During this time, all acting was visual, and the non-diegetic sound conveyed just as much meaning as an actor's facial expressions or body language.
Film has evolved a lot since these early days. Nowadays filmmakers can use sound in a variety of ways unconstrained by the technical limitations that were forced upon the silent film era.
For one, sound is recorded when filming, so actors can speak now. And a lot of acting lies in one's voice, whether it's their tone, their choice to emphasise certain words, or even their accent. And while soundtracks are still important, they can often go unnoticed or be forgotten about in the face of the actors' performances.
Some films of course make it impossible for their soundtrack to be missed. Think back to the epic Jurassic Park (1993) moment where the music builds up the first time they see the dinosaurs. And there's obviously a lot more examples, particularly with big blockbuster or franchise films. Sometimes they don't end up so well though, as pressure to add in iconic and epic music means forcing it into scenes that don't match the music. Now think back to Jurassic World (2015), where the epic music plays when nothing epic is even happening and we don't see any dinosaurs.
Some movies even use music and sound as a piece of storytelling. Think to the trumpet sounds of Inception (2010) slowing down to the iconic BWAAAAAH when they enter the dreamscape and time slows down. It's a great use of music that's both diegetic, signalling a warning to the characters that time's running out, and it's a non-diegetic tool to get audiences nervously shuffling on the edges of their seats. (And, of course, it's been endlessly copied by other movies in their trailers or tense moments).
Mixing diegetic and non-diegetic sound then seems to be a fun plaything for film makers. Think to a scene where a song plays in the background and then someone reaches to switch off the radio and suddenly the music stops. Some films do a great job at mixing in between diegetic and non- together, like in the beginning of Atonement (2007) when the opening sequence seamlessly turns the clicking of a typewriter into song.
More recently, there was Baby Driver (2017), where the music was the backbone of the movie. The mix between diegetic and non- was unclear, similar to how it is in musicals. And this movie was just like an action musical. The non-diegetic music wasn't there just to set the tone of the scene. It actually dictated the directing, the camerawork, the acting, and even the diegetic sound of the film. The soundtrack didn't follow the gunshots or the timing of when car doors were slammed, it was the other way around. Everything revolved around the beat of the music.
All this seems to signal just how important sound is to a movie, both diegetic and non-diegetic. But modern filmmaking has started to take whatever we're comfortable and familiar with, and has changed it to create new forms of art.
One movie that does exactly this is No Country for Old Men (2007). It goes against typical filmmaking convention by having hardly any music in the film. Including the credits, it has a total of 16 minutes of music, and it's a 2 hour movie.
I think usually soundtracks go unnoticed to me unless they really stand out, for good or for bad, but when I watched this film I don't recall realising it had no music. Granted, I was only probably about 13 or so years old, and I may have even found the movie quite boring and forgettable (except two things: Javier Bardem's pressurised air gun, and Javier Bardem checking his shoes).
I may or may not rewatch that movie, but if I do I may find that the lack of music would indeed create the same amount of tension as music normally does. It's funny, it seems in this movie, filmmaking has done a complete 180 from the days of the silent film. Back then, there was no diegetic sound and only non-diegetic music. With No Country for Old Men, it's the opposite.
Now it seems we're coming full circle again. Or, almost. Last year's The Shape of Water paid an homage to the silent film, with its two main characters being mute. We relied on their acting prowess, subtitles, and the film's score (which is amazing, totally listen to it please), just like how we would have for silent movies.
Similarly, in this year's A Quiet Place, its characters can't make any sound. Well, they can, if they want horrible monsters with terribly acute hearing to hunt them down. Here, we're actually negatively associating sound; we don't want there to be any sound in the movie. Sound is bad. The movie has totally flipped what we're traditionally so familiar with, and has turned it into something we can no longer trust.
I think that's what makes A Quiet Place so interesting. The premise itself is interesting, but they wouldn't have been able to explore it if they didn't use long stretches of near silence in this film. It's great seeing films taking risks and doing things differently. Sure, when it doesn't work, it can make a pretty terrible film, but when it's pulled off well, it makes for some damn good cinema.
