Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein

The movie Frankenstein used very little music throughout the entire film. There was no underscoring at all, which at times made the movie seem undramatic. The lack of foreboding or ominous music also made the characters seem like they were often overreacting to the situation because the audience was not as involved in the tension. The opening credits of Frankenstein did have music though which set the tone for the entire film. The music was done in minor chords and it was loud and foreboding. The very first scene also had music, but the sounds were ominous church bells in the distance. There was a long period without any music that lasted for close to 45 minutes. Then towards the end diagetic music could be heard in the form of church bells when Henry was getting ready for his wedding, and street musicians who were playing for the dancers. The use of music helped to enhance the mood of these scenes. However, since the music was coming from a source it didn't stop when the mood changed, so the joyful church bells sounded out of place when Henry and the town were looking for the monster.

The almost constant use of underscoring in The Bride of Frankenstein was a drastic contrast to Frankenstein. The underscoring really helped to draw the audience into the action of the movie, and it made the tensions and trials seem stronger and more important than the struggles that were experienced in Frankenstein. The music created a mood with a sense of danger, fear, and impending doom. It also helped the audience to understand what the monster was thinking. When the monster was angry the music was loud, low, and in a minor key. In the scene with the blind man, the music was soft and light leading the audience into a sense of security that the monster was not going to harm the blind man. The overall tone of the music in The Bride of Frankenstein was much lighter than in Frankenstein. Even the opening credits had a hopeful melody. There were also many times throughout the movie where the music was triumphant sounding, and whenever the monster first saw a girl the music became sweet, wistful, and romantic.

Overall, I preferred the use of underscoring in the movie. It might have been because I am so used to watching movies with underscoring that I depend on it, but I didn't feel like Frankenstein was more relalistic without the underscoring because then it seemed overacted. After watching the two movies back to back I was really surprised to find how important music is to a film. I have never paid very close attention to the score of a movie, but after not having much of one in Frankenstein, I really appreciated it in the sequel.