opening sequence

The Lie to me opening here starts with a woman at a crying in a toilet cubicle and dropping a used syringe on the floor, this leads the audience to believe that the woman, who now stumbles out of the bathroom bumping into people, is struggling with drugs abuse. We then see the woman on the phone to someone in some sort of distress before cutting to a girl, who we believe to be her daughter, waking up and calling out for her mum and not being able to find her. The sound used in this opening sequence creates tension and a good sense of atmosphere telling the audience exactly where the woman is with the music and talking/ laughing being played in the background and the spanish radio station coupled witht he sound of cars in the background tells me that the girl is in a Mexican motel by the side of a busy road. It is helpful to the audience that they can make their own conclusions about where the characters are or what is happening in the sequence purely from sound as it can help add to the enigma of the sequence which is what a detective/crime drama tries to create.

For my groups main sequence I want to try and keep some of the original background sound to give the audience the feel that they are in the heart of a busy community and that it is bustling with life, however this may backfire if the sound isnt of the right quality or someone talks over it.

Sound

Diegetic sound - The source of the sound is in the film world e.g. a character drops a glass. This creates the effect of a 3D world.
Non-diegetic sound - The source of sound is not in the film world e.g. music for effect. This can manipulate an audiences response emotionally and show something that is not visible. It can also create an atmosphere.
Sound bridge - When a sound moves from one shot to another. This can help with flow and cohesion.
Parallel sound (synchronous) - Goes together with the scene e.g. happy music with a happy scene. This can add to the atmosphere of the scene and create the right mood.
Contrapuntal sound (asynchronous) - The music doesnt go together with the scene e.g sad music with a happy scene. This either makes a specific point or can be used for comedic effect. this can be seen in Trainspotting when Carmen by Bizet is being played at the beginning as it does not fit in with the scene but just adds effect to it.
sound-motif - A specific piece of music repeated in films that everyone knows e.g. Jaws, James Bond, Indiana Jones.
Synaesthesia - This is what you see matches the shaoe if the action.

The reasons for using sound can be to manipulate audiences responses to certain things, for visceral pleasure (a physical response) or show things that cant be shown on screen in a kids film and leave the audience to come up with their own interpretation of the sound.

Max Payne opening analysis

The beginning to Max Payne starts off with the very familiar 20^th Century Fox motif, which is instantly recognisable, and after its big trumpet ending cuts to a black screen. Whilst this black screen is in view you can hear some non-diegetic wind and then max Payne (Mark Wahlberg)’s off-screen diegetic monologue. At the end of this monologue Max Payne bursts onto the screen drowning in cold, partly frozen water. With this scene you can hear Payne’s frantic on screen diegetic breathing and splashing which is in stark contrast to the previous scenes cool and calm monologue. The next scene shows Payne sinking and is again in contrast with its sound as all you can hear is silence and quiet diegetic bubbles. There is another monologue as the scene shifts to the picture of a door with an ominous golden light behind it. You can still hear the bubbles that tell the audience that this is a flashback and that Payne is still underwater; this is accompanied by off screen diegetic sound of a baby crying. You can also hear the sound of wind chimes in the background, which add to the mystery of the scene and build tension to what is behind the door. The scene once again cuts back to Payne who is now close to drowning as the last few bubbles of air leave his body and there is another monologue. The scene then shifts to Payne entering the golden door and the light enveloping him to a ‘phased’ soundbridge to reveal the dead body of a woman on a bed. There is also the sound of a clock ticking which grows increasingly louder throughout the last few scenes, this adds atmosphere to the scenes as it gives the sense of something getting closer. There is then a shot of the source of the wind chimes which is a baby’s mobile which then stop and make you ask, what happened to the sound of the baby’s crying?

The scene then shows Payne, by way of another non-diegetic ‘phased’ soundbridge, still sinking and almost at the bottom of the river; you can then hear another monologue as the screen cuts to black. The screen then fades out of the black to show a skyscraper with the words ‘one week earlier’ on it and the off-screen diegetic sound of a police siren in the background and the sound of a bustling high street giving you the idea that this is a big busy city and in stark contrast to the scenes depicted before.

The whole opening scene is more than enough to have the audience on the edge of their seat on sound alone with the rollercoaster of clever silent monologues and puzzling, disorientating flashbacks with baby’s crying, a clock ticking, frantic splashing, quiet bubbles and eerie wind chimes all the accumulation of one week in the life of Max Payne.

Harry Potter - Evaluation

The style of music I used for my Harry Potter opening sequence was mainly parallel. The style of music I used for the credit sequence was very dark at the beginning for the Warner Brothers logo with a sharp and loud thunder clap to start the sequence off. In my opinion the thunder clap would definitely get the attention of the audience at the beginning and really match the mood with the cloudy, dark background to the titles. On effectiveness I would give my title sequence an 7/10 as it was parallel to the mood of the credits. However some loops of sound were disjointed and very noticeable.

For the playground sequence we used a combination of birdsong and a guitar loop to reflect the tranquility of the mid-summer surroundings. we faded the music out as Dudley appeared and added in the hip-hop loop to show how the mood had changed upon Dudley's arrival. The music then changed again to a more serious orchestral tone to reflect how the mood had changed. As soon as the sky darkened I added some storm sounds such as more thunderclaps to signify the darkness and whats to come. For the running sequence I used a fast paced guitar and drums loop to signify the fast pace and hastiness of the scene. For this sequence I would give it 8/10 for effect as it was parallel to what was happening within the scenes.

For the sequence when the Dementors appear I used another guitar and drums loop that built up and set the atmosphere for the fight, I was particularly pleased with how the loop ended with Dudley slipping and sliding on the ice, and this was reflected in the loop with a long sustained note which really did fit in really well in my opinion. For the rest of the scene I used a lot of wind loops to give the Dementors a sort of voice and add to the dark atmosphere that they created. At the very end of the sequence I added another thunderclap so that it looked like it made Mrs. Figg flinch, I think this was a really good way to end the sequence as it was just how I had started it in the first place. For this sequence I would give it 8/10.

I am very pleased with the final sequence overall and I would give it 8/10 for the whole sequence as there were a few noticeable problems but overall it was very good.