How can I analyze film scores as narrative agents across composers?

[JeffreyKR]

I'm a music student working on my thesis about the evolution of the leitmotif in modern film scores, specifically comparing the thematic approaches of composers like John Williams and Hans Zimmer to newer voices like Hildur Guðnadóttir or Ludwig Göransson. While I can analyze the musical construction, I'm struggling to articulate how these scores function narratively beyond just emotional underscoring, particularly in films where the music acts almost as a character or unreliable narrator. For film scholars or composers, what analytical frameworks do you use to decode the narrative and psychological functions of a film score? Are there specific scenes or films where the score subverts audience expectation in a particularly brilliant way that I should study, and how do you effectively write about the interplay between diegetic and non-diegetic music without resorting to vague descriptive language?