Analysing Various Media Products

Introduction

Music is used in media products to make audiences associate different emotions with what they are seeing. Music can play a huge role in the emotion of a piece of media and it is important that the right score is produced in order to convey that specific emotion. If it wasn’t for music in films, certain moods and atmospheres could not be highlighted and in some cases the audience may not even know what mood is supposed to be being portrayed.

Sound is used in media products because, a majority of the time, the scene wouldn’t make sense without them. For example, if a door is seen to be slammed in a movie scene, a door slam has to be inserted into the film because it is essential to accompany what the audience can see, and wouldn’t make sense without it. It is important to include this sound design because it keeps the scene realistic and keeps us invested in the story. If it wasn’t for the sound design, then audiences might notice that it doesn’t sound right, or that sound is missing. If they keep noticing these holes throughout the whole media piece, then it may mean that the whole thing does not have the same impact on them, because they are distracted by the missing sounds.

Animation- The Simpsons

(Watch whole clip LINK)

Sound-

At the beginning of the clip, an arrowhead-shaped formation of UFOs flies over the building. These create a whirring sound that gets louder as the UFOs get closer to the front of the foreground. I feel like this is very important to transition from the alien’s dialogue to the scene occurring in front of him. Without this sound, the UFOs would be flying by silently, which would not create as much of a dramatic effect, which I feel is key to this scene.

When we see the scene in front of the alien, whipping can be heard which immediately implies that there is some form of slave labour involved. This is important because it is used to show how cruel and relentless the aliens are. If there wasn’t the harsh sound of whipping, the scene would not be as dramatic because we would not feel that the new world rulers were as vicious and evil.

The sound of cranes can be heard before the sound of whipping has even stopped. This is another auditory indicator, similar to the whipping, which tells us that something (in this case, construction) is taking place. The industrial sound of squeaking and cogs moving is very important because it gives us an indication for the new industrial/unsafe-feeling world that the Simpsons live in. Without this sound, we would not get the same feel for the new type of life that is being led by the aliens and the Simpsons.

As Marge walks past the alien slave driver, the clanking of chains is heard. This emphasises the point that they are prisoners even further. This sound occurs while whipping can be heard in the background, this is because the larger scene is still happening, even though we are only focused on one person. This is important because it doesn’t draw our attention completely away from the scene occurring in the background, it just shifts our focus slightly to the main people who are currently engaging in dialogue. If it wasn’t for the sound of the chains, then the audience would not have the constant reminder of the world that the aliens have created.

When both Marge and Homer are whipped, a sound is created by what they are holding (Marge’s wheelbarrow and Homer’s planks), which emphasises the physical pain involved in the whipping, as it makes them flinch, which results in them dropping/ throwing slightly, then catching what they are holding. Without these sounds, the whipping would not seem as intense. The harsh cracking sound of the whip reinforces this pain.

Music-

The music begins playing very abruptly which, to me, sounds like poor editing (potentially just in the video clip), but may also have been to emphasise its beginning. I find the music in this scene very interesting, as it mixes orchestral instruments (string and brass-heavy) but also includes the use of a theremin- which is famously NOT an orchestral instrument. It is a sci-fi-style instrument which is often used as a leitmotif for aliens (which suits this scene very well, as that is exactly what it does!). The music in this scene is important because it very effectively combines the orchestral element to emphasise the drama of the scene (which is also achieved by forte dynamics), but also the sci-fi element of the theremin to remind us that this is alien-based. Without the use of the theremin, we wouldn’t get a leitmotif element that reminds us that the story is about aliens.

Film- Dunkirk

(Watch clip from 1:50-2:19 LINK)

Sound-

The sound design in this scene is very subtle, as the focus is the soldier reading the newspaper. There are some background sounds, though. The first sound that can be heard is the wheels of the train screeching to a halt as the train pulls into the station. We then very soon after hear the sharp sound of a man knocking on the train window as the soldiers look down in shame, as they think people are angry at them. The emphasised sound of the man knocking is so important because it is a sound that can be made when someone is feeling anger, and drawing attention to shout at someone, or to draw someone’s attention for another reason, leaving the character (and the audience) momentarily mistaken. They try to ignore the man as he keeps knocking on the window. We then very soon after hear the clanking of bottles as the man passes beers through the windows to the soldiers which very quickly changes the mood of the scene. This is very shortly followed by the sound of the crowd on the platform who greet the soldiers with cheering and applause. This, tied with the man passing beers into the carriage, are very important sounds as they are representative of the people’s gratitude. If it wasn’t for these sounds, we may not notice, or it would take us longer to notice, that people are not angry at the soldiers for retreating. The sounds aid the director’s choice of when the audience, similarly to the characters, realises that the people aren’t angry at them, but proud of what they have achieved. The realisation is very sudden which is the aim of the director and is assisted by the sound design.

The sound design in this media product is different to the sound design in the other media products that I looked at because some of the sound in this piece (the man hitting the window) is designed to confuse viewers, whereas the other sounds in other products are to help keep the audiences informed about what's going on.

Music-

For the short period of time when the soldiers think everyone is angry at them, one low, thick, solitary string note or chord is held which sets a very melancholy mood as the soldier reads the newspaper. This is very important because it sets the mood for this scene, but is also very vague, which means the composer can transition the music quickly, to follow the quick change of mood. Without this very basic piece of score, there would be no atmosphere to this section. However, when the sound of clapping, cheering, and clanking bottles is introduced, the music strongly impacts this change of mood by introducing a much larger, thicker, louder string section, which could be symbolic of the sense of unity at the train station. The music isn’t particularly upbeat, which I feel is to remind us that the situation (of the evacuation and war) is still upsetting, but still makes us happy because of the new atmosphere in the scene and how the music contributes to representing it. The music in this scene is important because it is so effective at showing the audience how people can still find that strong sense of unity in extremely tough times. Without this score, the mood in the scene would be quite monotonous and the changes wouldn’t be as emphasised.

The music in this media product is different to the other media products that I looked at because it is the only one to not use music at all to aid drama. The Skyrim clip has some non-dramatic music, but it also has some dramatic music. This clip uses music to aid a sense of uncertainty, then unity, but not necessarily drama. This is because this scene occurs towards the end of the media product, and is about the people coming together, without drama.

Advert- Snickers- Mr Bean

(Watch clip from 0:23-0:53 LINK)

Sound-

At the beginning of the clip, Mr Bean knocks some tiles off the roof as he clumsily walks across. This noise, tied with the noise that comes soon after of the tile smashing on the floor behind a guard, is so important as they are supposed to be being stealthy, and quiet, so this is displeasing to the rest of Mr Bean’s group. If it wasn’t for this sound, then we would not see Mr Bean’s clumsy nature ruining the stealthy element of the mission. This would mean that including Mr Bean’s character in the advert was pointless, as clumsiness is the foundation of the character all together. The sound of the tiles dropping also encourages a group of crows to take flight and, in the process, squark extremely loud. This also adds to the attention-drawing noise, intensifying their situation. In the background, dogs can also be heard barking, which acts as a confirmation that they are beginning to draw attention, not just to that one guard, but to a larger groups as A) There are numerous dogs heard and B) The sound of the dogs is quiet and has some reverb/echo applied, which gives the effect of distance (they can be heard from far away). This is important because it contributes to the failure of their mission, which is entirely the fault of Mr Bean which, again, is instrumental to his character. There is a light scraping/brushing sound as Mr Bean slides down the corner of the roof, which only really indicates that he is doing so to build up the tension to what happens next: him falling through a roof. The sound for this is very important as it is the point at which they are discovered, as he falls onto one of the guards- in a room with loads of other guards. If it wasn’t for this sound, then the failure of their mission would not be as highlighted and emphasised.

As he falls, the sound of falling rubble intensifies, which builds up to its loudest point: hitting the floor. All of the rubble makes the loudest noise as it hits the floor. This tied with Mr Bean landing on the guard makes for quite a loud noise- to emphasise that they have been caught. 3 very interesting sounds then occur: one of the guards makes a fire bigger by poking a stick in it. The swooshing, fiery sound this makes is important because it intensifies the scene and makes it more dramatic, as fire is a very dramatic thing in the hands of an enemy, even though it does not serve a practical purpose to the scene. The second noise that occurs in that short space of time is the scraping of the guards’ blades which is obviously to reinforce the idea that Mr Bean now has an excessive amount of blades being pointed at him, which indicates he has definitely been caught and will not escape. The final of these 3 interesting sounds is the stomping of the guards’ feet- the tone and intensity of which I feel is to show the magnitude of military force that is surrounding Mr Bean, which creates even more drama.

The sound effects then stop for a moment as Mr Bean’s group throws him a Snickers. The sound of the packet rustling can be heard as: it is thrown down from the roof, as it travels down through the air, and as Mr Beans catches it. It is important to have these sounds because we need to know about the Snickers, as it is the main point of the advert. The sound of it being caught is especially loud and emphasised- to let us know that he definitely caught it. The sound is less of a ‘tap’, as it would be if it hit the floor- so we know that Mr Bean definitely caught it. The sound of him eating the Snickers, however, is kept very quiet as, although this is very important to the story, the sound of eating is disgusting and the audience doesn’t want to hear it. If the sound of chewing was included, it might actually put people off the product, as it is an unappetizing sound that does not want to be associated with the product (despite it being food).

The sound design in this media product is different to all of the other media products that I looked at because it contains no mechanical sounds whatsoever. The Simpsons clip contained cranes, the Dunkirk clip contained a train, the Timeless clip contained the ‘Lifeboat’ and the Skyrim clip contained the mechanical robots. This media product does not feature any machinery. This may be due to the time period (ancient/extremely old). However, it is also down to the nature of the advert. For example, Skyrim uses mechanical sounds, but is set in a time period even longer ago than this advert. This is because Skyrim is supposed to be magical.

This sound design also shares the theme of chaos and damage with the Timeless clip.

Music-

Up to just before Mr Bean jumps down the corner of the roof, there is some light music from what may be a 20cm ‘Red Flower’ Drum, which is a traditional Chinese percussion instrument, which may be being played with hands or padded sticks, and is accompanied by what could be a GuZheng (古琴),a traditional Chinese zither-like, plucked string instrument (chinahighlights.com), playing the Yáo zhǐ (摇指) technique (a technique in which you rapidly shake the nails attached to your fingers across the string, to make a collection of fast, legato notes be played in quick succession of each other) (youtube). The use of this instrument is important because it is an iconic, traditional instrument in Chinese culture.

As he prepares to jump, the GuZheng stops and the higher-pitched drums slow down to build tension and prepare us for what he is about to do. I find this strange as usually it would be conventional for instruments to pick up tempo before something dramatic happens, but that comes as he is actually sliding down the roof, moments later, instead. This is important to the mood of the advert because this part of the scene is very tense and dramatic, and it is imperative to the mood that this is reflected in the music. If the tempo increased as he prepared to jump, then increased further as he slid down the roof, then the tension wouldn’t be as emphasised. The fact that it slows down before he jumps is used to hold the moment, before the exciting part occurs. If it wasn’t for this technique, then the climax of the advert would not be as emphasised, which would mean it did not have as much of an impact.

As his momentum increases, the higher drum stops, and an entirely different collection of instruments start to play. There are more of them, they are deeper and play a more dramatic arrangement. I can’t attempt to identify the specific instruments being played as the larger ensemble builds, however, prior to Mr Bean crashing through the roof, a lower percussion instrument and lower string instrument is played, with small bursts of a high-pitched percussion instrument, which I feel resembles a Xylophone, that accompanies the fast, Yáo zhǐ-like bursts from the low, stringed instruments as he falls through the roof. These instruments are then left to ring out during the brief moment before he lands on the guard, which I feel is important to enhance the tension of this brief moment and to highlight the sound design.

There is, strangely, not much music after he lands on the guard. Some bursts of a plucked-string instrument and, what sounds like, a woodwind/pipe instrument are played, but I feel like this section is left quiet to enhance the sound design part for this scene (the fire being lit, the guard’s blades scraping and their feet stomping). If it wasn’t for this, then the dramatic sound effects might be drowned out by music which is actually unnecessary for this part.

There is the faint sound of sticks coming into contact with each other, just before the Snickers is thrown down to him. As he catches it and just starts to eat, there is no music. Then as he finishes eating a string instrument begins to play lightly and, when we see his character change and him jumping up through the hole in the roof, a low drum, which may be a War Drum (youtube) can be heard playing rapidly, along with an ensemble of other percussive, drum-like instruments.

Most, or potentially all, of the instruments used in this advert are traditional Chinese instruments. This is important to fit the theme of the advert, which is a traditional, stereotypical Chinese setting, which is implied by the style of buildings, lanterns, clothes and the other mens’ language.

The music in this media product is different to the other media products that I looked at because it uses a specific type of world music, whereas a lot of the other products use western instruments, such as orchestral. This is because they typically have western settings. This media product differs because of the location at which it is supposed to be set.

TV Show- Timeless

(Watch clip from 0:10-0:35 LINK)

Sound-

When the trio are shown in the time machine, the ‘Lifeboat’, a rumbling can be heard, as the machine is damaged and will not be functioning properly. This sound reminds us about this, which reminds us how risky the trip is. We know how out-of-the-ordinary this sound is, which makes us fear for the trio’s lives. If it wasn’t for this sound, the point that something is wrong may not be emphasised which would make the scene less tense, and this scene is all about the risk they are taking and the tension. The sound of the machine coming in to land is then heard faintly, but gives the audience enough of a clue that they are landing in the right place, until seconds later when the intense sound of smashing and crashing is heard, as the machine has missed its designated landing spot due to the damage it sustained. The sound adds to the visual of this huge machine destroying the computers and desks as the workers run for their lives. Without this sound, the destruction that the Lifeboat causes would not be so intensely highlighted, which would make it less impactful. Finally, the rings can be heard slowing down as they usually do which is to demonstrate that the landing was successful. This sound is important because it gives us closure on the journey. Without this, we may think that there is still something that could go wrong, but we need to know that the journey was successful at this point, so we can be excited to see the team emerge from the machine.

The sound design in this media product contains mechanical sounds, in a fictional setting, similar to Skyrim. However, although the Simpsons clip is supposed to be set in a fictional setting, the machines creating the mechanical sound are realistic. The mechanical sound in Dunkirk (the train) is definitely realistic.

Music-

When the team are shown in the machine, travelling, there is an orchestra of strings and timpani which can be heard, playing a dramatic score. The timpani is important for adding extra drama and tension, which fits perfectly for this scene. However, it is somewhat drowned out by the sound of the rumbling. The strings are playing longer, built up notes, which may be to focus on the more sombre side of the risk they are taking and the fact that they may not make it, as opposed to the exciting side of it. This score changes very little until the sound of the machine coming in to land, when the strings hold a higher note, to build that extra bit of tension. Without this change, the audience may not feel as tense when they hear the machine coming in to land. The music stops when the time machine crashes. If it wasn’t for this sudden stop, then the moment would not be held and emphasised as much, as stopping music in this way can make the short spaces of time feel drawn out. Then a very faint, low string can be heard as one of the characters goes to run over to help them out of the machine.

The music in this scene is very similar to the music in the other media products I looked at, but also a lot of other media products, generally. A lot of media products use orchestral music when portraying drama, although some use variations and additional instruments for it to fit the theme more (Simpsons uses theremin for sci-fi, Skyrim uses ancient chanting for historical elements).

Game- Skyrim

(Watch clip from 0:20-0:50 LINK)

Sound-

At the beginning of the clip, the sound of 2 heavy stones scraping can be heard (presumably to indicate a tomb opening). This is important because it lets the player know that something is happening behind them, which they may not be able to see. If it wasn’t for this sound, then the player might be oblivious to this until it is too late, which would be unfair, as the player deserves a warning when they are about to have to enter into conflict. This is very quickly followed by the sound of the sphere hitting the floor which, like the tomb, is to tell the player that something is moving around. The nature of these sounds (eerie/ ‘hard’ scraping and hitting) could be an indication to the player that these are hostile. These specific sounds are also used because of how the being becomes active. As the player shoots fire from their hand, the sound of a flame jet can be heard to make this seem more real. The sound of the flames is then combined with the sound of the spheres rolling around and their swords hitting the sidekick’s shield. This is a perfect battle combination for sounds as they are all so important for the mood of the action scene taking place: the fire gives it the intense/exciting element, the rolling around creates a mechanical sound and obviously the swords hitting the shield is imperative to a battle scene. When the player switches weapon to a sword, the sword is drawn from, presumably, a scabbard. This creates an exciting sound that mentally prepares the player for an aggressive sword fight. If it wasn’t for this, then this opportunity for an exhilarating sound would be wasted. The sound of the player attempting to stagger the sphere with their shield is a thudding sound, which is useful to indicate that the move was successful, this is accompanied by a grunt which, again, makes gameplay more realistic and reminds the player that they are acting out the role of a person. I feel like the sound of the sword hitting the spheres is too deep, as it makes them sound larger and more hollow, however I like the realistic sound of metal being hit.

The sound design in this media product is similar to the sound design in the Snickers advert because it contains historical elements (for example, the use of blades). These 2 products also share the element of conflict. The Simpsons doesn’t have this, as the humans are not fighting back, the specific scene from Dunkirk has the opposite theme of conflict (despite the wider theme of conflict within the film) and the Timeless clip also doesn’t contain conflict.

Music-

This clip does not contain much music, however when the player ‘levels up’, there is some vocal music that can be heard, which is authentic to the setting/style of the game. This is important because it is dramatic and reinforces the power the player feels as they become more and more advanced at the game. If it wasn’t for this music, then a level-up would just seem like another part of the game, and there would be less emphasis on it, and it would feel less important/ less of an achievement to the player.

Some strings can be heard just before/as the player enters their weapons menu. This music is very out of character for a battle scene, as it is relaxed and juxtaposes the scene that is actually occurring. It is rather fitting while the player scrolls through their menu, though, as the fighting is paused while they do this, which could be seen as a break for the player. This music is not vitally important to the mood and atmosphere in the scene, however it is useful for letting the player feel more like scrolling through their menu is a break. As the player is fighting, a more dramatic arrangement may be more appropriate than the light-hearted one which is playing during this scene. If there was a more dramatic arrangement, then the player would feel more tension and would be more exhilarated by the scene which is occurring.

The music in this media product is different to the music in other media products that I looked at because it uses vocals to portray historical chants and singing for the historical element of the game. The Snickers advert uses ‘traditional’ instruments, which could be seen as historic but, other than this, none of the media products that I looked at contain historical musical instruments/techniques.