Music and Film

The use of music in film is a necessary element to understanding what the director wants you to see and feel. Without the element of Music in film we would simply float on through climatic and suspenseful scenes that are pivotal in building the characters and picture as a whole. Throughout film history the ways that music in movies has changed has adapted significantly making the role of music in a film increasingly important. Through the use of silence some directors have made tremendously captivating scenes by using no music at all while other movies certainly would never come close to suspenseful without the help of a tune. I would like to focus on how the art of music for the screen is in fact a necessity in most cases to conveying the "right" feelings for the viewer. And how in some cases silence can do the job just fine.
Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, would the film be better or worse with music or the silence that was originally used for it? Just to clear that statement up there are use of sound effects in The Birds that a composer did make but there is no music in a sense. I'm not sure if there is any way of knowing but either way I want to dig into the process of applying the music to a film. I feel that it is something that is definitely overlooked by many viewers and is taken for granted.
Some might argue that music is only a "filler" and doesn't play that large of a role in the overall viewing experience. I would instead argue for instance; that if Mike Myers would not have had his famous entrance song would he have been as scary? If you were to press mute how would the scene make you feel? You probably wouldn't be on the edge of your seat. While other scenes like in Silence of the Lambs where Clarice is in the basement of Buffalo Bills house and he is watching Clarice through his night vision goggles; she has no idea he is there and it is silent except for maybe her breathing; if there was music in that scene it would totally kill the eeriness of his presence.
Throughout the film directors have had their favorite composers some will only work with one while others try to change from movie to movie. We know that music is an important part of a film but how important? Would you not have the same experience if there had been different music? Would that music make the movie better or worse and can we be sure that you can even answer that?Do actors affect a directors or composers style or type of score they want to make. Can the actor influence something in this way? Can different shots provoke different sounds? And how can a composer know where to start and what will fit? (cont for paper)