Music’s Role in Cinema, Media, and Musical Theatre
Music and Cinema
Music surrounds us; we listen to it in the most varied forms and contexts. The soundtrack in films has a lot of influence on the image, and on how we perceive the imagery of a film. Sound is emotionally direct, so it is a powerful tool.
Functions of Music in Films
- Illustrating movement
- Creating plot relationships
- Creating atmosphere
- Portraying emotions
- Social, cultural, and geographic references
- Time and period references
- Connecting scenes and montages
- Altering the perception of time
- Creating contradictions
- Parody
History of Music in Cinema
Before the 1930s
Before the invention of the “talking picture,” all movies were completely silent. The Jazz Singer, released in 1927 by Warner Brothers, was the first to include an audio track.
The 1930s
Introduction of “western music”.
The 1940s-1950s
The 1940s was the golden period of soundtracks from Hollywood with its symphonic music. Examples of this are: Casablanca (1942) and High Noon (1952).
The 1960s-1970s
In this period, the idea of using a song to identify a film began. A good example of this is The Pink Panther (1964). In the 1970s, there was also a tendency to use fashionable pop music in films: American Graffiti and Apocalypse Now.
The 1980s and the 1990s
More popular. Examples of this music are: Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
Musical Theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. Musicals are performed all around the world. They may be presented in large venues, such as the West End in London and Broadway in New York. One of the most famous composers was George Gershwin.
Musical Cinema
In the 1960s, the success of the films West Side Story, Singing in the Rain, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, and The Sound of Music.
Music in Disney’s Films
Everyone knows about Walt Disney’s great contribution to animation and entertainment. He was the man with the dream and the vision.
Diegetic and Non-Diegetic Music in Films
Diegetic music is any sound that the character or characters on screen can hear. Music whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film:
- Music represented as coming from instruments in the story space, the radio, a CD player, etc. (= source music)
Non-diegetic music is any sound that the audience can hear but the characters on screen cannot. Any appearance of background music is a prime example of non-diegetic sound.
Music in Advertisement
The function of music in advertising: entertainment, memorability, targeting and authority establishment, interaction of music and brand.
Music in the Media
The Radio
Guglielmo Marconi sent radio signals for the first time in 1901.
Television
Commercially available since the late 1920s. In Spain, the first TV emission was in 1956, and in Catalonia, TV3 started its emission in 1983.
Cinema
The Frenchman Louis Lumière is often credited as inventing the first motion picture camera in 1895.
Sound Inventions Timeline
- 1838: Telegraph (Samuel Morse)
- 1876: Telephone (Alexander Graham Bell)
- 1877: Phonograph (Thomas Edison)
- 1895: Cinema (Louis Lumière)
- 1920: Radio
- 1926: Television