A film score which is more commonly known as a film music, background music, or incidental music, is the original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score usually includes dialogue, sound effects and incorporates a number of orchestral, instrumental or choral pieces.
Formal structured songs are not usually considered part of the film’s score they are recognised as the Soundtrack,however some songs especially in musicalsare based on theatrical ideas from the score, scores usually do not have lyrics unless it is being sung by choirs or soloists as part of a cue to enhance the emotion and dramatic elements of the film.
Pop songs that have been adapted for a film which are “needle dropped” into a specific scene in film for added emphasis but is not considered part of the score. However on occasion the film score’s composer will write an original pop song based on the film’s themes, for example James Horner’s “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic, which was written for Celine Dion.
Cues are used through the process of making the piece of the soundtrack so during the film,which is to complement and enhance the dramatic narrative and the emotional impact of the specific scene in the film.Films Scores are usually written by one or more composers with the guidance of film’s director and/ or producer.
The Film Score is usually performed by an ensemble of musicians and usually involves an orchestra, band, instrumental soloists, choir and vocalists. With the finished score the instrumentalists will play the piece which is recorded by a sound engineer.
Film scores incorporate an enormous variety of styles of music, depending on the style of the films they accompany. A major part of film scores are orchestral especiallyin Western classical music. In a number of film scores they have drawn influence from jazz, rock, pop, blues, new-age and ambient music as well as a wide range of ethnic and world music styles. (Since the 1950s, a growing number of scores have also included electronic elements as part of the score, and many scores written today feature a hybrid of orchestral and electronic instruments.
Since the development of digital technology,audio sampling has made many low-budget films reliable on digital samples to replicate the sound of live instruments, by using sophisticated music composition software this is possible.
Bibliography: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_score