The Significance of Sound in Film Essay -- Cinematography Sound Analys

Movies ultimately engage two of the main senses, vision and hearing. Director Steven Spielberg once said, â€Å"The eye sees better when the sound is great.† Sound is just as imperative as an element as every additional component of film form. As stated in the textbook on page 41 â€Å"Any attentive filmgoer is aware of the enormous power music holds in shaping the film experience, manipulating emotions and point of view, and guiding perceptions of characters, moods, and narrative events† (Gorbman). The sound, in the majority of narrative films is the element that provides distinctive cues that assist the spectators from expectations with reference to significance; and in numerous occasions, sound essentially helps to shape the audiences analyses and interpretations regarding the film. For this final paper, I want to discuss the importance of sound in three of the films viewed this semester. These three films are: Bonnie and Clyde the 1967 film by Arthur Penn, The re Will Be Blood the 2007 film by Paul Thomas Anderson and Bamboozled the 2000 film by Spike Lee. With omission of the chase scenes, there was virtually no music heard in the film Bonnie and Clyde. There wasn’t an accompanying piano, orchestra or string quartet reminiscent of most other films. However, there is the hillbilly banjo music that is played merely throughout these chase scenes in the film. If there were not any music playing throughout these scenes, I think that spectators would construe the chase scenes as being nerve-racking and perilous getaways. But, the Barrow Gang as they called themselves, were an entertaining company that thought everything they were doing was comical. Another scene in Bonnie and Clyde that I found that vastly utilized sound was th... ...pleasant to watch, that is if it is done correctly. I always have found that sound and music help to move films along faster and smoother. Works Cited Barsam, Richard and Dave Monahan. Looking at Movies: An Introduction To Film. Third Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., 2010. Bradshaw, Peter. There Will Be Blood. 8 February 2008. 7 December 2010 . Gorbman, Claudia. "Film Music." Gibson, John Hill and Pamela Church. Film Studies critical approaches. Oxford: Oxford University Press Inc., 2000. 41-48. Stevens, Dana. There Will Be Blood Paul: Thomas Anderson's deranged masterpiece. 24 December 2007. 7 December 2010 . Venicelion. Bamboozled (US 2000). 31 October 2008. 6 December 2010 .