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Music and film are very close art forms. Both operate in terms of dynamics, rhythm, and pace, and can potentially weave together to create something greater than both alone. Generally, the music should be an integral element in the film, at once independent, and essential.
When faced with the task of writing music for a film, the composer is faced with several choices.
The music can serve to reflect—or otherwise enhance—either the surface action of the film, or the depth of its characters. It can emphasize an event, an emotion, or an idea by either underlining what isn't already obvious, or by contrast and contradiction. The music can primarily express either an over-arching idea or theme, or it can focus mainly on very specific and particular elements, such as a character's emotions. Usually, the composer will try balance both.
The dystopic film generally aims to depict an unfamiliar world that is a result of familiar practices and values. The music to such a film will successfully acknowledge this fact.
"Music can 'enhance' a film in many ways, but for me it is at its most interesting when it argues with the image rather than underlining it, and therefore demands to be heard in its own right. The argument can be between contradictory atmospheres; softness where the scene is hard, spaciousness where the scene is claustrophobic, or lyricism where the scene is emotionally or physically violent. Alternatively, the argument can lead to cross-referencing, where the music brings surprising meanings, jokes, or associations to the image. In this way a sort of meaning-mosaic can be built up and connections made that otherwise would not be evident or possible. The least interesting and most traditional use of music on film tends to be emotionally descriptive of the scene we are watching, an is specifically designed not to be heard at a conscious level. But emotionally descriptive music can be wonderfully interesting when pushed to an extreme, for example in The Cranes Are Flying (1957),directed by Mikhail Kalatozov."
- Sally Potter
A score will fail if, rather than adding a distinct and important element to an already effective imagery, it is merely an attempt to make up for the film's shortfalls in other areas of production.
Redundant music can absolutely put to pieces the work of actors. Ultimately what I think is if the emotion is in the acting, or in the images, or in a combination of both ( = directing) and that's what we supposedly aim for, then it shouldn't need music... Music should be organically linked to the very substance of a film, it should come from inside and not be a coating. Meaning that as every element of a film it should contribute its own dimension : express something that is not expressed by the other elements.
-Olivier Assayas
In short:
... when you add a piece of music to a scene, and if it's just the right piece of music, hitting at just the right instant ... you've given that scene an extra dimension, a sense of mystery, of life beyond the frame, that it would not have had otherwise. Of course, that's very hard to do. It requires a lot of concentration. Because it's very easy for the music to become a kind of security blanket, for the filmmakers and then for the audience. It's bad enough when it's used for nostalgic purposes, or when it's used to place a scene in time, but there's nothing worse than when music is used to tell the audience what they should be feeling. Unfortunately, it happens all the time."
-Martin Scorsese
http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/filmmusic/scoring.php
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