The Sound of Music Essay

The pieces were quite odd for me at the first time, first hearing, but I got used to it at the end of the each piece. “The Gospel Train” and “Little David, Play On Your Harp” were African-American Spiritual songs, which I kind of enjoyed, because I was also, very spiritually active. The last song, “Precious Lord Take My Hand” was very calming songs. I liked the lyrics of the song. The lyrics were very touchy that it made me ponder after the applause.

Even though the film is essentially a visual experience, the use of sound has become extremely important in modern film. The modern viewer hears a complicated soundtrack that is as meaningful as the image on the screen. Three elements comprise the film's soundtrack: the dialogue, the sound effects, and the musical score. The proper balance and mix of these elements produced the essential emphasis required, which created the desired effects. As explained by Joseph Boggs and Dennis Petrie,

     The music helped in elaborating this great film. As I mentioned in class different instruments helped create different moods for different scenes in the movie. We heard the cello and the violin to create sadness and remorse. The flute created eeriness and the trumpet created awareness. I thought these were instruments and tools that help make this film extraordinary.

The music my mom listens to applies to the text because they are both living on the farm, but with some different experiences. It helps give me multiple perspectives on farm life in this book versus real

The audio although normally overpowered by the visual aspect played a key role in defining and empowering the movie. The music was fast and uplifting during celebration and on

‘Sound doesn’t have to be in-your-face, traditional, big sound effects. You can especially say a lot about the film with ambiences – the sounds for things you don’t see.’ (Bordwell, 2008) The music throughout this film adds to the ambience of the story, and follows the conventions of a family fantasy

The music and dancing in this film is incredible. Each song in this film came from a list of songs that MGM owned and were written between 1929 and 1939. Originally some of these songs did not have lyrics to go with the music. Arthur Freed is the man who helped put words to these songs along with the help of Nacio Herb Brown who wrote the music. Iconic songs such as the one the film is named after “Singin’ in the Rain”, “Make ‘em laugh”, and even “Good Morning” are used in commercials and other films and even used as a satire. Gene Kelly was the choreographer for the film, which meant making up routines to each musical number and dancing to them himself.

In 1965 Robert Wise presented the world with his smashing box office hit film, The Sound of Music. Over time it has become known as one of the most loved and well-known musicals of all time. Shortly after its release it won many Academy awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Sound, Best Adapted Score, Best Film Editing, Best Film-Musical, Best Color Cinematography, and Best Costume design (Freiden par3). The movie is based upon the true story of the VonTrapp family and allows its audience to relive their family experience as well as their flight from Nazism just before the outbreak of World War Two.

The right sound had to influence the way each scene was taken. If there was cheerful and lighthearted music, then you would think there was a prime, pleasant scene like when everyone is having a good time. On the other hand, if the music was depressing and dramatic, then you would think that something bad is going to or is happening. I think that the music did an excellent job at determining the mood of the scenes.

The next song performed was Since You’re Not Here. The women in the choir sang this song, expressing the emotions anger, sadness, and fear. Half of the girl’s turned away at the beginning of the piece to show that they were upset, using hand motions to resemble crying. Ultimately, the result was another silly song that was very enjoyable due to the believable expressions of emotion.

The music contributed heavily to setting the tone and mood throughout the film. The film

“Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still." –Macbeth Act two, scene one. Guilt, insanity and the everlasting evil within human nature haunts Macbeth, William Shakespeare’s main character in his play Macbeth. From Shakespeare’s play, the themes and ideas have been interpreted on film as PBS and director Rupert Goold filmed “Macbeth” in their own ideas and interpretations.

Have you ever been impacted by the music that was played in a movie? Have you ever thought why are these songs included in those particular scenes? Well, a movie that has affected the way that I watched it compared to the book is The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and produced by Baz Luhrmann. The songs have reshaped the aspects of the movie by having more emotion and making you try to feel bad for the characters. It made you feel like you wanted to do something for the character or that you hated them and wanted you to want them to die anyway. These songs were very important to the scene because it made the scene seemed like it had more meaning to it. It made you feel that you had to have a lot more emotion to actually feel that it was happening. The songs also made you want to pay attention to the movie because the songs were probably songs that you have heard. Also, if I didn’t have the subtitles included in the movie, I would have never known what

While well-crafted sound design and sound effects are so very necessary in the creation of a film, music touches the emotion, the psyche, and the things you cannot see. Sound design and effects don’t do this nearly as efficiently and naturally. Without music it would be much more difficult to follow the emotional ups and downs of a film. (Freer)

In the movies, there are a number of factors that will impact the quality of the film and the story. This is because producers and directors are using different techniques that will enhance their ability to entertain. The Sound of Music is taking numerous ideas and is integrating them together. To fully understand what is happening, there will be an examination of the film and various concepts. This will be accomplished by focusing on: the storytelling, acting, cinematography, editing, sound, style / directing, impact of the film on society / vice versa, genre, application of at least one approach and overall textual themes. Together, these elements will highlight the effects of the film and how it has influenced others inside the industry.