An Analysis of Important Motifs in Sound and Editing

Editing is an art of its own, and is the sole backbone of a film. Classical Hollywood Cinema and Neorealist Cinema depicted reality through their numerous films, however their approaches were very different from one another. Classical Hollywood Cinema leaned towards enhancing a shot with extravagant lighting, music, and very carefully thought out camera angles. Neorealist Cinema focused on the story itself and the way film replicates reality and projects it on screen. A film like Mildred Pierce is a prime example of Classical Hollywood Cinema, where the story is enhanced by the editing techniques. On the other hand, a film like Bicycle Thieves follows the editing techniques of Neorealist Cinema, where the focus is not on the editing, but rather on the replication of reality and how raw the setting of

Sound is extremely important in films, and the types of sound used differ between genre. Sound is important in all films. Without sound, films do not possess as much power compared to if they did have sound. In ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’, multiple soundtracks are used throughout the film. Two fantastic soundtracks in the film are ‘This is Halloween’ and ‘The Oogie Boogie Song’. Both use orchestral instruments and the lyrics are sung with deep voices. Diegetic sounds used in these soundtracks and throughout the film include bats squeaking, bugs crawling, and pumpkin heads being chopped off using a large metal blade. The effect of sounds, including soundtracks, is to enhance the feeling experienced from the visuals. Deep voices and multiple orchestral instruments create suspense and fear. As the music crescendos, the suspense increases as well. Loud, sudden sounds like a scream or crash create sudden fright. Using different sounds, films are more exciting and can be used to determine a genre.

Sound is something quite special, impactful, and adds layers of elements and complexity to a film. As with the progression of the movie making medium, sound has grown and changed drastically over the decades. However, sound cues in the form of effects, dialogue, and everything in between, shapes our perceptions of a scene and movie.

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing is a documentary about the art of film editing and the immensity of the job an editor is given. The reasoning of the film is to show the impact editing truly has on movies and our emotional attachment towards them. This documentary shows clips from different films to prove to it’s viewers the substantial effect editing has. Directors and editors speak out about the significance of editing, something not many viewers know nor think about.

The beginning shots of the movie are of an African American man walking alone at night through a suburb while talking on the phone. The audience can hear the external sounds that are associated with night-time. As the man walks the neighborhood is quiet, you can only hear the ambient sounds crickets chirping and the sounds of him talking and breathing. Peele combines sound effects and dialogue initially here to start to develop the scene and provide realism. The quietness demonstrated through these sounds in the scene creates an eerie tone. Peele creates

The vast majority of the sound in the film comes from the vinyl record, A Single Life, the namesake of the film. The music is upbeat and jovial, with lyrics much more well thought out than I realized during my first viewing. Past the music, the sound effects are well executed and strategically used, never distracting from the narrative at hand. There is no dialogue in the film, but ultimately any dialogue would have been unnecessary, and the music and sound effects more than make up for its absence.

Along with background music, sound effects play more of a role on the way we feel than many moviegoers think, and "although the function of sound effects is primarily atmospheric, they can also be precise sources of meaning in film" (Giannetti, 225). When the

Run Lola Run is a film not based in a particular place or country, more of a cityscape, although some audience members may recognize the scenes as ones representing Berlin, Germany. Throughout the film Tom Tykwer the film's director, shows a wide variety of editing and camera techniques giving the film an alternative feel rather than a commercialised one. A few of Tykers many technques include close ups, establishing shots accompanied with a bird's eye view, flash backs, fast paced editing and to counter flashbacks the use of flash forwards.

Sound and editing are quite possible the two stand-out aspects of all Edgar Wright’s films. The two go side-by-side and are an essential aspect of delivering a satisfying experience in modern day cinema. Wright’s films push the boundaries of what someone would consider the standard function of these two elements. Edgar Wright is one of the only people working in the visual comedy genre using a full range of what is possible and because of that, he can find humour in places that other people don’t look. Wright directs his scenes with a method that referred to as entering a scene later and leaving it early. He does this by using his trademark close up montages. These montages take a scene that would normally be up to 30 seconds long and reduces it to 3. It also falls into his style of visual comedy, taking mundane tasks and extenuating them with quick cuts. Another efficient way Wright tells his stories is with the clever use of background action. Instead of blankly exposition, he lets the visuals tell the audience everything they need to know. In Shaun of the Dead, there’s a scene where Shaun is going to the convenience store and is completely oblivious to the zombie apocalypse. He ignores people running for their lives, doesn’t look at red hand prints on the cooler doors and even slips on blood without even noticing. Nobody has to say anything. That’s because Wright trusts that his audience is smart enough to pick up on visual cues. Wright is also big on repeated dialogue

These include: the repetitive, monotone music and how this alters throughout the film; juxtaposition, and various ways of contrast through lighting, in sound, in shot, colour, and emotion. The film depicts an ominous

In 1928 ground-breaking technology made it possible for movies to have sound. This revolutionized horror films because sound gave an extra dimension to terror. Noise built suspense and signaled the presence of a threat. (Wilson) Instead of a monster suddenly making an appearance without warning, music would signal that they were near. Growls, Snarls, footsteps, and screams allowed the audience members to feel like the victims of the movie.

From first frame to the obvious perspective change in the hallway, sound is used masterfully in nearly every way it is cinematically possible. This masterful scene, highlighted it’s use of sound not only helps to prepare the viewer for what is in store stylistically speaking but probably won the movie the 1980 academy award for best sound editing.

Another example of diegetic sound used to create a tense atmosphere is when Andy first arrives to prison. We hear the inmates’ voices, whistling, screaming and banging the gates. This makes them seem mean and the scene tense and makes the viewer think that Andy has arrived to a dangerous and horrible place and that he could be in danger there. These sounds make us feel anxious for him about his new home because the inmates seem intense and mean.

Another aspect of sound in this film was how it affected the story. By using sound dramatically in certain parts and not using it at all in other parts, sound gave this story an entity of its own. For example, during long stretches of film with mostly dialogue, there was no music played in the background, only a phone ringing in the distance, or the men's voices during their deliberation. These long silences also took place during editing shots of the town and images that surrounded this German city. This dramatic difference in sound was a revelation of how mood can be made by images and sound put together to make an incredible component.

Throughout the film, Kubrick does an outstanding job on matching the music to the pace of the movie. With Diagetic sounds like talking, relaxing, or just acting normal, the music is slow but, once the action being to pick up so does the music, which adds to the tension and speculation on what is