To realize fully the foundation of what we now recognize as an effective film score it is important to examine the music behind a silent film. No film was actually ever completely silent. There may not have been the type of soundtrack that we are accustomed to, however, the music was always essential to a movie. In the earliest days of film the music was played on a phonograph. The phonograph was an invention that did not last long in the world of film. Next was the use of a vitaphone, which also did not play a lasting role in the movie industry.
Following the use of the vitaphone was the use of live musicians. The live music came about as the movies were becoming a little more common in the mid 1930's. The films began to be played commercially in Vaudeville houses, cafes, and music halls where musician's were already hired to play in the musical concerts that evening. Because the musicians were already there they were asked if they would play along with the film. In the Vaudeville houses there was no specific place for them to sit so they sat seated at the front, in front of the screen. Even after theaters were built to show the moving pictures a space was created at the front where the musicians were to sit. Because the musicians were inexperienced with accompanying films they played what they liked or what they knew. This made it uncommon that the music actually fit with the action on the screen. The musicians paid little attention to the film and played arbitrarily. This meant that often a serious or dramatic scene would be occurring on the screen wile the musician played something comical or something that belonged to a scene with a car chase. .
Sound-effects men were soon added to the sounds behind a film. This would be a man that created noises, e.g. train whistles and bells, fire engine bells, gun shots, explosions, cannon fire, etc. in order to add realism to the film. This made movie-going more popular which in turn improved the standard of movie-making.
