The Blue Angel is a German film directed by Josef von Sternberg, from 1930. In 1929, there a clear division in film, the division was between sound and silence. Sound was a major attraction to audiences during the Great Depression. The Blue Angel was Germany’s first complete movie with speech. There are four types of soundtrack materials in films, such as speech, music, noise, and silence. I am focusing on silence, which contains three subcategories, such as absolute, virtual, and selective. The characters in The Blue Angel who are associated with silence are Professor Rath and the clown. Silence for both characters signifies madness and sadness. Firstly, the two characters in The Blue Angel that I associate with silence are the clown …show more content…
Professor Rath does not react to the maid throwing his bird in the fire and remains silent. The silence in that scene can be categorized as virtual because there was a room tone. Secondly, the qualities that are associated with silence in The Blue Angel are madness and sadness. An example, of madness, is when Professor Rath is in the strait jacket he is silent and deranged. Additionally, this scene is an example of virtual silence because a room tone can be heard. In comparison, to the start of the film, Professor Rath becomes mad as the film progresses, although he was silent in various parts of the film. Furthermore, Professor Rath’s foolishness led him to become mad because he failed to realize he was throwing away his life. Throughout the five years he is married to Lola Lola he becomes more and more silent as the years pass. Especially, in the scene where he returns to his classroom and dies this is an example of him realizing he should have never left his position. Additionally, this scene is an example of absolute silence because you do not hear any sound while he is slumped over on the desk and the man attempts to wake him up. Another example of madness is when Professor Rath is aiding the magician in front of his former colleagues. In this scene, Professor Rath is portrayed as a fool and it is degrading because of the intelligent man he once was. The foolishness led
Along with background music, sound effects play more of a role on the way we feel than many moviegoers think, and "although the function of sound effects is primarily atmospheric, they can also be precise sources of meaning in film" (Giannetti, 225). When the
He compares what he hears to a “sea that overwhelms” or basically complete silence. Edgar also wants us to imagine complete darkness, fear, and hopelessness.
When Andrew leaves the car, he slams the door, showing his pent-up anger and defiance. Later on, in the movie, Andre confesses his regret for hurting another student. The camera focuses on him at eye level and moves around him, letting the audience feel present in that moment. There is also a calm and sad tune playing as Andrew struggles to hold back the tears, his voice is quiet and very emotional. The other students all focused their attention to him, in silence and disbelief.
The narrator states "I can never quite say as much as I know" proving that he keeps to himself than confront a situation (1). He avoids communicating with her about the situation and takes the matter into his own hands leading him to death. The jealous husbands' reincarnation as a parrot was for him to see his mistakes about not confronting her about his doubts. Now that he wants to talk to her all she can hear is a parrot talking, nothing more. He realizes how useless his effort is, the narrator states "Even though I there is something between me and that place where I can be free of all these feelings, I will fly", the barrier between him and his fear of communicating, of losing everything comes to an end after
The character's reactions differ. The parents, Peylo and Elisenda were afraid and upset when they saw the old angel. They assumed he was coming to take their baby since it had been sick. The crowd's reaction was complete curiosity. They never doubted that the man was not an angel, but they did want to see him for themselves. No one questioned the way that the angel was being treated by the crowd or Peylo and Elisenda, either. As a matter of fact, the wise neighbor wanted Peylo and Elisenda to club him to death.
Within the film “The others”,sound shapes the audiences attention in many ways, but mainly to capture one’s attention at a specific, rather scary or intense, moment. This can be seen in the film as the daughter Anne Stewart is playing in her communion dress on the floor. As Grace Stewart enters the room to remove her daughters dress, we hear the low humming noises coming from Anne and the light clicking noises of her toy. This captures the audience to look directly at the little girl, specifically her hand, which is holding her toy. The visualization of Anne’s hand, which is seen to be the hand of an old woman, is followed by a low-pitched bass noise, and the creaking of the floor as Grace walks closer to her daughter.
“The most exciting moment is the moment when I add the sound… At this moment, I tremble.” (Akira Kurosawa) Sound is arguably the most important concept in cinema studies, being there ever since the beginnings. It can radically change the way a motion picture is looked at and it can render what the director may sometimes find hard to depict using only his camera. Looking upon silent cinema one discovers an era which wasn’t at all silent, but rich in sound of different forms, from the simple narration of the images shown on screen, accompanied by a piano, to the complex score later composed specifically for that film. An example of that complex score is shown in Sunrise, a film by F.W. Murnau, which lies at the border between silent cinema and sound cinema. Considered to be one of the first films with an actual score, Sunrise is a great example of the multitude of dimensions and effects sound can have.
speaking to the angel but his response was incomprehensible with a strong voice. In addition to
While communication and dialog are key to the story with the characters and the story line, it also helps with the imagery of the story and helping it develop the image of the story. “‘In case you do , I feel sure it could help Firedrake.’” (pg 762) This is one of the characters in the book describing how she feels while talking assisting the audience. Cornelia Funke uses references to different and relatable sounds for the reader. Using relatable or well known sounds can make it more relatable for the reader to picture the sound in their head. To give an illustration, Funke describes a scene as, “screeches sounding desperate...cawing horsley.” Since there is mythical creatures in the story she has to make it familiar to the reader to know that it is going on and to describe the creature. She also using resonance in the story to help describe the sound going on; also to help the reader understand a powerful and important message she is trying to get by in the story. “Feed the story with patience, passion and time to have an impact on the message.” (Funke) as she describes in an interview with her publisher. To write better story and get the point by the reader that she is trying to make stand out at the time. Sound can help bring the story to life for the reader, as does
In the silent era, most American horror movies were somewhat nervous efforts, more likely than not to have their supernatural elements explained away, and to be leavened still further by the insertion of the most painful kind of “comedy relief.” As far as actual screen horror went, the Germans expressed their films in their way; this would not change the way horror films were created until sound cinema. The year 1931 would prove to be a landmark in the history of screen horror. Horror films during this period reflected the need of the population for entertainment that bore little resemblance to their real-world circumstances. The viewer's favorite movies had highly fantastical creations and featuring supernatural creatures from 19th-century literature. Universal Pictures was undoubtedly the studio that most successfully tapped the audience’s desire for escapist horror during the period. There were successful horror films produced by other studios in the 1930s.
In 1928 ground-breaking technology made it possible for movies to have sound. This revolutionized horror films because sound gave an extra dimension to terror. Noise built suspense and signaled the presence of a threat. (Wilson) Instead of a monster suddenly making an appearance without warning, music would signal that they were near. Growls, Snarls, footsteps, and screams allowed the audience members to feel like the victims of the movie.
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,
For example, he swayed his hand to and fro while one lantern was centered on him, creating a shadow on the wall. When the narrator was executing his “ingenious” plan for murder, he slowly entered the room, crouching down for what seemed like an eternity, and opened the lantern to shine light on his victim, showing his vulture-eye, therefore giving the narrator the motivation to kill him and giving the audience an uneasy feeling. The narrator's body language showed tension as he was anticipating the right moment to kill the old man and as he was lightly conversing with the police officer. During the majority of the play, the narrator would laggardly ascend and descend the stairs which captured his increasing uneasiness. The actor's true skill in portraying his character was most perceptible as he carried out the murder of the old man. He kills and dismembers him happily, clearly showing the audience that the character is in an unhealthy mental state. Additionally, the narrator continually explains to the audience that he is not insane and attempts to prove it by explaining his master plan of murdering and hiding the old man. However, the more the narrator explains to us how sane he believes himself to be, the more we believe he is not. To represent a change in setting, the narrator opens an imaginary door and paces up and down the stairs. To show time progressing, the narrator
Music plays a critical role in the narrative films as it is important technique that filmmakers use to support the narrative and influence the way that the viewer interacts, responds and interprets the events as they unfold. The godfather, which is one of all time Hollywood movies, represents a good use of music that succeeded in supporting the dramatic events that take place in the movie. Moreover, both diegetic and non-diegetic music in the godfather movie are used to achieve the overall purpose by using the different principles and functions of film music that range from setting the mood of the viewer to providing continuity within the movie. In this essay, we will take part of the godfather movie in which we can observe and analyse the
The importance of music in movies is highly regarded for manipulating the viewer’s emotions and helping them immerse into the story. Music is one of the prime elements in cinema. Without it a movie would feel dull and unexciting. There are three elements in a movie: one is acting, the second is picture, and the third one is music. It is a holy trinity; if incomplete, there would be a lack of sensation and excitement. Both acting and picture can stand independently from one another, but music is the one that makes the movie memorable.