Rhetoric of Space

Monday, September 15, 2014

Elysium


            Gladiator is arguably one of the best movies of all time, and the soundtrack that Hans Zimmer puts together is a masterpiece.  Each song tell its own story even without watching the movie, but putting the words being said to pictures in the film, begins to connect dots and make perfect sense.  There are two scenes in which the music stood out and showed many examples of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. 
            The movie begins with a slow melody, and a man walking through a field.  Right off the back this appeals to pathos.  This mysterious man walking through a field raises so many questions, and with a slow melody that gives you a sense of longing, really makes you wonder where he is going.  In the background of this soft melody, very faintly there is the sound of children playing, and laughing.  This raises more questions now, and which every question unanswered draws the listener in even more.  Then the movie flashes to Russell Crowe’s face, and this confirms the feelings of longing, you can tell that he misses home.  While listening to the beginning you may not understand why you’re feeling this sense of longing.  But the music is playing a huge role in this.  As Louis Gianetti says in Understanding Movies, “Moviegoers are not usually consciously aware of how the sound affects them, but they are constantly manipulated by the mixers synthesis.”  The timing up to this point has been spot on.  Crowe’s look of longing and hope matches that of the slow melody.  The beat picks up as he’s walking through the army ranks, this new beat sends off hope, and the feeling that all of the soldiers love their commander.  Watching Crowe interact with the people conforms the feeling the music is giving off.  And again the timing is perfect has he is walking away, synchronizing the movie to go along with the music.  The Logos in this song is apparent from the very beginning.  The song is sang in Latin, which scream Roman Empire.
            The second song that stuck out was during the final battle scene, between Marcus Aurelius and the Emperor.  Once Marcus kills the emperor, and he is about to die, this song begins that immediately gives you the sense of relief.  Logos is shown again through the use of Latin, and the slow high pitch singing.  There is again lots of Pathos being heard.  The emotions that are sparked are longing and relief.  Like he has been on this long journey and it is finally over.  Relating to the movie, this is completely true.  The movie flashed back to that man walking through the field, and that longing begins to creep back in to your mind.  In Understanding Movies, Gianetti says that “pitch, volume, and temp of sound can strongly affect our responses to any given noise.”  The tempo begins to pick up as the song goes on, making you feel like he has finally arrived to his destination, and is happy.  The name of the song is Elysium.  Russell Crowe’s final destination is death, and he has finally reaches this place called Elysium.


            Both of these songs have more than enough Ethos, seeing at the entire soundtrack was produced by Hans Zimmer. This man is going to go down in music history with all of the wonderful music he has make for very well known movies, such as The Lion King and The Thin Red Line.  His reputation is just known has making movie music gold, and to have his name on this soundtrack says a lot. 
            This movie soundtrack is getting five pickles for great use of all Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.  The movie was in perfect sync with music, and did an overall great job of evoking the perfect emotions for that particular scene.              

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