Component 2a: Essay (Sound)

Essay

The directors of both Pan’s Labyrinth and Wild Tales employ aspects of sound to convey meaning throughout their films in order to have a wide range of effects on the audience.

The basis of Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth revolves around the civil war in Spain. An election in 1936 brought to power a leftist Popular Front government, that was followed by Fascist and extreme-right forces response, causing an army mutiny and coup attempt that turned into a civil war. The film is set in 1944 after the fascist victory as the remaining rebels are routed out and killed.

As the sequence starts, a J-cut is used as the gentle sound of diegetic wind whistling in the background can be heard, giving an ominous tone that builds tension and anticipation for the audience before the story begins. Simultaneously, non-diegetic narration accompanies the wind that gives exposition whilst delivering context to the story that is about to be told. The wind continues to whistle gently as the diegetic sound of blood dripping draws our attention to the blood and the hand, revealing Ofelia lying injured on the ground. The sound mix in this opening scene contributes to a feeling of melancholy for the audience as Ofelia slowly dies from wounds that we are unsure of how they were inflicted upon her. Transitioning from the reality to the fantasy world, an accompanying ominous bass sound indicates a change in location and the non-diegetic score attains a lullaby quality similar to something that a child might sing and changes from being haunting to mystical as there is a shift from death to life and from reality to fantasy. An important factor to note is that the non-diegetic score takes on a slight choir-like quality after switching to the fantasy world, implying a sense of the unknown as it could be linked to ideas of religion and how different people interpret ideas differently depending on their beliefs which plays a strong part in the film as Ofelia is the only one willing to believe in the fantasy world whilst those around her push ideas that involve what they cant be certain is in the real world aside.

As the sequence progresses, there is a change from the fantasy world back to the real world as the non-diegetic score completely stops as Ofelia and her mother are now shown to be in a car, allowing the diegetic dialogue to define the scene, giving important context to the story. When Ofelia is inside the car and standing outside of it, the noise from the car engine is far more prominent than when she begins to walk away from the car later on and stumbles across a mysterious statues and an insect that captures her attention. This has the effect of showing the event from Ofelia’s perspective rather than the soldiers or her mother, further establishing that she is an important character in terms of the upcoming events. The sound mix is used very selectively throughout this scene, for example, when Ofelia picks up the rock, an exaggerated sound of the rock hitting her foot draws attention to the object before the audience sees it, whilst the non-diegetic score starts briefly after she picks it up to show how the rock has significance, becoming more orchestral with the sound of a deep cello as she looks over the ancient statue, adding to the effect on the audience and implying that something isn’t right. her placing of the rock inside the hole in the statue causes a non-diegetic rumble and flutter, building tension before a large insect emerges from the hole in the statue, resulting in the non-diegetic rumble and composed score stopping as it has been revealed to the audience what was causing the noise. This ominous rumble has the effect of creating anticipation , implying that something bad is about to take place before subverting the audiences expectation as they are given reason to believe that they should fear what might possibly be lurking inside whereas in reality, there was no immediate threat of danger, indicated by the stopping of this rumbling noise. The scene changes however from Ofelia’s perspective due to the diegetic dialogue of her and her mother talking not increasing after they both move towards the car, focusing on the insect that emerged from the statue, meaning the dialogue becomes less distinguishable and the fluttering of the insect and the engine noise produced by the car now have a far more prominent place in the sound mix. The sequence ends with the use of another j-cut, as the slow ticking of the hands on the Captain’s watch can be heard as the cars drive off into the distance and during the following close-up shot that focuses on his watch. This indicates to the audience that time has passed before they have reached their destination without showing the rest of their journey.

Another film that appropriately uses sound to covey meaning is the portmanteau film Wild Tales, with six different stories, all connected by themes of violence and revenge, directed by Damián Szifron.

At the beginning of the scene, the diegetic song ‘Titanium’ starts playing in the background of the following scene where guests are laughing at a slideshow of old photos and dancing joyfully. The song has a very uplifting beat, making the audiences first impression of the event as a happy and exciting occasion. The lyrics of the song suggest connotations of power and strength which would imply that the couple have a sturdy bedrock for their relationship whereas the reality juxtaposes these ideas as the audience watches their relationship breakdown in dramatic fashion. Diegetic laughter and cheering from the guests are lower in the sound mix but can still be heard clearly in the conflict of the loud diegetic music, conveying the fact that there are a large amount of guests watching, emphasising how many people want to see this momentous occasion for them and the positivity in the room at this point in time, assisting in giving the later scene where the bride verbally lashes out at her husband all the more shocking as everyone appears to be having a wonderful time.

When the bride and groom begin to enter the room, the diegetic music increases slightly in volume, appearing overwhelming in comparison to the other sounds that make up the sound mix that are virtually inaudible. Throughout this scene the music acts as a device that is utilised to set the mood of the characters, so when the music is playing loudly, there is a general feeling of joy and happiness that engulfs the room but when its silent, there is typically something wrong between a selection of the characters and their changing attitude towards each other. As the bride and groom dance with their friends, there is a much more audible sound of men cheering when Ariel is separated from Romina, whilst the sound of women screaming is accentuated in the sound mix when focusing on Romina, insinuating that the couple are putting on a façade for their guests, hiding away from the fact that they aren’t as committed to each other as they are presenting whilst the separation of the couple in the sound mix suggests that the relationship is already unbalanced and incapable of remaining stable.

After cutting to an alternate dancing scene, the diegetic song ‘Titanium’ stops playing and is immediately replaced by the sound of diegetic Klezma music bellowing loudly in the foreground, performed by a live band in front of a large group of dancing guest including Ariel and Romina. The Klezma music increases the pace of the scene as the rapid music presents a lively atmosphere, further demonstrating to the audience that this is an exciting wedding that everyone is currently enjoying. Klezma music is typically performed during Jewish celebrations, signifying to the audience that this is a Jewish wedding which gives context to the sequence and provides insight into the religious culture of Argentina.

The music continues as they dance until it abruptly stops after a time change that transfers the audience from watching a buoyant dancing scene to a quiet and calm scene where guests are eating at tables and the couple move from table to table to take a picture with them. The music is replaced  with the diegetic sound if cutlery clanking together and slow indistinct chatter which gives less significant items much more prominence in the mix than previously to show a much calmer situation. Romina speaks with members of her family as she tries to appease them, pointing out how she knows certain people sitting at different tables before spotting Ariel appearing to flirt with a woman that she is unfamiliar with whilst its implied that she believes there is something dubious going on between them. The diegetic sound of Ariel and the mystery woman speaking comes from the brides perspective with the focus directed on their conversation whilst other sounds in the mix decrease in volume as they are less important to the story, telling the audience that her doubts about whether Ariel has cheated on her will be important to the outcome of both characters. Romina starts to walk over to her own table so that she can take out her phone, hoping to uncover whether she is correct. Diegetic phone ringing sounds reveal her intention to call someone which is then revealed to be the mystery woman. After picking up the phone, the diegetic voice of the woman comes from the perspective of Romina, as the faint sounds come through her own phone, allowing a feeling if sympathy towards her from the audience as by showing the events happening from her point of view, the audience us more capable of understanding the trauma she is going through and is therefore able to more easily connect with her. Romina is unable to consider what she has just learnt as the lights grow darker and the soft and gentle melody of ‘Blue Danube’ begins to play as Ariel approaches his wife to dance with her, presenting a sense of irony as the sing is slow and romantic but there is a lack of romance between the couple now that she discovered he has been unfaithful to her, contrasting her current emotions and making Romina’s situation appear even more tragic.

After becoming overwhelmed by the dance she quickly leaves the room and stumbles her way to the roof where she is followed by Ariel, unleashing her bottled up anger towards his actions leaving him shocked and vomiting on the rooftop. As she returns from the rooftop, liberated and free, the previously fast paced non-diegetic music returns combined with a variety of conflicting sounds in the mix, adding to the feeling of chaos at the wedding whilst the bride and her guests exuberant dancing shows her newfound feeling of control and freedom. Romina’s resentment for being created on remain however as she forces the woman she had been cheated on with to dance, spinning her around rapidly and sending her flying into a mirror. The sound mix becomes increasingly conflicted during this scene with the loud and disorientating sounds of the diegetic music and dialogue promoting a sense of dizziness for the audience that only stops after she crashes into the mirror, leaving the audience with a sense of horror as all non-diegetic sounds have abruptly stopped to focus on the severity of her injury.

As the sequence reaches its climax, there is a feeling of suspense in the scene due to a lack of music. The diegetic sound of the wedding guests are now more prominent than before such as their faint talking and Ariel popping open a champagne bottle. As the couple reconnect hands, the non-diegetic song ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ begins to play after they immediately connect hands once again. The irony of this is that the song doesn’t reflect the current attitude shared amongst the majority of the guests or between the couple as everyone appears stressed and detached. The couple however begin to slow dance in front of the bewildered guests lookin on whilst the non-diegetic song continues to play, leaving Romina and Ariel to have sex on the wedding table where the cake once stood with no diegetic sounds present to signify that the film is coming to an end.

Both Szifron and del Toro use sound to convey meaning throughout their films to have a wide range of effects on the audience. Del Toro utilises it to show the importance of different object and creatures whilst using it to create suspense and build tension. Szifron on the other hand uses sound to allow the audience to empathise with characters and create a sound mix that reflects their attitudes at the time, showing how they are changing over the course of the sequence.