Soundtrack is highly important to any moving image. It makes a huge difference to a scene when it is shown without one. This is due to the fact that soundtracks help to set the scene for a film, television programme, even a play and will change your whole viewing experience. There are different types of sounds seen in these productions. There are Diegetic, External diegetic, Internal diegetic and Non-diegetic sounds.
The Diegetic sound is anything that is part of the story that you can see is being made on screen. So for example a tiger thumping its paws on the ground would be diegetic. Also people speaking would be diegetic, and even someone playing an instrument would be diegetic. In short it is anything that is part of the story.
External Diegetic sound is a sound that comes from a physical source within the story that we assume the other characters can hear. For example there could be a generator humming that has little to do with the scene but the characters can hear it.
Internal Diegetic sound is a sound that comes from the mind of the character that only that one character can hear. Take the original Carrie film for example, towards the end of the film the main character "Carrie" has pig blood dumped on her as a prank. And in her rage she can only hear the dripping of said blood on the floor and hears none of the others laughter, or screams as they are killed.
Non-Diegetic sound Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action. For example narrator's commentary, sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect and mood sound.
Jaws
Take the film Jaws for example. We all know the soundtrack for this film, we all know the "Budum, budum," it makes and adds the tension to the scene with the shark, you could watch the first few scenes in the film where it does not show the shark but know it is near just because of this soundtrack, and you keep watching, letting your tension build until the scene arrives where you finally see that blood thirsty shark and it delivers an impact on you that wouldn't be nearly as effective without the soundtrack. Just imagine watching the film where the only sounds are that which are caught on camera, this being dialogue, waves and some background noise. Imagine just seeing the underwater shots where there is barely anything to hear. It would build little to no tension and would be pretty boring to watch.
Sounds used in Jaws are the waves and open sea sounds of the ocean. The underwater sounds of the shark swimming. Screams of its victims (Especially in the beach scene). And a lot more. This all sets the scene of the film perfectly. The open sea sounds work as a big tension builder, this is due to the fact that when you are so far out to sea where all you can hear is ocean sounds then there will be no one around to hear you scream. There is a big use of Foley sounds in this film with the shark scenes. The sound footage caught was of little to no use in the film as when editing the sound jumped. This lead to a Foley sound team to record ocean sounds. Bring in people to scream in terror to a microphone for the beach scene and record underwater sounds.
The sounds used provide a large atmosphere of fear and suspense to the viewers. The classic soundtrack of the film that almost everyone knows is the "Budum Budum" sound which was a huge tension builder as the tempo increased with it as the shark got closer and closer. This left the viewers of the edge of their seats while watching. When you think about it like this the actual shark had very little to do with creating a terrifying atmosphere with the film, as these scenes with this classic soundtrack had not even shown the shark at first and it terrifies audiences.
In this sample from the film we can see that the scene starts out nice and calm, the music is a happy melody to lure the audience into a false sense of security. But that quickly changes after they get into the water. Soon after everyone is pretty far away from the shallow water the happy melody stops and the iconic soundtrack seen above this video starts. Now just note that a scene where the movie monster attacks and kills during the day had not been seen previous to this much, if at all, so that added with the tension building soundtrack created a truly terrifying scene for the time. Finally in the last few seconds there is a high pitched sound as it zooms on the mans face showing his sudden alert to the situation. These sounds although are not noticed much at first watch provide a larger range of emotion for the viewers in this scene. They start all calm thinking that they know the shark will not attack during the day, but then the music stops which gets them thinking whats happening, then there is the single "Budum" which then get them on the edge of their seats thinking "Oh no" very surprised at the sudden change of the scene. Also note again that they had not seen a movie death in day time before this film.
Catfish
A very successful documentary where a small group of guy start off making it about a talented little girl only to discover that she doesn't exist and it is a fake persona put on by a lonely couple in another part of the country. Watching the documentary you do not notice the soundtrack much until the end. And the soundtrack changes your whole opinion of the couple who lied about who they were. When they are talking about why they did it the soundtrack adds to it by making you feel sorry for them and understand why they did it to a certain extent.
This is very cleverly done as it not only sums up what the production is about but it also plays with your emotions. If you haven't seen the documentary then by watching this you have a sympathy for this man and hope things work out for him. If you watch the whole thing then by the time you get to this scene you have a pretty good opinion of these people, but the soundtrack of the piece works with that but changes it. You will most likely have sympathy for these people. Not for this scene alone but also for others that came before this at the end of the documentary.
To summarise, in visual media the soundtrack is highly important in creating a mood. It works the viewers emotions and can make or break the finished production in terms of viewer-ship and discussion of the project. Without soundtrack there is a whole new mood and it isn't nearly as effective on the audience as it is with the soundtrack.
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