Audio for Film Week 1

This week I presented a 10 minute evaluation of the sound for Reservoir Dogs. It was an interesting movie to break down and was a good starting point for getting an idea of the way I should be analysing film. I was intrigued by the use of only popular music genres and how all sound in the movie came from sources such as radios. The songs very much contrasted the scenes musically with them being happy and upbeat tracks where as the visuals were dark and tense. The fact that long dialogue parts of the film are absent of music creates a lot of tension and it has the constant feeling that something is about to kick off at any moment in the film.
Through analysing a lot of the songs in the film I got to see the thought and effort put in to making them flow and describe the scenes well in the movie. There are subtle references in the lyrics and the timing of all the songs just suits the flow of the movie. It has opened my eyes further to a deeper connection between the sound and visuals as a method of story telling and that even if the audience doesn't know what they are listening for it seems to tell them anyway.

Other films I watched to get a better idea of analysis were Birdman and Foxcatcher. I wanted to hear how it all worked in the manner it was intended on a cinema sound system. I enjoyed hearing the fact that both of these films paid close attention to the vocal performance and intensity of the characters. They were the main focal point and you needed to be invested in them. Every word mattered, to follow the story and depth of these characters. Musically is where the movies differ. Foxcatchers music was orchestral and took a lot of time to come into the film. It started very slowly and stayed in the background not drawing much attention away from the dialogue at any point. Birdman's soundtrack was present from the first scene of the movie. It was all energetic Jazz drums that would constantly make appearances later on in the film. They seemed to show off the more comedic side to points in the film and were as abstract as Michael Keaton's dream sequences.

I plan to keep watching more films and begin my analysis of Gravity and 2001: A Space Odessey and will take on the approach I have for the last few films.