Response to Abby

This is in response to Abby’s question: Is it preferable to have music or no music during a crucial scene in a film? If music is more desirable - is it better for the music to be internal or external to the film?

I think that it is very important to have not only music at crucial points in the film, but it is also important to have the right music at the right time. We, as people, connect music to emotion and use it as a vehicle to convey emotions to others and this is why music is such an important aspect of a movie production. However, music also acts as a form of foreshadowing for the viewer as well.
If you have ever watched a low budget independent film that has little to know musical backdrop, it may feel like it is missing something important, or is just not complete. This might be due to the fact that we have become so accustomed to having the musical backdrop but nonetheless the desire for music is there. The musical score is important to help get across the meaning of the film.
This may sound like an odd reference, but the 1978 film, Halloween, by John Carpenter is a good example of a musical score helping convey emotions in a song. Being a horror film fan, I obtained a copy of the 25th edition a few years ago that had quite extensive list of special features, one of them including a lengthy behind the scenes piece. While watching this special feature, the creator and director John Carpenter mentioned the first time he showed the film to a producer. He was told that the film was simply not that scary, the film, at this point, was also lacking a musical score. At this point they showed a rather famous clip of the movie without the musical addition, and it really wasn’t that scary. After this disappointing meeting, John Carpenter enlisted the aid of a composer, and with a limited knowledge of music himself, they created the famous and ominous score that has become the Halloween theme. This is the only change that Carpenter, and now the film was significantly scarier than before, and has gone down in history as a horror film classic. What made the difference for this movie, as well as others, was the addition of the music. It made the film complete, a whole package.
Adding music to a film also helps create anticipation within the movie, much like chord progressions can do in a song. The music picks up during action scenes, and is slow and melancholic during more depressing scenes. A simple piece of music can change a scene from a sad one to an uplifting one full of potential and hope. The same thing goes for scary movies, which are notorious for building up anticipation and suspense with music to increase the scare factor of the scene. All of these things would be impossible if the creators of the film did not take the time and effort to make sure that the movie not only has a musical score but also the right score.

Question: Which genre of film do you think best utilizes musical composition to increase the feeling of a movie?