Victor-Antonio Ali

At which point did sound start dictating our visual emotions? The background music in Invasion of the body snatchers was frequent and fast paced. It was loud and slightly annoying; this probably unconsciously affected a lot of earlier viewers by agitating them, thus making it easier to keep them in suspense and instill fear. We do have to remember originally this was a B movie, not until later did it become a classic. So was the sound that many students found distracting just an element of poorer production standards?

Guilty by Suspicion was blunt with its social commentary by directly addressing the 1950’s Blacklist. The choice of music in this film was very intriguing, not by its style, but more in the sense of how they used it as a tool. It felt almost as if it was a comedic element. The lyrics of the songs (such as, Straighten up and fly right, Just a lucky so and so, Easy come easy go) were in direct correlation with the story plot. At some points the lyrics were used as foreshadowing, in others they were almost like a direct side narration of the plot. I don’t think I’ve ever really noticed movies doing this. Apparently old westerns did something similar where the intro song was basically a recap of the whole story. (? Or was the intro song from Blazing Saddles just a direct parody on a certain movie)

Bad Day at Black Rock was a western that definitely didn’t do this. That is if it was even a western at all. It had a sandy small desert town and cowboys, but the story progression and plot gave it more of a thriller feel. In this movie they barley used any music. The void of music as a tool is one of my favorite ones. My appreciation for it came from watching Japón (directed by, Carlos Raygads). I think the movies Y tu mamá también and Diarios des Motocicleta also used music in this way. It can be interpreted as serenity, tension, melancholy or other emotions depending on its context. Music often manipulates our emotions before we reason our selves what’s going on. The lack of music creates less of a distraction from what’s happening on the screen, leaving emotion to be interpreted through the eye. This may very well be a reason behind the use of so much visual detail in a lot of the scenes.

When music becomes so insipid and emotionless by the corporations’ statistical control on what gets put out, what will music’s power as an emotional tool in film become?