Music plays a big part in any production. It is very rare that you will see any production nowadays that doesn't contain music or a soundtrack. Music is used in a variety of ways in film and television. It can be used to create pace, set a mood, add tension and sometimes tell a story.
Often, if copyright issues are addressed correctly, a production may contain work of a known music artist. If the soundtrack fits the scene then it will save the producers from having to create a soundtrack, also having a soundtrack made by an artist can create synergy between the artist and the production.
An example of this would be the soundtrack, 'Pursuit of Happiness' remix by Kid Cudi and Steve Aoki, in the teenage party thrill ride production 'Project X', a film about a house party blown out of control. Though it is used in the trailer it is also used in the main party scene of the film as its beat, mood and crescendo build ups fit the scenes of drunken partying, extreme stunts and explicit action. having this soundtrack star in the film both popularized the production and the artists .
More often than not a soundtrack has to be produced for a scene, and again this is reflective of the mood, the action and pace of the scene. Orchestral music is often used for this. John Williams, the composer of the Star Wars soundtracks is assigned to design a piece of music based on the action and mood of the scene. this means that the soundtrack can be added to existing footage, meaning the music's beat is composed to that of the footage, or the soundtrack is composed and the footage is cut to the beat of the music.
This scene in 'Star Wars -The Phantom Menace' is fast paced and is very intense. These aspects are emphasized by the music added. The sound of trumpets and the choir varying the pitch of the soundtrack goes hand in hand with the action captured in the scene.
In this scene from 'Hot Fuzz' the soundtrack is used to show the mood of the scene and how quickly it can change. There is positive cheerful music being played whilst Sergeant Angel is jogging which is quickly replaced by dark sinister music when the suspected murderer jogs next to him, mentioning to be a 'Slasher'.
Recording a soundtrack for any scene can be done in separate ways. The simplest and quickest is to create a soundtrack using a software like garage band or Sibelius, where a producer can create music with individual instruments and piece them together.
To get more depth from the music a producer may record an actual band or artist. In this case, each instrument must have a number of microphones surrounding them so that each sound can be picked up. This is often more time consuming because each take must be perfect without any mess ups, and with large bands like orchestras, it often takes a few tries.
In recording and in editing the sound mixer must check that the levels of each instrument and the overall all sound are correct and do not peak or crackle.
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