Sound Analysis

Jaws
I analysed only the sound in Jaws opening sequence, as it will help me see how to set the tone of the film and establish genre in my opening sequence.
In the opening of Jaws we hear diegetic sound of the people speaking. By adding no music it almost makes it sound a bit more creepy. When the girl goes into the water at 0:26 we hear the natural sounds of the sea and we also hear a bell which sounds eerie as its the only sound you can hear. When the shots go to the girl from under the water we start to her non-diegetic sounds. It sounds like a piano (0:48) which is quite fast pace, which builds up the tension and implies something sudden is going to happen. Just before the action happens at 1.11, we hear the well know Jaws theme tune, which sounds like something keeps on coming closer to you. It is sharp, piercing music.When being attacked by the shark there is use of both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. We hear here deep breathing and screaming, but also over it there is fast pace music to add to the tension. There are cuts to the other scene of the person who is not being attacked, we can only hear diegetic sounds, this emphasises the danger of what is happening. At the end the music stops and we only hear the bell which implies this could be significant throughout the film.

http://youtu.be/yjL7VEFvOxM
Let Me In
I thought the sound used in this opening sequence was really effective even though not a lot of sound was used. In the beginning when the production companies are being shown the non diegetic music is very quiet. The music used almost sounds like music which is used for flashbacks. This could help me with my opening sequence as I am using flashabacks. When the actual film starts at 1:00 the music used are sounds of a heart beat. I thought this worked well as it is all you can hear which builds up tension as it feels like something is about to jump out. A bit into the sequence underneath the beat there is music that kind of sounds like the jaws song but its more lengthy and low (a more dramatic scary version), this makes it more tense as we know something is going to happen but it is not going to happen straight away. At 2.20 the non-diegetic sound becomes lower and we hear sirens. This all indicates aspects of horror as the sounds represent danger.

Harry Potter Evaluation

What style or feel of music did you use for the credit sequence and why?

I felt that the most appropriate music to use for the opening would be mysterious, eerie music as this would set the tone for the rest of the film. But not to dark, so we used orchestral music so that it didn't make the tone to happy. I wanted to engage the audience straight away, to do this Nari and I made the music start of quiet and gradually get louder until the credits faded out. We did this to create suspense just before the film started. We also did this as the slow quiet music is parallel to the travelling, through the grey dark sky. When the scene changes to the view of the scenery, we changed the music to music where the tempo goes up and down so that it matches the camera movement of moving down.

Rating: 7

What style or feel of music did you use for the sequence when the Dementors appeared and why? How do you feel the music and feel changed? To what extent do you feel you managed to convey the change in mood?

For the Dementors scene the music changed drastically.When the sky changed to a dark grey colour, we changed the music to a sound where it sounds like someone has a high pitched scream. I thought this was effective as everything was silent other than this sound which makes the tone more creepy and mysterious. When the scene went to Harry and Dudley running under the tunnel, the music changed to a mix between the sound of a train going over them and a sound where it sounds like something is coming and then going towards you. I think this creates suspense for the audience as it makes them nervous because it sounds like danger is coming towards you. The music also matches the lights flickering on and off.

Rating: 8

How pleased are you with the final sequence overall?

Overall I am pleased with the final sequence as I believe the right tone was portrayed through the sound. For the different scenes I think the sound used for them worked well as it got the right mood across and the right effect on the audience. I created dark and mysterious music (which is often associated with Harry Potter) which is what I wanted to do. However I feel I could of added in a bit more, like for the playground scene which I never managed to do.

Rating: 6

Harry Potter sound opening