cinema – Page 2

As I have continued composing my piece I have found myself using sections of silence for dramatic effect.

Inspired by Oriol Tarragó’s work in ‘The Impossible’ (2012), I found his use of silence during shocking and vulgar scenes only become more powerful when the music was playing. It gave the viewer time to hone in on the visuals and reflect on the seriousness of what was happening on screen.

During scenes from the La Tomatina festival, I felt that segments of silence could prove very powerful. The juxtaposition of chaos shown in the scene contrasts the silence well and provokes time for the development of an emotional tone. Silence brings a sense of severity with this mirrored by the exciting visuals it creates an extremely ambiguous setting. Despite the scene from La Tomatina being a happy stress-free memory for the mother as a use of foreshadowing I wanted to incorporate sound that indicates a distressing harrowing side to life; indicating her future. The ambiguity of contrasted sound grabs the viewer’s attention by telling them that this isn’t shown for exciting and happy effects.

Finally, with Lynne Ramsay directing the entire film from the mother’s point of view, silence subtly tells the viewer that we are seeing this from her eyes. It takes away Tarskovksy sense of realism as I feel this only brings a godlike point of view within the film.

I enjoyed playing around with silence for its powerful and unremarked effect and I hope to use this in the future.

We Need To Talk About Kevin:

2011

Lynne Ramsey

I decided to choose We Need To Talk About Kevin as Lynne Ramsey’s reoccurring themes throughout the film spoke to me. The perception in which the film is written and shot is entirely from the mother’s perspective. Eva’s isolation throughout the film is a constant heartbeat; with her husband not trusting her, and general isolation with struggles towards motherhood. I found this an exciting concept and something I would definitely like to focus my work on throughout my sound. Throughout the movie, there are many references towards the juxtaposition between an ‘American dream’ mundane lifestyle and the hellish reality of what’s going on internally and physically after the tragedy. I will incorporate this into the sounds I choose to use as I believe it elevates those themes of isolation and loneliness. With the use of flashbacks and foreshadowing by Lynne Ramsey, I feel that this is necessary to use within the sound voice audio taken from Kevin as a child will be played around with and threaded into the sound I will produce. The vulgar visuals and red motifs within the film highlight the brutality of Kevin’s crimes; purposely supposed to evoke an uncomfortable response. In reaction to this, I will try to incorporate exaggerated foley sounds that represent blood and gore. I hope to create an unsettling feeling and uncomfortableness through my sound to mirror the message shown on screen.