The soundtrack is one of the key elements when making a film because music goes along with the story and helps to tell it. It is what usually provides the emotional charge and makes the viewer get into the story, identify with the characters, and get excited.
The composer must work hand in hand with the director, since the latter is the one who must tell what they want to convey and how and the composer has to be able to translate what the director wants to show. Sometimes existing songs are used, but they are related to what is happening and therefore are integrated in a meaningful way.
Other influential factors when creating or choosing music are the time period in which the story takes place, the geographical location of the action of the film and the musical tastes of the characters.
For example, in Brahms: The Boy II, a horror film, we hear on different occasions sounds that immerse ourselves in an atmosphere of fear and constant hypervigilance. On the other hand, in The United States vs Billie Holiday, we mainly find jazz songs in the soundtrack that pay tribute to the famous singer of this genre. In fact, the song Tigress & Tweed earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song.
Another film that has scored an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song is Minari. Emile Mosseri is the composer and he has stood out with his work on the Homecoming series and films like Kajillionaire and The Last Black Man In San Francisco.
All in all, we can say that some of the main functions of music in a film are: to set the mood of the story, to contribute to the psychological development of the characters, to connect two scenes, to make it clearer to understand what is happening and to emotionally engage the viewer.
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