This book explores the concept of incongruent film music, challenging the idea that this label only describes music that is inappropriate or misfitting for a films images and narrative. Defining incongruence as a lack of shared properties in the audiovisual relationship, this study examines various types of incongruence between a film and its music and considers the active role that it can play in the construction of a films meaning and influencing audience response. Synthesising findings from research in the psychology of music in multimedia, as well as from ideas sourced in semiotics, film music, and poststructuralist theory, this interdisciplinary book provides a holistic perspective that reflects the complexity of moments of film-music incongruence. With case studies including well-known films such asGladiator andThe Shawshank Redemption, this book combines scene analysis and empirical audience reception tests to emphasise the subjectivity, context-dependency, and multi-dimensionality inherent in identifying and interpreting incongruent film music.  

David Ireland is Lecturer in music psychology at the University of Leeds, UK. He has previously published on incongruent film music in the interdisciplinaryConstructing Crime collection (2012), as well asThe Soundtrack andMusic and the Moving Image journals. 

1. Introduction.- Part I: Identifying Incongruence.- 2. Interrogating (In)congruence: The Incongruent Perspective.- 3. Identifying (In)congruence.- Part II: Interpreting Incongruence.- 4. Introduction to Part II.- 5. Intradomain Incongruence in the Opening Battle Sequence FromGladiator.-6. Mozart, Harmonicas, and Aesthetic Incongruence inThe Shawshank Redemption.- 7. Jazz, Kazoos, and Conceptual Incongruence inThe Informant!.- 8. Duran Duran and Semantic Incongruence inL4yer Cake.- 9. Conclusions.