Music in Movies, Commercials and Video Games

These days, a lot of the entertainment industry is all about movies, TV shows, video games and in between, commercials, ads and much more. The truth is that while the visual side of all these forms of art is essential, what would it all be without music? There is a different approach to music when the final product has to be in sync with the story or message that is being told visually, in this regard, music accentuates, adds or even complicates things to the overall experience.

It’s not hard to think about iconic soundtracks, with some very known and loved in cinema such as Star Wars, 007, Kill Bill, series such as Star Trek, The Twilight Zone and many more. There are also many iconic soundtracks that most people are able to recognize such as Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter.

Of course, the approach is different depending on which type or art or entertainment the music is for, let’s dive into some aspects of each one of them.

Movies

The first movie ever to have a musical score was “Don Juan” which was released  in 1926, a year later with “The Jazz Singer” sound and music became part of what made these films so amazing. From that moment on, films were usually accompanied by music, even before actors spoke lines of dialogues. It was clear that music helped represent the story and deliver a more compelling experience to the viewer and now listener.

These days it’s such an integral part of the industry that awards are given to the best musical score every year and many talented musicians work most of their time giving life to the sound of the stories that movies tell, and sometimes being the story itself, as it is with musicals.

TV

While it’s very similar,TV shows work a little different, and a lot of this has to do with show’s intros and credits scene, because not only does it needs to represent the show and display a very defined identity, but it will also sound every single time the show is on air. This makes music divert a little from the art and more into the business side of things, since it has to be catchy and promote the show itself every time it’s music comes on air and through commercials.

This of course extends to cartoons such as Looney Tunes,and Hanna-Barbera productions, which have very memorable melodies.

Commercials

Commercials’ music or jingles, were all about being catchy and short, while giving a sense of happiness and drawing the viewer in through emotion, while the eyes see the real product.

Video Game Soundtrack

At first, video games featured very simple tunes, as the technology did not allowed a great quality to be included in the game, however as time went by, music in video games began to take a place similar to movies, with the difference of being more dynamic. What this means is that music didn’t just play at certain moments, it played when you made the moments happen. A good early example of this is with Sonic the Hedgehog, a game in which you had the general soundtrack of a level, but if you picked up a speed power up, the music changed to the tone of going faster, or if you started to drown, the music change to a more stress like, soundtrack, as well as more dramatic music when encountering more powerful enemies.

Being a musician actually has many branches,and there is no doubt that working on musical scores and soundtracks has a lot to cover nowadays, you just have to let yourself explore.