Picks the Music” Supernatural- A Journey With Music as Fuel Kristina Mariell Dulsrud Klungnes Cover image, Homeofthenutty.com 2006 Screencap season 2, episode 3, http://www.homeofthenutty.com/supernatural/screencaps/albums/SPN2x03/SPN_0066.jpg http://www.duo.uio.no Printed: Reprosentralen, Universitety of Oslo IV Abstract “Well, house rules, Sammy: Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole.” Dean turns on the growling engine of the Impala and the intro of AC/DC’s “Back in Black” starts playing. This thesis examines the musical practices employed in the action/horror/drama television series, Supernatural, and explores possible engagement processes and perceptions that are offered through the music accordingly. The pre-existent songs, as well as the musical underscore are of great importance to the perception of the characters, the scenes, the episodic narrative, and of the series as a whole. The music helps in offering identification processes, illusive immersion, emotional engagement, as well as it helps in constructing ideas of identity and gender, among other factors. Supernatural uses music as a kind of fuel in different ways. The study seeks to explore these ways, as well as the extent to which Supernatural’s music might inspire new approaches for film music scholarship. V VI Acknowledgements The journey of writing this thesis has been very interesting, and in the light of being a fan of Supernatural since the age of fourteen, it has been a lot of fun as well. I have watched the show and been a part of the fandom for over ten years, and still I find something new in the old all the time. I would like to thank my supervisor, associate professor, Dr Nanette Nielsen for the wonderful supervision, and for the conversations we have had. I am truly grateful for your engagement. I would like to thank my best friend, Helene Lund for her support. I would also like to thank the participants and the people interviewed who were willing to participate in my study. Finally, I would like to thank the cast and crew of Supernatural, as well as the fandom, The SPN Family. Without you, this thesis would not have existed. VII VIII Contents 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Supernatural – Approach and Terminology ......................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Question and Structure of the Thesis .................................................................. 1 2 Theory .................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 The Functions of Film Music ...................................................................................................... 3 2.1.1 The Conventional Hollywood Film Music ..................................................................................... 3 2.1.2 Emotion and Narrative Cueing ........................................................................................................... 5 2.1.3 Music for Television ............................................................................................................................... 9 2.2 An Embodied Experience .......................................................................................................... 11 2.2.1 Added Value and Synchronization ................................................................................................. 11 2.2.2 Film Music as a Meaning-Making System .................................................................................... 14 2.3 Immersion and Construction of Identity ............................................................................. 17 2.3.1 Identification With Film – Underscore and Pre-Existent Music ........................................ 17 2.3.2 Identity, Authenticity, Masculinity and Rock Music ............................................................... 20 3 Methodology .................................................................................................................. 23 3.1 Analysis ........................................................................................................................................... 23 3.1.1 Analytical Challenges ........................................................................................................................... 23 3.1.2 Hypothetical Substitution and Visual Sound Analysis ............................................................ 24 3.1.3 Audiovisual Analysis - The Masking Method .............................................................................. 28 3.2 Analyzing Supernatural ............................................................................................................. 32 3.2.1 “Dean’s Family Dedication Theme” ................................................................................................ 32 3.2.2 Empathetic and Anempathetic ......................................................................................................... 35 3.3 Hermeneutic Understanding and Qualitative Method ................................................... 37 3.3.1 Hermeneutics, Conditioning and Perspectives ......................................................................... 37 3.3.2 Qualitative Methods .............................................................................................................................. 40 4 The Illusion Supernatural ..................................................................................... 45 4.1 Believing a Fictional World ...................................................................................................... 45 4.1.1 Identification Processes ...................................................................................................................... 45 4.1.2 Masculinity, Identity and Authenticity in the Pre-existent Music, Affiliating Identifications ......................................................................................................................................................... 47 IX 4.2 Levels of Narratives .................................................................................................................... 57 4.2.1 The Series, the Season, the Episode ............................................................................................... 57 4.2.2 Leitmotifs, Themed Episodes, Assimilating Identifications ................................................ 61 4.3 Renewing the Functions of Music .......................................................................................... 68 4.3.1 The Epic Feeling Renewed ................................................................................................................. 68 4.3.2 Metanatural .............................................................................................................................................. 71 4.3.3 Sound, Sound Objects, and Woman in Supernatural .............................................................. 74 5 Supernatural vs Natural ........................................................................................ 82 5.1 Strange and Ordinary ................................................................................................................. 82 5.1.1 The Sound of Monsters ........................................................................................................................ 82 5.1.2 The Sound of Family ............................................................................................................................. 85 5.2 Bad Angels and Good Devils ..................................................................................................... 92 5.2.1 Crowley – Empathizing With the King of Hell ........................................................................... 92 5.2.2 Lucifer – Angel or Devil? ..................................................................................................................... 97 5.2.3 Death Gets a Song ............................................................................................................................... 101 5.2.4 Meta Fiction, Meta Music, Metatron ........................................................................................... 103 5.3 The Dehumanization of the Human ................................................................................... 107 5.3.1 Music as Marker of Amorality – Anempathetic Confusion ............................................... 107 5.3.2 The Transformation ........................................................................................................................... 111 6 “Alone Together” – Spectator Engagement, Meaning, and Fan Culture ......................................................................................................................... 114 6.1 Supernatural and Fan Identity ............................................................................................. 114 6.1.1 Ethics and Aesthetics – Moral Engagement ...........................................................................