As soon as the first films appeared, it seemed incredible because the picture on the screen was changing. But after a short time, the pioneers of cinema – the Lumiere brothers, Thomas Edison, and Georges Méliès – realized that there was nowhere without sound (Haider, 2020). Loud projectors make it difficult to watch even silent films, and the growing popularity of cinema required new solutions so that the director could convey his idea to the viewer.
At first, the synchronization of the picture and sound was very lame, and the problem was hidden in separate image and sound media, low volume of audio tracks, and their illegibility. When the need for music in the cinema was no longer denied, cinematographers began to compile lists of recommendations for the film, which consisted of popular melodies of that time. This list was passed to the musicians, and they performed the prepared music in the suitable episodes, as the author intended (Haider, 2020). Although rare, it happened that a composer worked on the soundtrack, composing melodies according to the director’s idea.
The critical role of melody in cinema is the leitmotif of the hero or circumstances. This is very vividly represented in George Lucas’ Star Wars, where there is a considerable number of events and heroes (Williams, 2018). Music helps because each side of the force has its melody; the rebels also composed their leitmotif. The perception of the plot became much easier, and the music later became a cult. Don Davis, who created the soundtrack of the cyberpunk trilogy “Matrix,” was also able to create a separate musical world. Tense, dynamic, sometimes disturbing – the melodies were written by the composer fit very organically into the visual range of the film.
Music for films is often explicitly written, but song-based soundtracks are no less popular among directors. Ansani et al. (2020) claim that music in films creates a confident attitude of the audience to the characters and helps interpret some scenes. Quentin Tarantino was a bright adherent of this style, who ordered the composer music for his films. As in Tarantino’s films, music can also be a full-fledged participant in the action. It is present in the characters’ life and most often occurs because of one or another screen action: the heroine of Uma Thurman herself turns on a tape recorder with a song. Moreover, the hero of the movie “Jackie Brown” launches a cassette with a particular track in the car before committing a murder. People can watch their favorite movies dozens of times and listen to good soundtracks hundreds or even thousands of times.
In conclusion, it is unimaginable for people to receive absolute pleasure from a movie in modern times if there are no soundtracks in it. The soundtrack can become much more attractive for some than the film itself. It is impossible to mention all the brilliant soundtracks or musicians and directors who delicately choose accompaniment for different scenes. Music can calm or frighten, make someone laugh or upset to tears, make the viewer a criminal or a savior. Soundtracks make the film more interesting, vivid, and easy to perceive. If one imagines that the film is a house, then the script will be the foundation, the walls will be the camerawork, the music will become the roof, without which no house will be habitable. Without one of these components, a promising film can easily become a failure. And there probably is not a single truly great movie without decent music.
References
Ansani, A., Marini, M., D’Errico, F., and Poggi, I. (2020). How soundtracks shape what we see: Analyzing the influence of music on visual scenes through self-assessment, eye tracking, and pupillometry. Frontiers Psychology, 11(2242), 1-18. Web.
Haider, A. (2020). What makes the ultimate film soundtrack? BBC. Web.
Williams, J. (2018). Main title [Video file]. Web.