The main difference between film writers from the 1930s through to the early 1970s is the fundemental understanding of harmonic structure and the build up of an orchestral score.
Sometimes the score can be very sparce and effective, and sometimes it can be full blown and very effective.
There's an argument that these old style scoring methods are not relevent in the 21st century. Indeed, they probably haven't been relevent since the mid 1980s. John Williams actually revitalised the orchestra in the 1970s for a while. He was very influenced by classical works and did not mind borrowing from them. A lot of his scores were also influenced by army band music. Quite strident at times and very much 2/4 march time. What he really excelled at was the writing and use of memorable melodies.
Film producers liked memorable melodies way back. One of their less understandable tricks was to stick a song in a film, almost as if it came out of nowhere. It used to happen a lot more than you would think. It's a selling tool, just as later on, John William's melodies were always synonomous with the film. You hear the music, and you think of the film. Very profitable arrangement.
Into the 1990s and suddenly films were discovered by the ostinato. The ostinato seems at first to be a mild cold, but it soon infects every aspect of filmscore writing and you soon realise this a category 4 outbreak. The ostinato is about as easy a way of scoring as there probably is, next to plain and simple noise.
Plain and simple noise is mostly what you get today. Otherwise known as Sound Design.
So that's where we are today. Sound Design.
Sound Design in film and TV scores is just another way of saying you're an untrained, uncultured monkey that can't write music for shit. What???? I hear the cry.
Well if that's not the case, then fucking prove it.
I sat through a film recently at the cinema called Life. The entire film was awash with fucking noise from beginning to end. It is the worst irritant imaginable. The film was crap which didn't help. The only people that are immune from this illness are under the 25s.