Unit 38 Soundtrack production for the moving image

Unit 38 Soundtrack production for the moving image

In this assignment I am going to be analyzing the elements of sound in different scenes from moving image productions. This will include scenes from movies and television programmes, postproduction studio sound and live location sound.  I will be talking about why certain sounds are used in specific scenes and using key terms to analyse these scenes.

When I am talking about the specific times, these are relevant in the linked YouTube video rather than the actual timings in the film.

The first film that I am going to be analyzing the film Children of Men specifically the car scene where they are being shot at. YouTube link for this scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfBSncUspBk . At the beginning of the car scene, the first thing that the audience hears is some energetic and fast paced music. This music in the scene is diegetic as it is coming from the stereo system in the car meaning that characters in the film are also hearing the music. I think that this sound mix was included in the scene because it shows all of the characters together and suggests that Julian and Theo are re-connecting with each other and makes the audience think that they might get back together. The music coming from the car can be heard up until 1.28. At this moment in the scene, a car can be seen crashing and an explosion is heard. As the crash is seen, the music cut off which highlights to the audience how sudden the crash was and how no one expected it. At 1.38 into the scene you can see people running towards the car and can hear the objects that they are throwing onto the car such as rocks. These sounds are also met with the sounds of everyone in the car screaming. The sounds of the characters screaming shows the audience how scared they are and the panic state that they are in. At 1.46 you can hear the people outside of the car shouting at the ones inside it showing their aggressiveness and their want to get into the car and hurt them, these sounds tell the audience about how dangerous the situation the characters are in is. At 1.50 when the character to try to escape by reversing heir car, a motorbike can be heard and is then shown following them. After this at 2.02 a gunshot is heard and Julian is shot in the neck, this sound is then followed by high pitched noise which I think is in the perspective of Theo and what he is hearing meaning that its diegetic. At 2.06 you can hear the other characters crying. The sounds of them crying were included to highlight to the audience how traumatised they are and how they have lost someone really dear to them. This type of sound also creates a depressing mood both within the film and for the audience as well.

The second scene that I chose to analyse thee sound of is from the film Kingsman. The scene that I have chosen to analyse for the film Kingsman is the church fight scene. YouTube link for this scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1WWDBTda2Y Right at the beginning of the scene, or 9 seconds into the YouTube video of it, sudden suspenseful non-diegetic music is heard appearing into the sound mix, which downs the tone of the film can be heard as the antagonist Valentine turns a wheel to activate the phone sim cards in the people’s phones in the church. This type of sound was used in the scene to tell the audience that something important is about to happen that would change the whole mood of the scene, and the tone of the music also makes them think further about what is coming up next. This sound is an example of studio recorded sounded as it was introduced into the scene after it had already been recorded. The sound of the beeping then begins to get faster and louder leading up to what occurs after. It is then followed by a high toned beeping sound at 10seconds into the clip coming from everyone’s mobile phones. This sound would suggest that what is about to happen is going to be huge and change the shape of the scene. The sound is one of the loudest in the scene to attract the audience’s attention to it. At 33 seconds into the scene, the sound of the beeping is cancelled out by a gunshot sound and then chaos begins to happen around the whole church and everyone is fighting each other to the death. The sound of the gunshot signals to the audience that the main thing is starting and that its going to get very violent. From 40 seconds up until 3.45 into the scene, fast paced non-diegetic rock music is playing in the background as Harry is killing everyone in the church.  The sounds when people are punching each other, being stabbed or getting hit by an object in the scene are hyper realistic sounds because of their exaggerated level of sound. I think that this type of music was included during this part of the scene because it highlights the mayhem and violence within the church and how Harry is able to kill almost everyone by himself. The type of music could also symbolise to the audience the adrenaline and anger that Harry is feeling during this scene. At 3.46 into the scene the fights all stop with one chord of an electric guitar to show the cut and end to the violence. At 3.55 into the scene the fighting has finished and only Harry is left alive and the use of piano music is heard playing which usually symbolises peace but in this case, it is the opposite as it wasn't a very peaceful thing to witness. Overall, the use of different sound and music in this scene was done to highlight the violence and intensity of it. There was barely any dialogue used in the scene and I think that this was an effective thing for the directors have put into the film because it means the audience would be able to focus and be more attracted to the fighting.

The third and final film that have analysed the different types of sounds used within it is, the horror film Get Out. The precise scene that I have chosen to pick apart the sound from is the scene when Chris first meets Rose’s parents Dean and Missy. YouTube link for this scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35edGMhrIho. The scene is introduced with the sounds of typical dialogue with all of the characters in the scene talking and introducing themselves to each other. During this, there are no other sounds in the sound mix, apart from small naturalistic sound effects, as the creators of the film wanted the members of the audience to be able to hear what they were saying clearly. Having no music playing in the background could have been done to make viewers think that this was an ordinary film because nothing unusual has happened yet and it hasn’t seemed like you were actually watching a horror film, as horror film usually contain frightening low-pitched music playing in the background to create a suspenseful and scary mood. This is an example of a typical sound motif expected to be in horror films which hasn’t been included yet in Get Out. At 32 seconds into the scene, Dean says “When I see a dead deer on the side of the road I think to myself, that’s a start”. This dialogue from Deans character is foreshadowing the type of person that he is and what he does later on in the film where he puts other people in black male’s body’s. I think that this dialogue was intended to show what is going to happen but not many people would know why it was put in the film, however viewers that are watching the scene for a second time such as myself notice what is being said more and how it relates to what happened further on into the film. From now until 1.35 into the scene there isn’t much important sound, just some naturalistic dialogue of Chris and Dean getting to know each other.  At 1.35 Dean says “Up here people are just as messed up in the head as in the city”. This is a key piece of dialogue because again it links back to the type of person that he is and that he is actually crazy. This constant type of dialogue from Dean is to hint to the members of the audience and make realise what type of character he is going to be. At 1.52 when Dean is touching his antiques, low toned and slightly suspenseful music fades into the scene to highlight the awkwardness that Chris is feeling and resembles how uncomfortable he is. This establishing sound is reduced whenever Chris or Dean are talking and is then re-established after they have spoken. This music gets louder slowly as Dean says, “Such a privilege to be able to experience another person’s culture”. After he says this, this is when the music in the background becomes clear and you can see Chris force a smile to make himself seem comfortable. At 2.41 into the scene Dean says, “He almost got over it”, when talking about how his dad lost a race to a black man. This narrative foreshadows the future of the film when we find out that his dad is in the body a black person. Also, he has a small laugh after saying this to try and make it seem funny and so that Chris won’t catch onto anything. At 2.41 Dean says “We had to seal it up, there’s some black mould down there”, referring to his basement. This another key narrative in the film as he is referring to bodies of black people and highlights his sinister character. This is then followed up by Dean saying “My mother loved the kitchen, so we keep a piece of her in here”. This is Dean referring to Georgina as Deans mother is living inside her body. As soon as Dean sys this, the music in the background becomes louder and higher pitched to create a frightening mood for the audience and Chris. Towards the end of the scene, Dean said “We hired Georgina and Water to take care of my parents, when they died I couldn’t bear to let them go”. This is another piece of foreshadowing, because its later revealed that his parents are living inside their bodies which is why he couldn’t get rid of them because they are basically his parents.

The last thing that I am going to be analysing the sound from is a Stacey Dooley documentary which is an example of live location sound because the dialogue from the people she talks was recorded live and wasn’t placed in after during the editing process. The video is called Stacey Dooley investigates drugs online and the YouTube link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkxa6vs9mIM. Stacey Dooley has recorded this live in scene and has decided to add barely any non-diegetic sound into the sound mix to add realism and emotional impact to her documentary.  The sounds that are heard in the background of her documentaries are mainly ambient naturalistic sounds such as wind and birds. I am going to be focusing on the scene at around 36.30 where Stacey has met up with a drug dealer who has just come from school. When she first sees the boy in his school uniform, you can hear the shock and surprise in her voice at how young he is. Another key sound from this scene is their accents. Stacey and the boy have different accents and Stacey’s one is a lot more mature than the boys one who sounds really young and childish. Meeting a boy this young selling drugs has made Stacey feel really bad and upset at how someone this young could be involved in these things and this would probably have the same impact on the viewers of the documentary. The boy’s immaturity is shown when Stacey asks him to stay and have a conversation with her, which he quickly refuses and says that the drugs were actually mints and painkillers. During this scene in the documentary, Stacey frequently expressed how upset she was that the boy was still in school and how wrong it was. This is a very important and key bit of dialogue from her because it is something that the viewers of the documentary will agree with her on and maybe even have an emotional response or connection to. This means that they will be drawn to her work and be inspired to take action or watch more of her documentaries.