In my doctoral dissertation, I examine the soundtracks of Finnish fairy tale films. My focus is on how sound and music construct the fairy tale worlds of these films, that is, the narrative settings. In other words, I investigate what sound reveals about the fictional environment, and how. The work consists of an introduction (Chapter 1), a background chapter (Chapter 2), an overview of essential theories and concepts (Chapter 3), analyses of the research material (Chapters 4–6), and a conclusion (Chapter 7).

My research lies at the intersection of cultural music studies, narratology, and film music studies. The research material consists of six Finnish films. The films analysed, in chronological order, are Prinsessa Ruusunen (1949, directed by Edvin Laine), Pessi ja Illusia (1954, directed by Jack Witikka), Herra Huu – Jestapa epulis, penikat sipuliks (1973, directed by Jaakko Talaskivi), Pessi ja Illusia (1984, directed by Heikki Partanen), Lumikuningatar (1986, directed by Päivi Hartzell), and Pelikaanimies (2004, directed by Liisa Helminen). The research method used is critical audiovisual close reading, alongside concepts such as the perspective of sound, embodiment, materiality, world-making, and immersion. In my dissertation, I develop the narrative perspective on film music, aiming to explain the captivating nature of these films.

In my research, I concluded that for fairy tale films, their characters and nature are central despite their internal magicality. The soundtracks of these fairy tale films made use of conventional expressive means, but this does not mean that various other expressive tools (such as those used in video games) were not applied. A key aspect of the soundtracks of these films was their unifying, cohesive, and defining role in world-making.