Research: Blue Velvet Opening - David Lynch

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM975_Ld9S0 Accessed 3/12/13, David Lynch (Video posted by Youtube user: anticlimatic21) Film created 1986 (Video uploaded 2006)

In the opening scene of David Lynch's Blue Velvet, the song 'Blue Velvet' by Bobby Vinton is played in parallel with scenes of a very bright and colourful neighbourhood. These colours are purposely edited to look brighter, for example in the image below the white fence is very bright against red roses and a clear blue sky. These formal elements connote perfection and an unnatural (yet idyllic) setting, giving a sense of uncertainty as to how perfect the neighbourhood really is. This 'perfect life' is then slowly unravelled as the scene of the man using the hose begins to turn sinister, with the sound of the water getting louder; still with the optimistic music playing in the background. This juxtaposition of sounds, as well as his outbursts of pain, connote horror as the audience are exposed to the hidden terror in this supposedly 'idyllic' environment. 

The 'idyllic neighbourhood' in Blue Velvet

In relation to our project, we may use a similar technique whereby the visual shots of the kitchen may be edited and distorted to create a sense of an overly-idyllic environment but with a sinister twist. We will also experiment with generic sounds in the background that can be used in a sinister way, for example the sound of birds gradually getting louder. The technique of layering juxtaposing sounds is similar to a scene in Watchmen, when the fight scene of The Comedian's death consists of painful outbursts from The Comedian alongside Frank Sinatra's 'Unforgettable'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i7l6Mh6giE Accessed 3/12/13, Zack Snyder (Video uploaded by Youtube user: Revega Aexandru) 2009 (Video uploaded 2011)

Sound Research: 'The Birds' - Alfred Hitchcock 1963

Youtube Video Still

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lw0FP9putKM Accessed 1/12/13, Film Director Alfred Hitchcock (Video posted by Youtube user: Marc Parella) Film Created 1963 (Youtube Video uploaded 2010)

In the final attack in Hitchcock's The Birds, he successfully creates drama and suspense through the use of increasing the volume of sounds and as they get more intense, the tension builds up to the disequilibrium. In the beginning of the video when Melanie is slowly walking towards the camera, there is a short sound clip of a bird's wings flapping and this signifies that something is about to occur involving the birds.

Although Hitchcock uses an orchestra sound in the background and isn't relevant to my sound project, he uses sound bites and increases the volume to a terrifying and extreme level, thus creating terror and an uncomfortable atmosphere. Hitchcock increases the volume steadily throughout the scene as Melanie is slowly walking to the source of the noise, a similar technique Alex and I may use in our soundtrack to create a similar sense of uncertainty and tension.

Sound Research: Meat Factory Ear Worms - Richie Beirne (2008)

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/the-curious-ear-doconone-meat-factory-ear-worms.html Accessed 1/12/13, Richie Beirne, March 2011

As part of my research for my sound piece, I listened to Richie Beirne's 'Meat Factory Ear Worms' after being introduced to it in a seminar a while ago as it presents the idea of juxtaposing sounds with upbeat music alongside harsh, sharp noises such as knife slicing along each other. The voiceover throughout the whole piece provides the audience with a narrative of what is happening in the meat factory and how the character is daydreaming in order to get through their everyday routine.

The sound of heavy machinery and drilling/cutting is played alongside the soundtrack of optimistic songs such as 'I Used To Love Her' by The Saw Doctors. The narrator refers to these songs as 'earworms' - songs which stay in your head; a technique that helped him get through his job in the meat factory.

I feel this research shall help me with the idea Alex and I have come up with as it layers juxtaposed sounds to create a slightly uncomfortable atmosphere for the audience. In our soundtrack we may experiment with layering eerie/background sounds with the morning routine - such as birds tweeting but increasing in volume - in order to increase the tension.

Feedback/Crit for Sound Idea

When Alex and I presented the first edit of our sound piece to the rest of the class we received a variety of mixed opinions on our piece. Although we aimed to have repetition at the start of the piece to gradually speed up, many people felt the pace was not fast enough and this is something I agree with when reviewing the piece. We realise that we will need to record more sounds to add into the piece and speed up the pace even more to create the sense of tension.

When reviewing the positive opinions from our class, we found that many people enjoyed the concept and understood the overall idea we were trying to get across. Some people commented on the clear quality of recordings at the start of the sound track when presenting the morning routine. I am pleased to find out that many of our peers were in favour of our concept and how some comments revealed that they enjoyed being surprised with the disequilibrium at the end. 

In terms of the negative points, we found that the majority of the comments pointed out how the pace should be sped up in order to create a more tense atmosphere; a criticism I agree with when reviewing the soundtrack again. Another criticism I agree with is the uncertainty some of my peers had when listening to the atmosphere recordings halfway in the narrative. Although we felt these sound bites fitted well in this part of the narrative (before the disequilibrium) I was then able to see from the audience's perspective how it may seem out of place. These sound bites could still be used on the soundtrack but maybe as a background track to other parts of the narrative. I feel the criticism from my peers was very useful as many of the comments pointed out weaknesses that I could see myself, yet needed to see from another perspective in order to improve them/

Overall Positives:

• Good Idea/Concept
• Clear quality recordings for the morning routine

Overall Negatives: 

• Beginning and end sounds need to link together more
• Beginning routine should be faster

Overall Positive Comments

Overall Negative Comments

Ediing the Sound Project

Alex and I booked out a zoom microphone in order to record sounds from across Sheffield such as roads full of passing traffic in the distant and muffled voices of passers by. This was to include a sense of atmosphere among the soundtrack rather than it containing only sounds from household objects. We recorded objects in the kitchen such as a kettle boiling and bacon frying in a saucepan. This was due to those sounds being the most associated with a morning routine and we thought the audience would then be able to figure out our idea of the morning routine as they would only be presented with audio rather than visual footage.

 

We decided to use Soundtrack Pro and although this was the first time I had used this program, I was able to figure out how to use it and as Alex had already used this before this also helped with working out how to use it. We imported the sound bites and began to trim and rearrange them to create our desired narrative. For the morning routine we replicated the first sequence of kitchen sounds with the speed increasing after each sequence. This was to create an increase in tension signifying to the audience that disequilibrium was to occur at any moment; as the purpose of our sound piece is to surprise the audience with a narrative that seems like a regular routine yet an unexpected plot twist occurs at the end. Then we decided to place the audio files of various atmospheres after in order to signify a change in the routine, before the climax of the audio including shouting and the argument between two males over a disagreement involving money.

Finally we exported our sound track onto a CD to present to the class for feedback on our idea.

Experimental Project 'Sense of Place' - Sound Ideas

Development for our 'Sense of Place'

For our Sound Experimental Project, Alex and I have decided to create a 'sense of place' based on an everyday 9-5 businessman or woman, whose repetitive daily routine is altered dramatically when they  take a different route home one night. We have not decided yet whether the main character is a male or female as we are only required to focus more on the sound part of the project. The first 1.5 minutes will be repetitions of everyday sounds such as:

• A kettle boiling
• A shower/tap running
• Alarm clock/radio

We decided that we wanted to have these sounds gradually speed up each time, to signify to the audience that a change in this monotonous routine is about to occur. This part of our idea is similar to an Experimental Film we viewed in a seminar called 'Salaryman 6'  by Jake Knight (2002). We wanted to create an idea which begins with something that many people can relate to; in this case a repetitive routine in the weekday (e.g school, university, a job). Then we decided we wanted to create a sense of excitement and drama in our 'sense of place', therefore we wrote down ideas for how the disequilibrium could occur:

• Sequences of repetitious sounds speeding up
• One sound bite to cause the change in routine - radio announcement/road closure
• Overhearing an argument; between intimidating characters
• Gun shot/shouting/ambulance sirens