Dialogue
Dialogue is
the verbal words that are spoken during a film and serves as an important
function within a film’s storyline. Dialogue gives the audience the ability to
identify the character’s location and determines the “why?”, “how?”, “what’s
next?” which provides the enactment of plot turning events and character
revelations. Dialogue provides guidance to the viewer of the developing plot
and thematic messages.
Sound Effects
As sound editor Marvin M. Kerner
says in The Art of the Sound Effects Editor, "the function of sound
effects is three-fold":
- To simulate reality.
- To add or create something off
scene that is not really there.
- To help the director create a
mood. (Winokur and Holsinger, n.d)
Music
According to the article Emotion and Film Scores, author Hilary Schaefer (n.d) states “Music
is used in various ways in movies: as part of the story as in musicals, as
background music within the story (for example, when a character turns on the
radio), and as background music to which only the audience is privy. It is used
in this way to complement cartoons, comedies, action-adventures,
science-fiction, and drama”.
The
film that I chose to focus on for the topic of sound is Hunger Games: Catching Fire. This movie was released in 2013 and
stars Jennifer Lawrence, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Elizabeth Banks,
Stanley Tucci, Liam Hemsworth, Lenny Kravitz and Josh Hutcherson.
The
different categories of sound are used in this movie to move the plot along its
course (dialogue), to add intensity to dramatic or sad moments (music) and to
add depth to occurrences that take place on screen (sound effects). This movie,
in my opinion, uses all of the categories to make the movie the blockbuster
that it has become.
The
use of sound informs the film overall by using dialogue from the actors to make
the story come to life. If the actors did not speak, the audience would have a
difficult time figuring out what the story is about. The storyline is somewhat
complex and the dialogue is in place to help the audience understand the plot.
After
Katniss (Lawrence) and Peeta (Hutcherson) won the most recent Hunger Games,
they assumed that they would be left to live their lives in peace. But when
President Snow (Sutherland) realizes that there is an uprising by the people
that is taking place and that the people see Katniss as a hero, he looks for a
way to eliminate her. He starts a new Hunger Game in the hope that she will be
killed or his government would use this as an opportunity to sneak in and eliminate
her. I believe the only way for the movie to explain this storyline is through
dialogue.
The
movie only played upbeat tunes at a party at the end of the visiting district
tour that Katniss and Peeta attended given by the President. The rest of the
movie music was melancholy or dramatic depending on the scene. The film’s music
helped me to feel the emotions of the characters, their pain, despair and dread.
For example, when Katniss learns that she must fight for her life again, she
runs into the woods and is completely overcome with sadness. The music in that
scene made the scene very hard to watch without becoming emotional myself.
According
to AMC Filmsite (n.d), this film would fall under the genre of Science Fiction.
An example of sci-fi sound in this film that infers this genre is:
- -The sound of the spacecraft hovering when it comes to the arena to pick up the deceased tributes. (Reis, 2014)
- -The sound of the hologram warriors that Katniss fought while training for the Game. (Doktor Trax, n.d)
- -The sound of the jabberjays attacking Katniss and Finnick.
Diegetic sound in the movie was used when the
tributes are in the arena and the music plays which would cause the characters
to look up and see the faces of the dead tributes. Non-diegetic sound would be the background music that played when
Katniss, Peeta and Finnick were attacked by the monkeys (All Movie Videos,
2014). The sound effects of the monkeys growling, the axe and arrows swishing
through the air and the sound of Katniss under water added to the intensity of
the scene. If these sound effects had not been added the scene would have
played out the same way, but the sound made the scene more action packed.
According
to Goodykontz and Jacobs (2011), the extras in crowd scenes remain quiet in
order to record the main actors and the walla
or crowd sounds are added in later. I believe this was done during Katniss and
Peeta’s tour of the neighboring districts. Crowd scenes without the sound of
the people yelling would not have been the same.
Films
have come a long way since the silent era. The addition of music, sound effects
and dialogue to the actual footage along with theatre sound systems makes the
film experience much more enjoyable and adds to the realism of the movie.
References
All Movie Videos (15, May 2014). "The
Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Jabberjays Attack."YouTube. Retrievied
from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJPqVBzzxmQ
All Movie Videos (3, May 2014). "The
Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Monkeys Scene."YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qgQRux9ZaM
Dirks, Tim. "Main Film
Genres." Main Film Genres. American Movie Classics, 2014. Web.
19 Aug. 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html
Doktor Trax (n.d). "Katniss Everdeen at
Training Room - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire(HD)." YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK5LxiFqDVE
Goodykoontz,
B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From watching to
seeing. San Diego, CA:
Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Reis, Carlos (17, February 2014). "The
Hunger Games: Catching Fire - Death Order." YouTube. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s61KpK-O-I8
Schaefer, Hilary. "Film Music." Emotion and the Film Scores. Perspectives in
Psychology, n.d. Web. 21 Aug. 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.e-filmmusic.de/article1.htm
Winokur, Mark, and Bruce
Holsinger. "Sound Effects and Their Functions."Infoplease. The
Complete Idiot's Guide to Movies, Flicks and Films, 2000-2014. Web. 21 Aug.
2014. Retrieved from: http://www.infoplease.com/cig/movies-flicks-film/sound-effects-functions.html#ixzz3AzxeiHJQ
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