The world’s universal language, music, has had an intricate relationship with film performance, even before the inception of sound in film. Despite this close association, its use in cinematic tradition isn’t uniform. This lack of uniformity serves as a means to distinguish between traditions. The musical dimension is one of the principal levels on which the film communicates with the audience. Filmmakers pay close attention to the sound design to amalgamate aesthetics with realism which brings to life the harmony between sound and other elements of the film. The study of the use of music in films is when put differently, is the study of the artistic society in which the film is made.
By the 1920s, the art of silent films had reached its aesthetic pinnacle: very profound emotional and plot nuances could be conveyed without the utilization of any accompanying dialogue. The problems accompanying the adaptation of sound in films were two – synchronisation and amplification. The early sound cameras and equipment were big and noisy, and had to be kept in their own soundproof room, called a ‘blimp.’ Eventually, microphones were mounted on a stick – called a ‘boom’, which slightly increased the range of dialogue. Even then, very early sound films tended to be very static because actors had to speak to an almost static mike, and camera movement no longer was fluid. Silent film writers found it difficult to find the right balance between action and dialogue. Studios feared losing the international audience that had followed silent films. The advent of sound in films also implied several other changes: scenarists became dialogue writers and many types of verbal comedy could now be implemented successfully.
Also, the genre of musicals was made possible. After most quandaries cognate to implementation of sound were solved, the technology became another element that filmmakers could play with to make filmgoing even more pleasurable than it had been.
Music can put a judgement on certain movie scenes, distinguishing sad, funny, heroic moments of the movie. In the early days of film music, music served as a means to comment on different images. But presently, it is used in a more clever manner to push the audience in the right direction and establish plot connections. Connection of plot points is attained by awarding different scenes thematic identities. For example, ominous music if played can give the audience a sense of foreboding. Creation of atmosphere is one of the principal functions of music in movies which assists the setting up of the tone of the movie. Just the background score enables the audience to learn the genre and context intended. This also enables the creation of plot twists, a very important part of many modern movies.
