My Blog: Analyzing Sound in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

                                  Analyzing Sound in Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

In this weeks  blog, I will discuss the effect of sound in a movie, especially in the clip I will cover named, Transformers 2:Revenge of the Fallen. This movie is a mixture of three genres, covering sci fi, action and suspense. I would  say based on the clip provided this movie has a lot of diegetic and non-diegetic, because in this clip,the music can be heard to the audience but not to the characters themselves. Then with the sound effects from the transformers, the characters can hear them , and its what forces them to move very fast, as the music plays, indicating danger is vastly approaching.

An example of type of sound in this clip and this movie would be digital sound. This following excerpt I took from a textbook, Digital recording systems convert the analog electrical signals from a microphone into an arbitrary code of ones and zeroes that another converter can decode back into audible sound. The result is the elimination of all analog background noise, whether a faint hiss from magnetic media, periodic clicks and pops from flaws or dirt on optical film, or a needle scraping against a disk. Digital recordings’ dynamic range from dead silence to the loudest possible recording was drastically improved over analog systems. Filmmakers started to record digital audio in the 1980s and theaters started adding digital sound playback capability in the 1990s (Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014).

http://movieclips.com/uohCQ-transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-movie-hiding-in-the-ruins/

In this clip from the movie, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, it opens up with a sound effect from one of the transformer decepticons communicating, and it shows, Sam Witwicky played by Shia LeBeouf) and Mikaela Banes played by Megan Fox hiding in ruins. After the initial sound effect, they stat moving around in this small ruin, and outside is a couple decepticon transformers, the bad guys looking for these two, and Sam motions to Mikaela, to be quiet and not move. Mikaela is shown in fear, its hot outside in desert, shows her sweating and covers her mouth so she doesn’t scream or give them away in any way. Then it goes outside away from them to show battle raging outside between humans, and autobots versus the decepticons transformers, and shows missiles exploding And a giant transformer decepticon is shown which looks scary, hence the type of music being played at this point in clip from movie. This indicates impending danger lurking n the shadows, and the focus deepens and returns to Sam and Mikaela in the ruins. And this occurs when the cameras shooting zoom in with deep focus though a small opening a spy transformer no bigger than a mosquito maybe landing in their to do spy work on the two to see if they are in their and just then, Sam grabs it, looks at it, and smashes it with his fingertips, as the decepticon tears open the roof and locates them and they run as the decepticon tears through the remaining standing ruin. The music helps bring this scene of the movie to life and helps push forward the plot to the next scene,frame by frame, and musical sequence, as well. And lets the audience know that along with the transformers communicating with the use of special effects, the music is also playing apart in forwarding the plot and gives us a little bit of foreshadowing that lies ahead and the danger that lurks. And,  with the music that is playing, that is just what the audience hears, opposed to the sound effect the transformers make and characters in the movie hear. But some of the noises could and some maybe not, but for the most part, many effects are created, and not  real.

http://movieclips.com/tqsfR-transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-movie-shanghai-mission/

References:

http://movieclips.com/uohCQ-transformers-revenge-of-the-fallen-movie-hiding-in-the-ruins/

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. This text is a Constellation™ course digital materials (CDM) title.

Lighting used in a Film

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Lighting in the film, 300: The Rise of an Empire

With 300: Rise of an Empire, the lighting used, is that of low-key lighting. Low-key lighting design looks dark overall by comparison. It is marked by extreme use of deep shadows, with very high contrast between the brightest parts of the scene and the darkest parts, which are obscured in shadows (Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). From the beginning of the movie, when it shows Xerxes beheading a fallen King Leonidas and his group of 300  Spartans. He then takes the head to Greece and shows them to show his power. It then shows how Xerxes came to power. The lighting is dark but enough to show the characters up close, and some of the movie is shot in 3D to give the audience full affect and almost like they are apart of the battles taking place. The many scenes shot in 3D are very detailed, from the removal of the head of the king, to the battle scenes that take place in which blood is shown splattering across the screen, to the cinders of fire shown falling like snow on a winter’s night.

Often there may be only a single source of light, coming from the back or the side of the main characters. Low-key lighting is often used for intense dramatic scenes, horror films, mystery thrillers, and the like. However, most scenes of most movies fall somewhere in between these extremes of high-key and low-key lighting (Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014).  The  entire film comes across as it should as dark, eerie and limited color, which helped keep it dark, especially during the time of which this fantasy war action film was meant to portray, during the time of the Persian Empire and many lands were at war amongst  each other. The Spartans were perceived as tough warriors and tough to defeat. Xerxes father King Darius 1 of Persia was a vicious leader and was brought down , killed by Themistocles of Athens with a bow and arrow, as Darius’s son, Xerxes just a  young man looked on. The lighting in this film is incredible with limited back lighting. I guess you could say it has good production design, costumes, brilliantly choreographed battle sequences and stunning CGI. The benefits of the types of lighting used in this film is that it helped bring  it to life, slow it down in some parts and help deliver the details in which the director, producer were trying to get across to the audience.  The time frame during which these mythical battles took place were helped by the low key lighting and other parts like when they were out to sea, you could see in background maybe three point lighting to help show the sun out during a daytime battle, and the gods looking down smiling upon the Spartans, and Greeks, as they fought the Persians to the death.

References:

Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2014). Film: From watching to seeing (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. This text is a Constellation™ course digital materials (CDM) title.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V8K8LKsMnM .

An Analysis of GONE GIRL

Title: Gone Girl

Writer: Gillian Flynn

Director: David Fincher

Produced By: Leslie Dixon

Bruna Papandrea

Reese Witherspoon

Cean Chafflin

Year: Fall 2014

Actors: Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Carrie Coon, Kim Dickens and Tyler Perry

Story:

This movie is set in the Midwestern State of Missouri, is a mystery, drama  and thriller all wrapped into one. It’s about a man whose wife Amy(Rosamund Pike) who has vanished and appears to be dead but with no body to be seen or found, just forensic  evidence of a horrible crime committed and her husband Nick(Ben Affleck) a suspect.

Plot:

The movie opens with Nick entering the bar he owns with his sister, and talking about how rough things are going. Then he heads home to find his wife(Amy) is missing and calls the police to investigate, to which they find forensic evidence of something gone terribly wrong and the detective Rhonda Boney(Kim Dickens) arrives and  begins to question Nick. The plot picks up with Nick being questioned at the police station and he is asked his wife’s  blood type to if se has any friends and family locally. And with the disappearance it picks up heavy press because of Amy being a  popular children’s book author and brings into town her parents.

And, as the story pushes forward Nick is considered a suspect and people’s  suspicions grow that he murdered her and evidence suggests that. As the movie pushes forward, it shows looking back through Amy’s point of view of how they were having financial issues domestic disputes and Nick losing his job then her. Nick is shown to be lazy, siting around playing video games, and having extra marital affair with a student of his from college. Amy decides to help her parents who are struggling due to recession, with some money, that in reality themselves don’t have a lot of. The, Amy decides they should maybe consider having a baby, and should talk to which Nick gets upset and ends up n the scene shown, shoving Amy down inside their home, and her becoming afraid to point she considers purchasing a  gun for  her own safety.

And at this point in movie the plot thickens as it shows Amy thinking out loud and writing in journal what is happening what she is planning to do to frame him and she wonders if anyone would notice if she just disappeared. That sets the plan in motion for things to come, kind of foreshadowing. But what is to come will and does shock the audience.

She  talks about being the cool girl for Nick and trying to not fight with him and be the drama  queen most women seem to be. And so she disappears into seclusion including a swanky motel and cuts her hair and changes her look while watching the news media coverage of the events taking place. And in then gets caught up by a nosy patron that’s also staying their with her criminal boyfriend and they steal  a lot of money from Amy to the point she calls up her ex from years ago she got into trouble and goes to stay with him for a few days and ends up watching a news story with Nick that sets her off to point where she betrays Desi(Neil Patrick Harris), and kills him during sex,  then returns  home  covered  in blood, naming  him  as  her  captor and  rapist, clearing  Nick of suspicion.

Chronology:This story with this movie is told in that of chronological order. Which helps the story so the  audience doesn’t become disengaged and lose interest, and advances all the characters development in story.

This story if it had been told in a different manner would take away the twists and plots told.

References:

http://www.imdb.com

Gone Girl dvd