Week 3 - AA1 - Sound Scene

Our task this week is to perform a sound analysis of a Hollywood movie.

The movie I have chosen is Shawshank Redemption, the scene where Andy Durfene is entering the prison.

I chose this movie and the particular scene because it's got quite a variety of sounds, especially in terms of dialogues (diegetic and non-diegetic). It has a narrator, a diegetic dialogues and even non-diegetic crowd noise/ambience). The background sounds consists of strings/music in the first minute, an ambience crowd noise in the second minute and just silence in the third minute.

The first really clear foley sound is the sound of the flag. If heard passingly, it seems very real, but the more I listen to it, the more fake it sounds. The transitions between the three background sounds are nicely mixed as it fades in and out without even being noticed by the listener/audience. There are a few underneath sounds, like the footsteps in the second minute, which are drowned by all the crowd noise and dialogues. It's quite meticulously added, subtle but it emphasis the importance of the character (Andy). The mood sounds at the third minute creates this eerie effect and unwelcoming mood in the prison.

The music plays an important role, as it creates the despair mood, contrasted by the cheering and the jeering crowds.



Reference:
Christian Haines. "Week 3 Audio Arts - Sound Scene." Tutorial presented at the University of Adelaide, 2008.

YouTube. Shawshank Redemption, Welcome to Shawshank Prison. Accessed: 18 August 2008. Available: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=El4Ri1U35Z4&feature=related