Films which are not musicals – non-musical films – sometimes include songs which are narratively motivated yet in a different way from how they are used in musicals. They may be part of the underscore or even performed by characters in the films, and add a new element to films which otherwise do not use music in this way. In this thesis I will explain how musical and non-musical films differ in their use of songs and explore various aspects of composing songs for three non-musical films made by students at the Stockholm University of the Arts.

Important results include describing how to choose lyrics for the songs and how this can add new perspectives to the scenes where the songs appear. I also explore the different challenges a composer can face during the composition process and demystify the process itself by describing how the music for each film is composed.