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[akka248]

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1ST AND 2ND BLOG

Introduction

The first two blogs presented here will focus on the orchestration of the opening scenes of two movies. To be able to analyse the scenes and identify the musical instruments used in the background score, I have employed skills which I had attained as a child when I studied classical music. I would happily welcome your feedback on whether my analysis is a hit or a miss and why you would think so. 

1ST BLOG - The Opening Scene of Sleepy Hollow (1999)

As many of you might know Tim Burton has had a long history of collaboration with soundtrack composer Danny Elfman. Together they have produced movies like Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice or Batman. My personal favourite of their collaborations is Sleepy Hollow (1999) starring Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci. While the movie is enjoyable and well edited, I find the soundtrack absolutely perplexing. Based on Washington Irvings’ short story about the headless horseman who terrorizes a small 19th century puritan New England town, the story and the soundtrack are both full of mystery, intrigue and action.

Though, in my opinion, every song is a masterpiece, my absolute favourite piece is the opening scene.

LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aMJtx27GtM

It starts with string instruments (possibly cello played with a deeper tone) followed by combining brass wind instruments to raise an air of tension while a very subtle vocal singing can be heard in the background. After an abrupt stop, the vocalist takes the lead by singing the repetitive theme of the soundtrack which gives a mysterious feel. Following that, the cellos rise to a crescendo again, together with the trombone, playing the theme while we can see a contract being signed and stamped. The music implies a dubois agreement has been just made and it surreptitiously sets the stage for what is to follow. 

Once the contract is sealed with the wax, the momentum of the scene increases as does that of the music. We can now hear the violins and other string instruments being played as well. The change in the location of the scene is marked by the sound of the cymbal and we can see horses galloping and pulling a carriage in the dark with a man inside. During this visual it is no longer the cello which is the primary instrument but the violins which play a much faster tune representing the speed of the carriage. 

The music quiets and slows down as the man in the carriage looks out at a scarecrow in a misty cornfield. It bodes an unforeseen event, or that something or someone might be following him. The carriage moves faster again and so does the music. All of a sudden, from the man’s window, a black horse is seen riding past the carriage and the energetic violin plays again, in-keeping with the change of pace in the scene. When the music stops, we hear the slash of a sword’s blade, and we can only hear the sound of the horses galloping. The man in the carriage is trying to find out what is happening outside. He sticks his head out of the window and he finds the coachman beheaded whereas his body remains sitting on his boot. Here the music changes into a much more dramatic piece, with brass instruments taking control of the melody complemented by the strings. 

The man starts frantically running in the cornfield, accompanied by string instruments and the vocalin the background, while he is pursued by the headless horseman and beheaded himself. We hear the theme played one last time by the violas but the actual murder is implied when we hear the deep sound of the trombone.

Although the whole piece is not dominated by one single instrument, every part has a controlling instrument that plays the melody depending on whether the composer wants to imply mystery (vocals, cellos), speed and action (violins) or drama (brass instruments).

2ND BLOG - The Opening Scene of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

In my previous blog I wrote about the orchestration of the opening scene of Sleepy Hollow, which is, by far, one of the best pieces of background score. However, my all time favourite opening scene is the Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) directed by Francis Ford Coppola. 

Similarly to Sleepy Hollow I think the film is decent (with the exception of Keanu Reeves’ horrible representation of Jonathan Harker) and I always enjoy watching it. But what deserves more credit is the soundtrack and not the movie itself. Composed by Wojciech Kilar a Polish composer, the album is often mentioned as one of the best soundtracks of movie history. 

This opening scene tells the story of how Vlad Dracula became a vampire in the mid 15th century.

LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMxJrw1pUk0

The piece starts with the cello playing Dracula’s theme. The strong cello notes represent Dracula’s character, a powerful ruler who leads his army with determined hands towards victory. Although he is cruel with his enemies, he is gentle and caring to the love of his life, his wife, Elizabetha. 

The cello plays the melody for the first part of the scene, when we get to know the historical context of Vlad Dracula. 1462, in Transilvania, Vlad Dracula is preparing to go to war with the Turks who are threatening the Christian world of Europe. The music, composed by an Eastern European composer, does not sound like typical ‘Western’ music, but resonates East European authenticity, where a long note is always followed by a short note. This generates a certain rhythm which is found in many Hungarian, Polish or Romanian classical music (for example Ferenc Liszt - Hungarian Rhapsody No.2). 

The deep notes of the cello also give a dark, gloomy and diabolic quality to the scene, foreboding Dracula's transformation from human into a demonic creature.  

After Dracula leaves Elizabetha we see him fighting on the battlefield and (just like in Sleepy Hollow) the sounds of the brass instruments highlight the drama and the rising tension. We see archers shooting arrows, soldiers stabbing or even impaling their enemies. Here the trumpets dominate the melody and are complemented by drums and cymbals.

Dracula wins the battle against the Turks, and returns to the same church where he departed from his beloved Elizabetha, unaware that Elizabetha had received a fake letter about his death and committed suicide. He enters the church and finds his deceased wife’s body on the floor. His entrance is followed by polyharmonic vocals, much like a piece of choral music. 

He finds Elizabetha’s letter in her hands and while he’s reading it, we can hear another repetitive theme of the film. This piece is the love theme and during this scene it is sung by a female vocalist who represents Elizabetha and complemented by the cello, representing Dracula. The vocalist and the cello together play a sort of duet, the last duet of Dracula and his dearest wife.

One of the priests tells Dracula that Catholic faith believes if someone takes his or her own life, their souls will be lost forever and therefore Elizabetha’s soul cannot be saved. This infuriates the already devastated Dracula and that is when the last part of the opening scene’s soundtrack (my favourite part) starts. First, a subtle piano plays. As it crescendos, the drums beat a constant tum-tum-tum-tum that also gets louder together with the other instruments representing the growing anger of Dracula. The monotone but fast rhythm of the drums makes the viewer feel uneasy and anxious, predicting something ominous is about to happen. We can also hear an occasional brass instrument making the scene even more disconcerting. Then the male vocalists join in (together with a whisper-like sound) and finally the brass instruments and the female vocalists raise the piece to the hilt as Dracula loses his human form forever.

In my opinion what makes this piece of music so special is the constantly rising tension and the instrumentation - the cello as Dracula, the female vocalist as Elizabetha and the brass instruments as the anger and horror of the war. 

3RD BLOG - Mozart’s music in films

In this blog, I will analyse and compare two scenes from two movies, both of which have a background score that uses Mozart’s compositions. It is interesting to perceive their differences and similarities.

Opening Scene of Trading Places (1983)

LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCubTHR5vpY

One of my all time favourite 80s comedies, Trading Places starts with one of Mozart's most popular opera pieces - The overture of Marriage of Figaro. 

In general, opera (or Mozart’s music) in movies is naturally associated with wealthy and well educated people. John Landis the director of Trading Places uses this piece in a way that cleverly underlines the movie's theme which is the hypocrisy of the very rich people’s world. 

The movie is about two extremely wealthy brothers, the Dukes. They play a bet in which they choose one of their employees, Louis Whintorp, and set him up by falsely accusing him of possessing drugs. Louis Whinthorp is then banished and sent to jail. They take away all his money and all of his possessions. He loses his job and his fiancee and ends up bieng harboured by a prostitute in a very rough district. Meanwhile they offer Louis’ job and house to a homeless African American man, Billy Ray Valentine, to see if he can lead their company as well as Whintorp could. What is painfully poignant is that the highly immoral and unethical bet was played for only a dollar - the price of a poor, albeit, honest man’s life and reputation in the hands of two unscrupulous rich men.

The Opening scene compares Winthrop and Valentine’s worlds. People of the working class are seen beginning their jobs around Christmas time in Philadelphia with occasional pictures of the city’s famous landmarks. We see them starting their shifts at a busy market, going to work by bus or the underground, etc. Everything looks busy, routine and kind of robotic. The scene then slowly moves into the poorer district of the city - coloured children jump roping, the blinking of a sign of an adult cinema, a man opening the gates of a pawn shop. We would not expect to hear one of Mozart’s operas when we see these pictures. But then we see a very fancy door and a man in a suit collecting the morning paper. This is where scenes of the poorest areas of the town and Whintorps’ luxurious apartment start alternating. The picture of a homeless black man sitting under newspapers, men warming their hands next to a burning barrel versus Whintorps’ butler squeezing fresh orange juice for Whintorps’ breakfast. Unemployed people waiting in long queues to get their benefits versus the freshly baked croissants in the oven. The scene finishes with Whintorp still sleeping in his enormous bed and being woken by Coleman, his butler holding a tray with his freshly made breakfast.

Mozart’s opera perfectly fits Whintorps’ world, but certainly not the other. Landis uses Mozart piece to emphasise the difference and the unfairness between the two worlds outlining the movie's core topic. Rich versus poor, educated versus uneducated, privileged versus underprivileged, lucky people versus unlucky people and how wealth gives its owners the power to do absolutely anything they like.

Opera Scene of Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Stephen King is my favourite writer and the film Shawshank Redemption is one of the best adaptations of his book. It is not a typical King story being devoid of ghosts, monsters and people with supernatural powers. Nevertheless, it is intriguing, clever and entertaining, just like almost all of King’s books.

The story is about Andy Dufresne, a banker who is falsely accused and convicted for the murder of his wife. An intelligent and well-educated man, he eventually becomes fairly popular in the prison despite his reserved and quiet, yet, friendly personality. 

In the following scene we can see Andy playing "Sull'aria" (from Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro") over the speakers of the prison.

LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjqmg_7J53s

He finds the album by happenstance while looking through some records in a carton. He most likely knows the opera very well because he looks very content when he finds the vinyl. He decides to play it while the guard is using the toilet. We can see the growing satisfaction on his face while he listens. Suddenly he makes a bold move by locking the doors and turning on all the loudspeakers so the whole prison can hear the music, knowing for certain that he will get punished for it. 

Everyone in the prison stops for a few minutes and listens to the duet. They look puzzled and at the same time seem to be mesmerized and we can be fairly sure that not many of the inmates are familiar with Mozart’s music. Red, Andy’s best friend and the narrator of the movie, says that for a few minutes every prisoner at Shawshank felt free by listening to the music.

The prison’s warden and the other guards order Andy to turn the music off. Andy contemplates obeying them for a second. But in spite of knowing that terrible consequences await him, he turns up the volume and sits back in his chair. He is willing to undergo harsh punishment later to simply relish this moment in the present.

Here, Mozart’s opera does not imply wealth, but intelligence, sophistication and perfection. Andy Dufresne is much better educated than his counterparts in prison. Notwithstanding, the genius music of Mozart has a major impact on all the inmates. The flawlessness of a piece of Mozart’s opera is capable of triggering emotions and of stirring up something in even the least culturally accomplished humans. 

Conclusion

Mozart’s opera equals beauty, intellect and sublimity whether it is used to depict wealth like in Trading Places or cultural superiority like in Shawshank Redemption. The impact of the strength and the magic of Mozart’s works have a universal impact despite, as both scenes portray, being essentially reserved for affluent people with money and better education unlike those who come from the lower socio-economic strata. 

BLOG 4 - The use of romantic music in Needful Things

When I was studying Cinema at the Károly Eszterházy University in Eger, Hungary we were explicitly taught never to compare a novel to its film adaptation. Both are different works of art. Maybe it’s the rebel in me (wink, wink) but I feel that the movie Needful Things, directed by Fraser C. Heston, does no justice to the amazing Stephen King’s book of the same name that it is based on. (Have I mentioned?) I am a HUGE King’s fan and Needful Things is one of my all time favorite novels. The novel is a complex representation of small town people and how easy it is to manipulate them, while the movie falls flat and often only focuses on the violence and the supernatural aspect of the book. Simple. Doesn’t do justice to the book. 

The film, Needful Things, is about a fictional small town called ‘Castle Rock' and its habitants in Maine. An antiquities shop opens in town run by a mysterious man called Leland Gaunt. In this shop everyone finds exactly what they need. To amuse himself Leland offers a prize to any buyer who would fulfil one task. They would need to do him a favour by playing a prank on a fellow citizen. This is how Gaunt manipulates them and eventually turns everyone against each other in this small and quiet town of Castle Rock.

I would now like to analyse two scenes from the film where Heston uses two very popular romantic pieces of music.

The Horse Racing Scene

LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUFTWfDAF_E&t=89s

In the following scene we can see a woman, Nettie Cobb cycling to Danforth “Buster” Keeton’s house. Keeton is the town’s selected headman whose gambling addiction ended up in him embezzling the town’s funds. Earlier, Keeton had bought a horse racing toy from Gaunt’s shop in which he’s completely engrossed, while Nettie had bought a little crystal figurine and she is obliging Gaunt by placing police warnings, signed by one of the town's deputies, Norris Ridgewick, around Keeton’s house. 

The piece of music that is used in this scene is the very well-known and popular ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ composed by Edvard Hagerup Grieg. This piece has been used in numerous films including The Social Network, Johnny English Reborn and Rat Race. It is most often used for its familiarity and the gradual building up of the rhythm and the tension.

Just as in the other movies, the familiarity of the song gives a kind of comical feeling to the scene while the increase of speed and intensity of the music represents Nettie’s growing enthusiasm as she is enjoying the little prank more and more. 

We can see Nettie entering Keeton’s house, while he is busy with his new toy in his office. She is initially nervous about putting up the fake warnings but then her excitement starts growing, which is reflected in the music. Also Keeton’s misdeeds written on the notes are getting more and more serious and also absurd, starting with embezzlement, and misappropriation of town funds and ending with doing something very inappropriate with his own mother to having intercourse with horses!

When Nettie places the last note on the fridge the music stops and she finds the secret recipe of the best apple pie. She loves baking as she works in the local cafe and her speciality happens to be apple pie. She stares at it with disbelief but then she hears Keeton’s office’s door closing. He is heading towards the kitchen where Nettie is standing with the apple pie recipe in her hand. She manages to stay hidden from Keeton, who notices all the police warnings around the house. The music starts playing again as Nettie tries to run out of the house without being discovered. Now the rapid and zealous music represents Keeton’s lividness as he finds the fake warnings around his house.

Nettie’s seemingly simple act will lead to a major disaster. Keeton will suffer from paranoid delusions and eventually will be shot by Ridgewick. Thus, the music renders a comical tone to the rather horrific end of the prank. 

The Cobb/Jerzyk Murder Scene

LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICVZkJ-0V3o&t=81s

This second scene is a lot darker and a lot more violent than the previous one. Events in the town have started to escalate as Gaunt’s evil plan to turn everyone against each other is slowly reaching its peak and violence and chaos is about to turn Castle Rock upside down.

Nettie Cobb and Wilma Jerzyck have been longtime rivals. Other townspeople play pranks on these two women in each other’s names. Nettie, scorned by her dog’s death, goes to Wilma’s house to get her revenge. The two of them get into a fight which turns out to be the last one they will ever have. 

What happens right before the YouTube video starts is a scene with the shop owner, Leland Gaunt, sitting down in his living room, right by his fireplace, listening to Franz Schubert’s iconic composition, the Ave Maria. This is followed by Wilma’s truck pulling into her driveway, while the music continues to play, indicating that Gaunt, who is presumably a demon in human form, can actually somehow see or experience the two women’s last duel. 

Wilma sees that her window has been broken and realises that there is an intruder in her house. When she steps into her kitchen she sees everything broken by apples. She immediately figures that the perpetrator is Nettie who’s specialty (as everyone in the town knows) is apple pie. The two women come face to face, accuse each other of the crimes that were commited by others and, in a violent fight, kill each other. 

I find Ave Maria a very interesting choice of music as it is one of the tranquil and most relaxing pieces one can ever listen to. This is in complete contrast to the brutality and viciousness with which the two women slaughter each other. That being said, keeping in mind Gaunt, who is listening to it in his sitting room and enjoying the two women killing each other, gives the music a completely new meaning altogether. At the end of the scene, we return to Gaunt’s sitting room, where he ticks off Nettie’s and Wilma’s name on his Castle Rock list indicating that he has successfully eliminated his first two victims of the town. 

Conclusion

Although both music pieces have been employed several times in movie history, I personally think that they were befitting choices in these two scenes.  

In the first example it boosted the comical nature of the scene while in the murder scene it not only made the connection with Gaunt’s superpower of seeing what is happening without being there but also gave a special atmosphere to the violent and brutal double murder, as if the two women were helpless under his spell.

BLOG 5 - Opening Credits

Opening credits of Six Feet Under (2001 - 2005)

Alan Ball’s (creator of True Blood) Six Feet Under, which aired between 2001 and 2005, was one of TV’s most amazing shows. It was about the Fisher family that runs an independent funeral home and each of its members with different kinds of issues - the repressive mother, the older boy who is constantly looking for the meaning of life. the middle brother who is too uptight to even accept his own homosexuality and, finally, the rebellious and creative youngest sister. 

This show ran before streaming services gained popularity and it was a pioneer of alternative, more mysterious, credits instead of the then more straight-to-the-point opening credits.

LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5JkGY1qC8Y

Unlike the opening credits of other tv shows like Buffy or F.R.I.E.N.D.S, one is left intrigued about the actual plot of the show. It tells us something without divulging everything. We see mainly close-up and extreme close-up shots of someone preparing a woman’s dead body for her burial. The shots aim to preserve the enigma (a man washing his hands, the dead woman’s feet with a tag on one of her toes, the man cleaning her eyes with a cotton pad etc.) 

The music might not strike any particular chord in the listener, but it certainly gives an extra mysterious atmosphere to the visuals. Led by the Oboe for the most part, the music often changes rhythm, goes from slow to fast and vica versa, just like the pictures go from beautiful to gruesome (e.g. a beautiful bouquet of lilies wilts and withers).

This opening credit makes it fairly obvious that the show will be about death and loss with a gloomy atmosphere, however, it does not give away all the details. We do not see any of the Fishers, only a funeral home worker, a dead body and a black, ominous, crow at the end. The opening credit finishes with a tree on a hill, representing the circle of life and death.

Opening credits of Weeds (2005 - 2012)

The TV show Weeds that ran between 2005 and 2012, starring Mary-Louise Parker, is about a mother who, after her husband’s death, decides to sell drugs in order to financially support her two sons. 

It’s opening credit displays the small, conventional town where the protagonist, Nancy Botwin raises her two children.

LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3_ug-IGBJY

The opening credit is very simple - the same looking houses around a hill, the same car passing by, the same man jogging, the man exiting a coffee shop, then the same woman jogging over and over again. We expect that the show will take place in a small town where life is always the same, but at the same time we can expect some irony and criticism in the repetition of the identical cars and people.

The colours of this opening credit are completely different to the one of Six Feet Under. While Six Feet Under uses darker, matt colours, Weeds uses warmer and more natural colours. We get the feeling that we are in an everyday American town with neat houses and well dressed, polite people. 

Weeds’ opening credit was unique as every episode started with the same song but was always performed by different artists. Nevertheless, its message remains the same that perfectly matches the pictures (Little boxes (houses), they all look just the same) until the very end when the main title appears beside the shadow of a marijuana leaf. It is only then that it becomes clear that this show is not about a typical small town family but there is certainly a twist in the story. 

BLOG 6 - Use of Diegetic Music in Films

In my final blog I will look at two examples of the use of diegetic music. First, in a Netflix tv show in The Umbrella Academy and then in an iconic 80’s Hungarian movie, Eszkimo asszony fazik (Eskimo Woman Feel Cold).

The Umbrella Academy (2019-present) - Dancing Scene

The Umbrella Academy is one of the hit shows on Netflix about a multimillionaire scientist, Reginald Hargreeves, who starts an experiment by raising seven children with superpowers. Although Hargreeves raises them as his own children, he always emphasizes that he is first a scientist and then a father.  When the kids grow up they struggle with finding their place in the real world and living ‘normal’ lives despite their supernatural powers.

The pilot shows that the seven children have reunited in their home, after many years, to pay their final respect to their ‘father’, the scientist Hargreeves, who is now deceased. 

In the following scene we can see five of them dancing to the same song, I Think We’re Alone Now by Tiffani.

LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVxBmXz5QGs

Five of the seven siblings are staying in the Hargreeves’ mansion when Luther, the ‘number one’ sibling, finds an old record player and starts playing a song from the 80’s. All 5 of them are in different rooms in the house but somehow they can all hear the music. They start dancing (Klaus in the basement does a waltz with the urn with the cremated remains of their father) and get lost in the music.

This scene suggests that despite the distance and the time for which they have been apart, there is still a strong bond between the siblings and it is also indicative that this will keep them together forever. 

The choice of song is perfect for the situation. Each one is alone, yes. Yet, they are all in this together. The catchy melody and cheerful beat contrasts the gloomy and difficult situation. Although they are all full of anger and confusion, for a moment they all manage to escape from the negativity and feel happier and lighter. All of them enjoying the same music shows that they have a common bond that they share and not only that, it shows that there is always light after dark and one can find solace in any grim situation with a little joyful note. Makes the audience want to dance with the characters, doesn’t it (wink, wink)?

Eszkimo asszony fázik (Eskimo Woman Feel Cold) (1983) - Itt van pedig senki se hívta (He/She is Here but Nobody Has Called Him/Her)

Director János Xantus’s iconic movie, the Eszkimo asszony fázik, is abundant with diegetic music as it is about a young, ambitious woman, Mari, who starts singing in a band in collaboration with Laci, her lover. Throughout the movie, the band is seen playing in bars in several scenes. 

One of the scenes with diegetic music takes place in Mari’s apartment. Mari is married to János, who is a deaf man, aware of his wife’s affair with Laci, a pianist. Regardless, János still loves his wife and does everything that he can for her and protects her to his best ability.

The following scene takes place after a quarrel between Laci and János when Laci realizes that János, in spite of being deaf, is very good at playing the drums.

LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKyu5ro9twA

János is playing the drums while Laci is on the keyboard when Mari arrives and sees János’s face covered in blood. She gets upset and starts asking Laci about what had transpired. Laci, on the other hand, just orders her to sing the song he wrote, without answering her question. At first she is uneasy and does not want to sing. But after being coaxed by Laci, she searches for the lyrics in her bag and starts singing the song. 

The song is about a person* who is in love with someone and their love remains unrequited. The song might suggest Mari’s fading emotions towards János as she is more and more passionate about Laci, but we cannot be sure of that. Nevertheless, we can see János continuing to play the drums with the same emotionless expression even at the very end where there is no more vocal or keyboard, only him playing the same beat. It seems as if he has unwittingly accepted Mari's decision to be with Laci and possibly leave him. On the other hand, he will always stay beside her and protect her as his feelings towards his beloved wife will remain unchanged, come what may.

*As the Hungarian language does not differentiate between male and female, there is only one pronoun for people and animals which is ő = he/she/it. Therefore the ‘person’ in question can be either a woman singing to man or a man to a woman

[akka248]

AV ARTEFACT - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Horror Trailer

When we got the description of the AV assignment I automatically thought that I would like to work with one of my favourite movies. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) is a romantic drama directed by Michel Gondry and in my opinion it is one of the best directed movies of all time with stellar acting. It is about the rocky relationship between the introvert Joel (Jim Carrey) and the outspoken, always vibrant Clementine (Kate Winslet). 

According to the story, after their relationship turns sour, Clementine decides to get Joel erased from her memory and Joel, after getting to know about it, decides to do the same. The majority of the movie takes place in Joel’s head while the erasing company is working on the removal of all his memories about Clementine and it depicts their relationship going backwards in time. The movie is not linear. It starts with Joel and Clementine meeting for the second time and then the erasing process shows their relationship from their break up during their first encounter. 

My initial idea was to make a video where I show their relationship but in a more traditional, linear way. I was planning to use the original soundtrack of the movie to accomplish my plan. However I was struggling with the video, somehow it did not come together at all. After consulting with Jessica, she made me realize that the movie's soundtrack, just like the movie itself, is too complex to be used in a linear way. She advised me to think about creating a kind of horror trailer for the movie as it has quite a few scary scenes (although it is not a frightening movie at all). 

Following her advice, everything went much smoother than at first with my initial idea. 

LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWDrGmYKZro

After finding two pieces of music that I thought would suit my video, I started editing it, trying to create a horror trailer to the movie. I believe the main goal of trailers is to get the attention of the viewers but not to give away the whole story. Therefore my aim was to create a sort of trailer that roughly tells the main story but its main purpose is to create a similar atmosphere to the ones of the real horror films’ trailers. 

First, we get to know the two characters and that they start a relationship. Here there is only a piano playing the same note. Then we can hear a very short electronic sound getting louder before the music abruptly stops. That is when I used the piece of music with the quiet piano playing to show Joel and Clementine in love, before their relationship deteriorated. 

Then the music quiets down and stops and we can see Clementine not recognizing Joel. The first piano note returns with an upsetting electronic sound when the camera shows Joel’s confused face. Just like in the first part, we can hear the same piano note a few times, while we get to know about Clementine erasing Joel from her memory but it is always played together with the upsetting electronic sound. It gets more and more intense with more electronic sounds added to the piano and we see some random images like Joel under the erasing machine followed by Clemetine's sudden disappearance. Here I used some random pictures of the couple, some happy and some distressed ones. The plot not be discernable for the viewers but my aim was to create a distressing atmosphere.

The music stops again and we can see Joel at the erasing company’s office after making the decision of erasing Clementine from his memory. Then Joel starts talking about the issues they had had in their relationship with Clementine. Here I used only quiet electronic music to decrease the tension. 

The next part is about Joel’s erasing process. The music is still not at its maximum but it is a bit more tense than in the previous part. I wanted the viewer to feel the discomfort of Joel while being under the procedure. 

The music stops one more time and it recommences with the highest intensity. This is the last part of the video where we get all the horror elements of the movie. The disappearing objects, running from the erasing company’s people and some scary, blurred faces. Again, here my aim was to create an atmosphere that would suggest that the whole movie is terrifying with loads of action. At the very end, when the music is at its maximum and we see rapidly changing, daunting pictures of Joel and Clementine, the video ends with a piano playing the same note three times suggesting that the movie has a lot more excitement to offer then the scenes used in the trailer.

[akka248]

The Fairy by Sándor Weöres

For my assignment I have decided to use one of the most famous Hungarian children’s poems, The Fairy by Sándor Weörös (original title, A Tündér). Numerous singers have done a cover of the poem, and the version sung by Judit Halász has made the poem a popular lullaby.

I am from Hungary and I remember growing up reading and singing this poem. Now that I have a 5-month-old baby boy, I often sing this poem to him in order to soothe him before he goes to sleep.

This poem is about a fairy called Bóbita and depicts a day in her life. She dances with animals, she plays with pigs, she builds a castle, and then she goes to sleep in the trees.

Fortunately, I have found a very good translation online which I used to create subtitles for my video.

Here is the mind-map, moodboard and storyboard (excuse me for the awful drawings!) of the project:

MIND-MAP

MOODBOARD

STORYBOARD

The images and stock videos were sourced from various websites, mainy from Pexels but also from Pixabay and Unsplash. While I recorded the original Hungarian version of the poem with my phone, at the beginning of my video I used a river sound effect that I downloaded from Freesound.org. I also used a very subtle sound effect that I found on Youtube where a Hungarian actress, Csilla Radnay, recites the poem. 

My aim was to create a fairy forest-like atmosphere. I start the video with two stock videos of forests that represent the fairy’s living environment. Then I continue with images of women who represent the fairy herself.

I always tried to link the lyrics of the poem with the images I chose. In the first image we can see a woman in a cornfield who holds her arms as if she is dancing (”Bóbita Bóbita is dancing”). Then we have another woman and although she is clearly not surrounded by angels as the lyrics would suggest, she has an angel-like pose that I thought suited the video well. The third image is a frog (“Frog-swarm playing the flute”) and the fourth is a locust (”Locust-swarm on violin”). I always tried to pay attention to keep the colour palette and the atmosphere of the images consistent (green-brown-nature colours).

The second stanza starts with a woman again in the cornfield but in a playful, kind of flying position (”Bóbita, Bóbita’s playing”). Then we can see a woman’s face with fairy lights around her, holding her hands in a position that suggests that she is casting a spell (”A spell and the pig has wings”). Next, a woman who is sending a kiss (”Sits on it, promises kisses”) and one who is laughing (”Flies on and laughs at him”).

The third stanza starts with a woman surrounded by trees which refers to the act of building (”Bóbita, Bóbita’s building”). As I found it very difficult to find a suitable photo of a castle or a building in the woods, for the rest of the stanza I kept the theme of the women in the forest surrounded by trees (”A castle with dawn-fog-walls / The halls are filled with guests”) ending it with a little girl looking from behind a trunk. She represents the daughter of King Dwarf (”Son, daughter of King Dwarf”).

The last stanza starts with a woman lying in the forest as our fairy is sleepy now (”Bóbita, Bóbita's sleepy”). Then comes another woman lying down but this time her eyes are closed, (”Lies on an autumn leaf”) while the third image only shows the face of a woman with her eyes closed (”Deep in the midst of branches”). I ended my video with a stock video that shows a woman behind a flower closing her eyes (”Two snails guarding her sleep”) then the camera changes focus to the flower while the video fades to black.

For reference, below is the poem translated into English. The original version of the poem in Hungarian is beneath the translation.

Bóbita by Sándor Weörös

Bóbita, Bóbita’s dancing Round her angels are sitting Frog-swarm playing the flute Locust-swarm on violin Bóbita, Bóbita’s playing A spell and the pig has wings Sits on it, promises kisses Flies on and laughs at him Bóbita, Bóbita’s building A castle with dawn-fog-walls The halls are filled with guests Son, daughter of King Dwarf Bóbita, Bóbita's sleepy Lies on an autumn leaf Deep in the midst of branches Two snails guarding her sleep

and the original

Weörös Sándor: Bóbita

Bóbita, Bóbita táncol, Körben az angyalok ülnek, Béka-hadak fuvoláznak, Sáska-hadak hegedülnek.

Bóbita, Bóbita játszik, Szárnyat igéz a malacra, Ráül, igér neki csókot, Röpteti és kikacagja.

Bóbita, Bóbita épít, Hajnali köd-fal a vára, Termeiben sok a vendég, Törpe-király fia-lánya.

Bóbita, Bóbita álmos, Elpihen őszi levélen, Két csiga őrzi az álmát, Szunnyad az ág sűrűjében.

References:

English version: http://magyarpoems.blogspot.com/2010/11/bobita.html

Original version: https://nepmese.hu/mesetar/gyermekversek/91-weores-sandor-a-tunder

Youtube video for the sound effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwRMPFjTVEE&t=19s

[akka248]

Two Montages - Donnie Darko / La La Land

Donnie Darko - Head Over Heels

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsyfGwlf_l0

Donnie Darko, directed by Richard Kelly, is an American science fiction film. In short, the film is about a high school student named Donnie Darko and his strange imaginary Rabbit friend, Frank, who in one of Donnie’s dreams predicts the end of the world. Of course the film is much more than this short plot summary, but for now I would like to focus on what I refer to as the ‘Head Over Heels’ montage which presents Donnie’s high school and some of the movie's secondary characters. 

The scene is almost akin to a music video clip, starting with Donnie and his two friends exiting the school bus and ending with the start of his English class. The scene introduces a lot of new characters. First of all, the bully, who not only tries to intimidate Donnie, but is seen taking cocaine with a friend in the school hallway. This action is clearly witnessed by the principal who for some reason pretends not to see anything and just walks away. 

Thereafter, we are introduced to the older Gym teacher, Mrs. Farmer, who is standing in the corridor  holding a copy of Jim Cunningham’s book ‘Attitudinal Beliefs’. She is portrayed as a strict teacher with traditional values. In the latter part of the montage, Mrs. Farmer is seen introducing the author Mr. Cunningham to the school principal as well as two other younger teachers. You can clearly observe that Mrs. Farmer idolizes Cunningham, and has no affection towards her younger colleagues.

We also get a short glance of the new student, Gretchen, who nervously looks into the mirror before heading to her first class. In front of the school under the school’s sculpture, Cherita Chen is sitting alone, reading something in her notebook while Donnie’s younger sister and her friends are rehearsing their choreography for a talent competition. Finally, the montage ends with Donnie’s English teacher taking a deep breath before entering the classroom.

This montage has very few cuts which makes it flow almost effortlessly. It manages to introduce all of the important secondary characters together with some important information in only two and a half minutes. However, in my opinion the montage is not an essential viewing because viewers would have understood the story equally well without it.

Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that the scene suits the movie and captures the movie's atmosphere perfectly. The Tears for Fears’s song, ‘Head Over Heels’ is also a perfect choice for this montage because the movie is set in the 80s and it gives us, the audience, the appropriate vibes and atmosphere for what lies in store.

La La Land - Ending Scene

***SPOILER***

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBTdHVXwIMo&t=321s

***SPOILER***

La La Land was one of the biggest hits in 2016, starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. It is about the relationship between a jazz musician, Sebastian, and an ambitious actress, Mia. Besides the clever and witty screenplay, the amazing performances of Stone and Gosling, there is one more major aspect of the movie that sets it apart from other musicals and that is the near 10 minutes long montage as a closing scene.

Both Sebastian and Mia are struggling to find fame in Hollywood and both are dreaming about big success. Sebastian wants to open his own Jazz Club while Mia wants to become a famous actress. Eventually their ambitions lead to the end of their relationship, even though we can clearly see from the outset that they are perfect for each other. At the end of the film we can see that Mia has made a family with someone else and subsequently when on a date night with her husband she finds herself in Sebastian’s jazz club.

In the scene, Sebastian is about to perform when he spots the stunned Mia in the audience. Here we go from reality into an imaginary world. It is not clear who imagines this alternative existence, it could be Mia, Sebastian or both. Nevertheless, we see how their lives could have turned out differently if they had made different choices. In this 9 minutes long montage we can see an altogether happier and more positive Mia and Sebastian. It is a reality whereby they support each other without the prevailing jealousy and competition. 

The montage starts with Sebastian slowly playing the piano and then it gets faster with other instruments joining in. This in turn increases the speed of the camera action through the scene. At the end, when this alternative reality comes to a close the music gets slower and slower. Then the scene culminates with Sebastian playing his own song and then he shares one last last imaginary kiss with his true love Mia. 

There can be little doubt that the closing montage is vital for the conclusion of this movie. In my opinion it is the strongest scene of the film and is so effective for so many different reasons. The final glance that Sebastian and Mia exchange is so charged with emotion. We can clearly see how they both wish that this imaginary world was indeed their reality. The characters are evidently overcome with feelings of sorrow, sadness and regret. 

Sadly, time had moved on and they both knew that they had missed their chance to be together. To alleviate the pain, Mia then walks out with her husband and leaves Sebastian alone in his dream club to ponder what could have been.

[akka248]

Mise-en-scène - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Train Scene

In my humble opinion, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) is one of the greatest movies of all time. The film, directed by Michel Gondry, is about the rocky relationship between the introvert Joel (Jim Carrey) and the outspoken, always vibrant Clementine (Kate Winslet).

The following scene takes place at the beginning of the film where Joel and Clementine meet for the first time.

I think, there is so much information in this short scene. We are just getting to know the two characters and the director makes it clear that Joel is a timid, soft-spoken man while Clementine is his mere opposite; a spontaneous extrovert who does what she wants without being afraid of the consequences. Everything in this scene, from the lighting to the costumes, is a reference to the two characters personalities.

The colors of the train and the lighting in the scene is very dull and grey. Nothing stands out, everything is white, navy, almost grayish, even the outside. Through the window we can see that it is a foggy and rainy day. Joel sort of blends into this setting with his dark drench coat and black hat which covers all of his hair and forehead as if he wanted to hide or be invisible. Clementine, on the other hand, is clearly a striking figure with her orange hoody, purple bag and her blue hair. We can see that while Clementine wants to be different and wants to stand out, Joel has a more conventional, reserved personality. 

The composition is mainly symmetrical, Joel on the left, Clementine on the right, however we can see that Clementine is the dominant of the two, as she is always positioned higher than Joel, which tips the symmetry out a little.

Except for Clementine’s purple bag, there is only one other prop which is Joel’s scratch book. He is drawing a sketch of Clem, where everything is black and white except for Clementine’s orange hoody and blue hair. Although he is shy his attraction to Clem is evident.

This might seem like a scene with lesser importance, however, I think it already foreshadows the greatness of this film. In this movie every little detail matters and has meaning. These subtle elements throughout the movie is why I regard it as one my all time favourites.