Imagine watching a movie with no music. No not one of those old fashioned black and white silent films from the 1920s, but a movie like Mission Impossible or Rocky. Sounds pretty unexciting right?

Music can be just as important to a movie as the movie itself. Music can be used to create the emotion of the events that are taking place during the film. Even silent films (which I referenced in the first paragraph) often featured live music during showings and music within the film to establish the mood and give the audience essential emotional cues.

What’s the Score?

Over the years there have been some memorable film scores. A film score refers to the music in the film that is usually separate from the songs used in the film. Not any ordinary person with a keyboard and a drum kit can compose a film score. Complete orchestras and ensembles are often necessary for film scores, and this process takes a lot of work and musical proficiency. Especially if you plan to release a film score for sale! Films like the Godfather, Star Wars, and Jaws have all released orchestral soundtracks with little to no actual songs. The James Horner composed “Titanic” soundtrack became the highest selling primarily orchestral film score of all time and has sold almost 30 million copies worldwide (Of course it didn’t hurt that the Celine Dion smash single “My Heart Will Go On” was featured on the record and as the theme song for the movie).

“That one song from that one movie”

“Well you can tell by the way I use my walk, I’m a woman’s man, no time to talk.” What comes to mind when you hear these lyrics from the Bee Gees song “Staying Alive? Many people, including myself, picture John Travolta walking down the street at the beginning of the movie “Saturday Night Fever.” The movie became a huge success and so did the soundtrack. The soundtrack’s single was used to help promote the film before its release and the film helped to make the soundtrack album go platinum 15 times in the United States alone. There are many songs that are first introduced to us right before the release of a big movie and it really helps both the recording artists and the film makers. “Gangsta’s Paradise” by Coolio became one of the biggest hits of all time when it was featured not only on his album (of the same title), but also on the soundtrack for the 1995 movie Dangerous Minds. The song appeared on commercials for the movie and in the actual movie. Had that song not been a part of the movie, the film probably wouldn’t have been as successful (even though Michele Pfeiffer is hot).

Audio and Visual

There are many movies that have great plots, great actors and great visual effects, but without the right film score and/or soundtrack they are really limiting their success. If you are an aspiring filmmaker you must consider this fact. Even if you are making an independent film, the right music can really make or break your production. While many independent filmmakers may not have the budget to afford big name composers, there are options such as www.onfirebeats.com that can create movie scores for filmmakers with smaller budgets.

Streets is Watching

While standard music videos have promoted artists for years, some artists have actually released their own films to showcase their music and show people their concept of the music. In 1983 the film Pink Floyd The Wall (based on the 1979 album of the same name) was released. The screenplay was written by Pink Floyd vocalist and bassist Roger Waters. The film features very little conversation and mainly consists of Pink Floyds music and symbolic imagery. It is more of a long-form music video than a traditional film, but with a run time of 95 minutes it is longer than a standard music video. Streets is Watching is a 1998 film featuring Jay-Z rapping and acting out scenes to his own music. The film gives fans an inside look at his creativity as well as an introduction of his former label mates Memphis Bleek and Beanie Sigel, and his two former colleagues Damon Dash and Kareem “Biggs” Burke. He also released a soundtrack of the same name.

Entertainment is an amazing luxury that is continuously evolving and improving. While there are many forms of entertainment this is a fact; anytime you put the right movie with the right music, you have a winning combination! There are many examples of movies and music joining forces and there will be many more in years to come. Now if you’ll excuse me I am about to watch Rocky 3 and workout to “Eye of the Tiger!”