Soundtrack Analysis

Submarine

At the very beginning of the opening sequence when showing the institutional information you have sound effects that go along with it, for example Film 4 has a sound effect that is next to it. This makes it more interesting and with sound people may be more likely to pay attention to it which means that people will be aware of the company.

Then when the picture is first shown you get some ambient sound of the sea very quietly, then after the second credit you hear the sound of seagulls as the camera slowly pans around the room. This suggests and makes the audience aware that the setting is by the seaside. So the sound helps to establish the environment in which the film takes place.

This ambient sound creates a peaceful atmosphere however the quietness of it shows that there aren’t people about and creates a slightly lonely setting. Then the protagonist character (Oliver Tate) is shown, the sound connotes that he is an isolated, maybe introverted character.

Then alongside the ambient sound of the sea and the birds you have a voice over, which is the voice of the main character, this is diegetic sound because you can see him on the floor. However, he is not speaking which shows that these are his thought, this shows that he is going to be narrating the film. The fact that the audience can hear his voice will cause a more personal relationship between us and the character because you aren’t just seeing what he is showing on the outside but we know what he is thinking and the audience can really understand his thoughts and emotions.

The fact that the ambient sound of his surroundings can still be heard, again creates a closeness between the character and the audience because it creates the idea that we are listening to the exact sounds he is hearing which are the thoughts in his head and then what he can hear in his surrounding. It gives the idea that the sound illustrates everything he hears.

The first line is “Most people see themselves as individuals” The fact he says ‘most people’ suggests that he does not see himself as an individual, and it also suggests that he sees himself as different from the rest of society because he sees himself differently to the way most people see themselves.

The first line is very important because it can engage the audience and gives the first impression of their personality. Oliver Tates first line suggests that he is secluded from society and it also shows that he is a self-questioning individual. He also talks in a relaxed and calm tone which shows he isn’t a rushed individual and the slowness in which he speaks could suggest sadness.

At the end of his first few lines of dialogue he says “my name is Oliver Tate”. This makes it clear who he is and that he is narrating.

After he has spoken you get ambient sound of a clock ticking. This is hyper-real sound because the sound is much louder and more emphasised in real life, this connotes that time is an important aspect of the film and suggests that the character could be wasting time or waiting for something to happen.

The sound of the clock ticking is also synchronised with the cuts of the editing and also the movement of his eyes. This causes Mickey-mousing. This is a most commonly seen in comedies. Submarine is a comedy drama which means it follows these conventions.

The Micky-mousing continues also in the next clips when there are clips of the setting. This is because the view changes in time with the music.

Then along with the long shots of the setting there is non-diegetic background music (stuck on the puzzle by Alex Turner). This is a slow paced and simple piece of music, this could represent the character or the tone of the film, so it gives more insight of the genre of the film and the feelings being conveyed by the character.

The Graduate

At the beginning of the opening sequence of The Graduate you get the production company Studio Canal, alongside the picture of this you get dramatic non-diegetic sound effects. These sound effects are a mixture of different sounds like birds and a camera shutter. This mix of sounds then builds to an ending with a long note which sounds like it is played by string instruments.

This brings the audiences attention towards the information because it makes it more interesting. The build towards the end adds to the reveal of the company name Studio Canal and also heightens the excitement for the film about to begin.

Then when the picture is first shown there’s ambient sound of the plane which is like a low and quiet sound but still noticeable. This will set the scene and the audience will realise that the character is on a plane and is going somewhere. Then there’s diegetic ambient sound of a man saying “Ladies and Gentlemen we are about to begin our decent into Los Angeles” on the over head speaker in the plane. This is parallel sound because it’s what you would expect to hear on a plane. This lets the audience know where the plane the character is on is going (Los Angeles). This will lead the audience to wonder why it is going there? Which is effective in a film opening because it makes the audience want to find out more and continue watching.

The overhead voice on the plane also says what the weather is like and the temperature. This is also

setting the scene of what the weather is like outside of the plane which the audience can’t see. This is good useful because it means

that the audience won’t be challenged to try understand the

whole setting because the setting is given to them through the sound.

Then when you see the next cut and the character is off the plane you hear the soundtrack which is sung by Simon and Garfunkel. This music is folk and is conventional to comedy dramas. This is empathetic sound because the music isn’t fast paced which links to the slow pace of which the character is moving the airport and matches the simple visual start of the film.

The first line of the song is ‘Hello darkness my old friend’. This sets the tone of the song and also the movie and reflects what the characters might be feeling at this point in time. If this is the fact then he might be feeling lonely and isn’t necessarily a happy character. This song carries on throughout the rest of the opening sequence.

Both Submarine and The Graduate have similar opening sequences when it comes to sound. This is because they fit the conventions of the comedy-drama genre. They are both simple and slow paced all the way through. They also both start with some sort of ambient sound to set the scene- Submarine with seagulls and The Graduate with the noise of the aeroplane. They are both then followed with a few lines of dialogue and then the music (both folk).

The sound in these opening sequences are effective because they set the scene using the sound. In the Graduate you can clearly see that he is on a plane, however adding the noise of the plane’s engine increases audiences belief that he is, making it realistic. In Submarine you would not know it was a seaside town at the beginning because you can only see inside his room. So this gives the audience the information as soon as it starts giving the audience more to think about.

They are also effective because they help to introduce the character. Submarine does this by having the main character actually speaking to you through narration and the Graduate introduces the character through the song letting the audience know he it a lonely character.