Understanding Movies – chapter 5

 1927  The Jazz Singer  All movies prior to this were accompanied by some kind of music  Piano  Small orchestra  Wurlitzer  What do you notice????

 The sound had to be recorded simultaneous – synchronous- while the movie was filmed. Consequently, the early talkies were visually dull.  American movies started moving even faster Scarface, Shame of a Nation 1932

 Frenchman who favored nonsynchronous sound – sound and image are not recorded at the same time. Sound is dubbed in later.  Clair believed sound could and should be used selectively  He made musicals that juxtaposed sound and images. Arranged them in a montage.

 Tone of voice  Other actors good at this kind of thing???

 A montage is a transitional sequence of rapidly changing images suggesting the passage of time or events – this equates to the art of editing.  When dialogue of one character overlaps another (Welles) real life conversation  The Magnificent Ambersons 1942

Foley artists A sound editor gathers all the different sound necessary for a movie, many of which are pre-recorded in a sound library. Diegetic sound – sound that the characters or actors are able to hear. Nondiegetic sound- sounds that a character cannot hear, such as background music in a horror film.

 Pitch, volume and tempo of sounds can effect the audiences reaction  The louder the sound, the more aggressive it is.  Off screen sound can expand image beyond the confines of the frame making it an open frame – mise-en-scene Bonnie and Clyde

 Evoke terror  Sounds can evoke a character  Can suggest a character’s feelings or mood  Silence can symbolize death  With your table discuss instances where sound did one of the above?? The Exorcist 1973

 Music lover’s dislike “Dance of the Hours” from Fantasia  Mickeymousing  Juxtaposition of sound can sometimes be ironic  Music can help set the mood  Music can suggest locales  Music can foreshadow  Dissonant music can produce anxiety in filmgoers  can provide characterization clues

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 Leonard Bernstein  Cole Porter  Aaron Copeland  Quincy Jones  The Beatles  Danny Elfman  Randy Newman

 Need to translate directors dramatic needs  Begin working after the rough cuts  Unlike musical composers who work with the director from the very beginning

 The raison d’etre is simply song and dance  Most are formalistic and the narrative would not hold up without the musical numbers  Why did MGM dominate the musicals market??? Walk the Line 2005 – Is this a musical?

 In the 1940’s and 1950’s, MGM made all of the best musicals, dominating the genre  Best art direction and best talent On the Town

 Common misconception held by some is that the language in film cannot be as complex as it in literature  Shakespeare  Nuances of spoken language p. 251  Dialects are a rich source of meaning suggest economic class, education, power etc.  Convey a subversive ideology  Do the Right Thing 1989

Nell and Robin Hood Transatlantic dialect***

 A term used in drama and film to signify the dramatic implications beneath the language of a play or movie.  Often the subtext concerns ideas and emotions that are totally independent of the language of a text.  What is the underlying message  How the camera is used and what image is shown on the screen can contribute to the subtext  Reaction shot  Music and sound can also alter the meaning behind the words

 Monologue  Associated with documentaries  Avoids duplicating the visual information on the screen  Narrative monologues used rarely

 Help convey what a character is thinking  Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet “To Be or not to Be”

 An editing technique that suggest the interruption of the present by a shot or series of shots representing the past Dead Man Walking 1995

 Voice-overs – a nonsynchronous spoken commentary in a movie, often used to convey a character’s thoughts or memories  Can be used for irony  Let’s us know the difference between what is said and what is thought  Some Actors constantly do voice- overs Usually a voice-over is honest!!!

 Density  Clint Eastwood  What is more real?? Million Dollar Baby 2004