Movies Without Music
Have you ever wondered what movies would be like without music? Can you imagine Star Wars, Jaws, or the Indiana Jones films without John Williams rousing scores? What about Psycho without Bernard Herrman's screeching strings, or Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet without Nino Rota's haunting melodies?
Even when movies were silent they were never truly silent but always accompanied by a pianist or even a full orchestra to sweep the audience into what they were watching. As "talkies" took over it wasn't long before filmmakers realized that they could enhance the mood of their films and create the proper reponse from their audience by applying the right music at the right time. What would a mystery picture be without the dun, dun, daawww, or the action film without the fanfare that accompanies a hero as he jumps to the rescue?
Why, music is so powerful in movies, it even inspired its own genre with the introduction of the movie musical. Originally songs were added to increase the entertainment value and the length of the film, but it wasn't long before filmmakers realized they could add songs that would continue the story and not merely interupt it. The next time you watch the Wizard of Oz try turning the sound off during those wonderful songs by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg- What your left with is a good movie, but not a great one.
Truly great movie music transports you into the story without bringing too much attention to itself. In fact a successful score becomes so much a part of the viewing experience that it should be difficult to imagine the film without it. Walt Disney understood this which is why so many of his films have left us with indelible mental images that just hearing a bit of "You can Fly" takes us on a journey with Peter Pan, or "When you wish upon a star" and suddenly our minds are filled with images of Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket.
As long as there are truly great movies there will continue to be truly great music and audiences around the world will continue to enjoy the marriage of these two story tellers for generations to come.
Even when movies were silent they were never truly silent but always accompanied by a pianist or even a full orchestra to sweep the audience into what they were watching. As "talkies" took over it wasn't long before filmmakers realized that they could enhance the mood of their films and create the proper reponse from their audience by applying the right music at the right time. What would a mystery picture be without the dun, dun, daawww, or the action film without the fanfare that accompanies a hero as he jumps to the rescue?
Why, music is so powerful in movies, it even inspired its own genre with the introduction of the movie musical. Originally songs were added to increase the entertainment value and the length of the film, but it wasn't long before filmmakers realized they could add songs that would continue the story and not merely interupt it. The next time you watch the Wizard of Oz try turning the sound off during those wonderful songs by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg- What your left with is a good movie, but not a great one.
Truly great movie music transports you into the story without bringing too much attention to itself. In fact a successful score becomes so much a part of the viewing experience that it should be difficult to imagine the film without it. Walt Disney understood this which is why so many of his films have left us with indelible mental images that just hearing a bit of "You can Fly" takes us on a journey with Peter Pan, or "When you wish upon a star" and suddenly our minds are filled with images of Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket.
As long as there are truly great movies there will continue to be truly great music and audiences around the world will continue to enjoy the marriage of these two story tellers for generations to come.
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