First Films with Sound

The Dawn of Talkies

The transition from silent films to talkies in the late 1920s marked a significant turning point in the history of film music.
The first full-length feature film with synchronized dialogue, music, and sound effects was The Jazz Singer released in 1927.
With the advent of sound in film, the music could now be integrated directly into the fabric of the film, enhancing both the storytelling and the emotional content.
This transition to talkies required a new type of musician - the film composer - who gained importance in the film industry.

Technical Innovations

A new system known as Vitaphone was developed by the Warner Brothers company to synchronize sound and picture.
Vitaphone used a separate record disc, synchronized with the film projector, to provide the sound.
Although innovative, the Vitaphone system eventually became obsolete, replaced by sound-on-film systems such as Movietone.
The shift to sound also led to the development of foley - the reproduction of everyday sound effects that are added to films to enhance audio quality.

Impact on Film Music Composition

The addition of sound required the development of underscore, non-diegetic music that supports the action and emotions on screen.
The possibility to integrate music into films led to the emergence of the leitmotif technique, where certain themes, melodies or motives are associated with particular characters or situations.
Film scoring became more complex with the capability to synchronize music precisely to onscreen action, a technique known as Mickey Mousing.
This new era required a collaborative process between directors, composers, and sound technicians to effectively integrate music into the film, shaping the film industry as we know it today.

Key Takeaways

The introduction of sound, or “talkies”, revolutionized the role and significance of music in film.
Technological advances such as Vitaphone and Movietone made it possible to incorporate sound into film, leading to a new era of film scoring.
This period marked the rise of the film composer and resulted in fundamental developments in film composition techniques like underscore and leitmotif.