Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

By: Rob DeCamp

            Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, directed by George Lucas, is a famous science-fiction trilogy that takes place in a galaxy far far away. Episode IV is actually the first of seven movies. The film opens on a big Rebel space shuttle that is being attacked by members of the Empire, commanded by sith lord Darth Vador.  The movie then switches onto the life a young boy, Luke Skywalker. Luke lives on the planet of Tatooine and is befriended by Han Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, C-3PO and R2-D2. Luke and his newly made friends go on a mission to save a leader of the Rebellion, Princess Leia, who has been captured by Darth Vador and the Emperor on the Death Star, a massive space command center.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MftSEu4vgg0

            In the opening scene of the movie, the viewer sees the Rebellion space shuttle being attacked by Darth Vador and members of the Empire. In this scene when Darth Vador makes his grand entrance, the music switches from the action/gun fighting music, to more dramatic, evil music. This scene is definitely trying to add a dramatic side to the story. The music shows that Darth Vador is the bad guy because of the way the horns are playing and because of how the music changes when he makes his entrance. The music also becomes louder when he enters, to show dramatic affect and significance. This scene shows the audience that the Empire is powerful and obviously winning the battle because of all the Rebellion soldiers that are shot and killed. When Darth Vador enters the music almost conveys a lack of hope for the rebellion, showing that the Empire is just too powerful for them. The arguments presented in this scene are that Darth Vador is the bad guy and that the Empire cannot be stopped. I think the arguments are convincing because the music portrays that Darth Vador is intimidating.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gpXMGit4P8 

            As the movie goes on, it switches over to life of young Luke Skywalker. In this scene Obi-Won Kenobi has recently confronted Luke about the space droid he has recently purchased, R2-D2. When Luke is repairing R2, he comes across a message from Princess Leia asking for Obi-Wan’s help. After Obi-Wan asks Luke for help we come to the scene when Luke is looking out into the distance at the two suns. The music playing in the background is different than the music that plays when Darth Vador enters. This music is more soft and a more comforting pace. When the camera switches over the Luke, the audience sees that he is under distress and does not know what to do. The audience begins to feel sympathetic for Luke. Luke also seems lost in this scene, which allows the audience to feel for him. The arguments being presented in this scene are that Luke is lost and does not know what to do. I also see that Luke is sad because he feels trapped on his home planet of Tatooine but he is also scared to leave because he has never done so before. This is an important seen because this allows the audience to join Luke and Obi-Wan’s side.

            The writer of the music in this film, John Williams, does a wonderful job of presenting arguments and allowing the audience to create their own answers. He also does a great job of causing the audience to generate emotions. If you have not seen any of these films, I highly recommend it!  

Fast Cars and Good Music

On multiple occasions I have been driving down the road and wished I could start weaving in and out of cars while driving super fast like a racecar driver. I do not think everybody has had a feeling similar to this, but at these times my body fills with adrenaline and wants to do something crazy. I then control myself knowing that I cannot drive recklessly or I would put myself and others in danger. However, the Fast and Furious movie series provides a great way for me to get the dangerous-street-racing feeling without having to get off my couch. This is especially true for the action and car-chase packed sixth movie, Fast and Furious 6. Not only does this movie show lots of action, but it uses songs and music to help deepen scenes while adding ethos, pathos and logos.

Overall, the music in Fast and Furious 6 was all similar; it was all hip-hop/rap or dance/electronic music. The songs fit well in their respective scenes and two scenes stick out most-I will discuss them later. I was a big fan of the soundtrack and I remember leaving the theater telling my friends how much I enjoyed the songs in the movie. In the reading Chapter 5, Sound the book says, “A common assumption of this kind of music is that it merely acts to prop up bad dialogue or poor acting.” I agree with this because the majority of the acting in this film is low quality but the songs overshadow that and pull your attention away.

The first scene I thought had good usage of sound was the race scene where the characters Toretto and Letty race. The music in this scene was more of a electronic genre and I thought it added a great deal of suspense. Throughout the race there were fast beats followed by a bass drop and each bass drop corresponded to something significant in the race (one driver passes another, cars crash, police show up, etc.) There is also a short part where the music stops while the cars are drifting and it seems like the two drivers are showing compassion for each other. Overall, the music in this scene creates more action, drama, while building up to important parts of the race.

The other scene I thought had great use of music was the final scene of the movie. This scene portrays some of the members of Toretto’s crew sitting around a table and the character Roman leads them in prayer. A rap/electronic song is played in the background with no lyrics while he prays and to me, this adds tons of meaning. Not only does it make the words sound more powerful, but I feel like it makes Roman sound more genuine. Since this is the final scene of the movie, the song helped transition into the credits and end the movie on a high note.

Adding popular songs to movies is an easy way to add ethos to any movie. The soundtrack song “We Own It” by 2 Chainz and Wiz Khalifa was has full popularity on iTunes, adding tons of ethos right off the bat. The rest of the songs are all relatively popular, therefore adding more ethos. The songs did a very good job adding ethos to Fast and Furious 6.

Along with ethos, there was a good amount of pathos included in this movie. To start off, the songs incited an anxious/anticipatory emotion within the viewers. The music was also used as a cue to when something will happen, i.e. when cars will crash in a race or when police will appear. The pathos here really helped further the plot.

Finally, the producers added lots of logos to Fast and Furious 6 through music. The songs fit with the scenes perfectly and there was no contradiction from song to scene. The best example of this is the car chase I discussed earlier.

Overall, I believe the movie Fast and Furious 6 deserves four pickles out of five. The movie had great ethos, pathos and logos and used songs to overshadow the poor acting. The songs went along perfectly with the scenes and I believe four pickles is a fair rating.

Twilight is Again, Overrated.

Twilight is Again, Overrated.

Let’s be honest, the Twilight series is one of everyone’s guilty pleasures, especially mine. But whilst re-watching the film, separate from my teenage girl infatuation, I realize that the film is very hit-or-miss in regards to its use of music and sound. In many scenes, the music seems to perfectly portray the action and mood of the scene, while a select few scenes, the music seems to almost take away from what is happening on screen. This creates an issue of continuity throughout the movie. The scenes in which the music is well done create a stark contrast to the few in which music is not effective. It seems to take away from the omnipresent mood and the flow of the movie.

The very first scene exemplifies when Twilight used music to its advantage. On screen, Bella has just become fully vampire. If you have seen any twilight, you know that vampire-dom brings extreme clarity and inhuman abilities such as extreme speed, vision, and sound. The scene starts on Bella’s eyes and flashes to microscopic close ups of things around her: showing her changed state. At the same time “Where I Come From” by Passion Pit is playing. The song is a mellow, yet upbeat song that perfectly fits the scene both with its lyrics and tone. It portrays the sense of revelation and optimism that Bella has as she starts her life as a vampire. This gives pathos to the movie by creating the optimistic mood for the scene. It makes the audience excited for Bella’s life as a vampire, just as Bella feels. Then Edward, Bella’s husband comes on, only making the music fit better and adding logos, as the lyrics apply to Edward being the joy in Bella’s life.

               Unfortunately, some of the scenes in Breaking Dawn Part 2, the music seems to subtract from the movie. For instance, in Bella’s first hunting experience Bella goes violently on the hunt for a bleeding human, and the music beats in the background growing in speed and violence. At this point the music adds pathos as it creates a suspenseful mood, bringing the scene to the height of intensity. Bella then simply rejects the urge to feed on a human: but by this point, the music has peaked our interest. The music makes the audience over anticipate Bella’s reaction and is not fitting of her anti-climactic response. This takes away the ethos of the music for the rest of the movie: the audience can no longer trust the music to properly foreshadow future events. The scene goes on, and now Bella is hunting a deer. Sounds of the jungle play calmly in the background until a lion jumps on the deer she is following. Bella pounces on the lion, and has her first feast. The music that plays along is hard hitting and loud, fitting of the scene, but the growl of the lion sounds very unrealistic and almost cartoonish. “Although the function of sound effects is primarily atmospheric, they can also be precise sources of meaning in the cinema” (Understanding Movies pg.207). In this instance, the sound had a precise meaning: the growl of a dying lion. But that meaning is not properly conveyed because of the sound effect’s lack of believability. The sound effect has an obvious lack of ethos as it is not credible or believable.

               A separate win in terms of music is featured in the final scene of the movie, which is also the final scene of a very lucrative and beloved series. This scene needed to portray a sense of love for the series as well as create a sense of nostalgia for its looming end. It is a flashback from all of the movies, of memories of Bella and Edward. During the flashbacks, Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years” echos loudly. This music adds ethos because Christina Perri is a highly acclaimed and respected singer songwriter, with an amazing voice. “When merged with lyrics, music acquires a more concrete content because words, of course, have specific references.” (Understanding Movies pg.213) This use of song is a very true to that statement. The words fit very well with the love and nostalgia the flashbacks are trying to convey. “Time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you for a thousand years, I will love you for a thousand more.” The music, especially the lyrics, add a significant amount of pathos.  This song also adds logos because it makes sense to the audience in terms of relating to what is being shown. Essentially, this music choice was a trifecta of rhetoric.  

               Although, these are merely three scenes from the movie, they seem to depict the usage of sound and music throughout Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2, which is to me perfectly used or an epic fail. Overall the music was generally good, but the few bad moments took away a lot from the flow of the film. That is why I would only give the music two pickles. Sorry Twilight, but don’t worry: the cast is still attractive and teenage girls will always love you.  

Ashley Smith

Every Revolution Begins With A Spark

Every Revolution Begins With... A Spark.

Remember who your real enemy is. This is what Katniss Everdeen, a young teenage girl plagued by trial and poverty, must force herself to never forget. Panem is a city in which there are 12 districts; some rich, some poor, some poorer. And all are ruled by the Capitol, a government that reeks of tyranny. Every year, this Capitol puts on a district-wide event called The Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a televised fight-to-the-death in which two randomly chosen teenagers from every district must compete.  For years now, the lower classes have rolled with the Captiol's punches. They stand down, they abide by the rules of the Games, and they avoid divergence. But what if one day, these people decide that they want change? What if they truly cannot take anymore of the Capitol's oppression? In The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, a revolution begins to stir, one that is lead by a single spark of inspiration none other than Katniss Everdeen.

In the Official Trailer for the movie, the soundtrack begins with a melancholy approach, one that is very monotone, almost expressionless as if to portray the persecution felt by the people of Panem. The music involves one single piano note, repeated over and over again. The first scene in the trailer shows Katniss hugging her younger sister, Primrose. This is the movie's way of haunting us with the deep-rooted strife that is about to come alive. We know that something is coming, something big, something bad, most likely. And so the music slowly starts to get louder, and louder, and faster. In Everything's An Argument, Gianetti explains that "loud sounds tend to be forceful, intense, and threatening. Quiet sounds strike us as delicate, hesitant, and often weak. These same principles apply to tempo. The faster the tempo of sound, the greater the tension produced in the listener." This gradual rising action is exactly what the music in the trailer, so far, is trying to accomplish. As the music starts to get louder, Primrose speaks to Katniss. "Since the last Games, something is different. I can see it. Hope..." Is this a credible statement for Primrose to make? Why yes it is. The following images presented to us are those of people raising their hands in the air, with confidence, and determination. There are off-screen sounds occurring now as well. People are yelling, swords are being drawn and clashed together. The background music continues to grow in potency. For these reasons, the ethos presented by the trailer is fierce.

Sound effects tend to express our internal emotions, complimented and stirred up by images put forth by the film. I think this is the overall goal of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.  The "film composers connect the spirit and theme of the movie" ("Eye On The Oscars: Song & Score" A22) through our senses. Right off the bat, we are thrown into harsh world with a several characters stuck in a really crappy situation. We are spoken to in soft, hushed voices, and are lulled with very deep, purposeful sounds. Then everything seems to pick up intensity. Characters begin to quarrel, the music gets faster and more impromptu, and by the time the trailer is over... we want to go out and see this film. For all of these reasons, the pathos here is spot-on, and could not get much better. The overall pathos is further strengthened by the words of the characters. "You fought very hard in the games, Miss Everdeen. But they were games. Would you like to be in a real war? Imagine thousands of your people dead. Your loved ones... gone." President Snow of Panem stops speaking, and at this point, the music reaches its climax, and stops. Simultaneously, the scene cuts to black. This is a powerful moment in the movie trailer, because absolute silence coupled with absolute darkness gives the viewer a sense of emptiness, a symbol of the impending death of Katniss Everdeen's family and friends. This feeling is characterized as an absolute stasis, a sort of suspension in time that keeps the viewer breathless, and on the edge of their seat. "Absolute silence in a sound film tends to call attention to itself. Any significant stretch of silence creates an eerie vacuum--a sense of something impending, about to burst." 

As a final note, I'd like to talk about the lack of popular songs present in the trailer of the movie. There were absolutely no vocals. At all. Why would the creators of the trailer do such a thing? I would have to guess that The Hunger Games: Catching Fire has enough appeal to do without contemporary pop songs being thrown at us. The director wants us to come see the movie for the movie itself, which is  plausible. I'd like to think that most fans coming to see the movie are also fans of the books written by Suzanne Collins. In any case, I'd also like to throw out there the fact that the trailer and the official movie soundtrack are on two completely different levels. Every single song on the soundtrack are written, specifically for the movie, by popular artists (Lorde, Coldplay, Imagine Dragons, Ellie Goulding). It's very interesting that the director would hold back on these songs for the actual movie. I think it's mainly for marketing purposes, so that people come out of the movie theatre with their head filled with quite a few solid new hits. The above video is a cover of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" sung by Lorde. The song is very powerful; sad, but inspiring. It is slower than the original, and darker in tone. In a song like this one, the "sound effects can also serve symbolic functions, which are usually determined by the dramatic context." (Gianetti 207) The dramatic context illustrated by Lorde is the entire world of Panem. To me, the idea of a war ties in with logos, and does so successfully. In fact, the original song of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" was written by Tears For Fears during the nuclear crisis of the Cold War. The logic of a society going through hard times, and learning to fight for itself, is a logical one. The music sucks us into the terrifying world of The Hunger Games. It is a world in which angst has built up in a society over many years. It is a world with the anthem of a people standing together as one, with hot blood pumping angrily through veins, and salty tears caught between dirty eyelashes. A cultural revolution is coming, and by now we all know it's catching fire.

I bestow a rating of 5 pickles for the successful handling of the three appeals, in addition to an audio that gives both tremendous emotion and meaning to the movie as a whole.


 
 
 

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

Hunter Pallasch

The winning play for the T.C. Williams Titans in the championship game spotlighted Rev, the character that brought music and soul to the team.  The movie Remember the Titans is based on a true story from 1971, when a high school was forced to integrate.  The local high school football team’s success unites the team and the city.  However, the team goes through many internal conflicts that flirt with becoming a disaster. The progression of two key songs sung by the characters show the Titans ability to look beyond race and overcome these conflicts to become one unit.

On the bus ride to fall camp a few of the black players start to sing the song “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye.  However they are quickly shut down by their teammates.  The tension of high testosterone males being on an integrated bus for probably the first time in their life is sharpened by this cut off.  Even though the song is not sung for long, it is a prelude to the cohesion the team will have.  Fast forward to the end of camp in the locker room.  All the players are having a good time joking around, when Allen, a tall and lanky white kid, turns on “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and starts dancing like the awkward kid he is.  This scene alone is the first sign that the team has overcome their differences.  Because of their newfound cohesion, the Titans will experience that there is “no mountain high enough” or “valley low enough” that can pull them apart.  It gives the newly formed bond credibility to being true and long lasting.  To even further the reputation of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” the song is played as the final credits are playing.  These credits are unique in that it tells the rest of the story for each of the characters.  It represents that even beyond their playing days they are going to be together forever.  Even more importantly it lets the viewer leave happy.  The final scene (spoiler alert) is a funeral.  Playing such an important song to the team’s brotherhood at the end of the movie changes the emotions of viewer and their positive perception of the story.

The other critical song to the movie is “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” by Steam. Like the first song I discussed, “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” is played multiple times with different moods for each.  The first time it is played is on the bus ride back from fall camp.  The song is very upbeat and represents the team coming together. A complete 180 from the ride to fall camp, the song lyrics are indicative of the team saying “goodbye” to their past.  They have moved on from fighting and from a brutal fall camp.  What is also unique about this scene is the players are singing the song unlike the traditional use of the original artist.  The player choir adds to the effect the song has for establishing a credible bond that was formed at camp.  Now contrast that to the end of the movie.  “The final scene of a movie is often the most important. Because its privileged position, it can represent the filmmaker’s summing up of the significance of the previous scenes” (Kurosawa 221).  The camera pans through the crowd of football players all dressed in black suits.  Players and family are humming the tune of “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” at the star player’s funeral.  A song that was once so positive has become a tearjerker.  The slower speed of the song contributed to the somberness of the funeral as opposed to a happy bus ride.  For a funeral scene it only makes sense to play a sad song that wishes someone a good bye.  Even though I mentioned the following credits and accompanying music allows the audience to leave happy, this final scene shows the respect everyone has for the team and how far they had come.

The soul of the Titans is driven by their music.  The strongest appeals of the soundtrack are manipulation of emotion and adding credibility to the actions of the movie. In addition song lyrics and tone just logically fit in with the situations.  Their spirit at each point in the movie is represented by the song selection.  Even though each song is played multiple times, each time it creates a distinct and different emotion for the viewer.  However, what I found most impressive about each song is that even though the scenes and emotions changed, the meaning of the lyrics always fit.  The selections just made sense.  The idea of choosing each song for two different situations is very risky but because the lyrics can be applied multiple ways it worked well.  Gabriel Yared, an established film composer said, “When I write music for film, I try to connect with its spirit rather than working shot by shot” (Music and Mood).  Even though the soundtrack for Remember the Titans was not an original score it beautifully connects the spirit of the entire movie. I am a huge fan and give it 5/5 pickles.

Titanic

 Titanic is a Romantic Movie about a high class girl, Rose, that falls in love with a lower class artist, Jack. Though she was already spoken for Jack’s easy going ways and heartwarming hospitality made her fall in love with him on the Titanic. The love would have been able to flourish and last if not for the ice burg that forced the ships demise and changed their entire lives on that boat. We see the couple go through trials and tribulations but in the end he freezes to death and dies while waiting to be rescued. The last scene we see an aged Rose still reminiscing about her lost love and we feel for her.

                The music in the Titanic is mainly very loud back ground music that build the moments. The songs were Symphony style music by James Horner and were strategically placed to make the scenes even sadder and more tragic. No words or catchy lyrics were necessary in the formation of this tragic true story but the instrumental songs where perfect background fillers to add depth and character to scene. The idea that “Cinematic music…. Does not simply add to, but multiplies, two or three times, the effect of the image” is shown through the instrumental music in this famous movie. (Giannette 201) Every moment the music plays the characters seem to come more alive or MORE DEAD. The songs Titanic an Ocean of Memories and Death of the Titanic both almost made another character of their own. They gave voices to the dead and dying. In the back of my head I felt like I could hear the screams and moans of the people and the last scene of the movie the music almost seemed to enhance the silence.

When the Movie the Titanic was being advertised in 1997 one of the most notable songs was Celine Dion’s MEGA HIT, MY Heart Will Go On. This song, still to this day, not only is one of the most notable part of the movie but also can be recognized almost anywhere as the Titanic theme song. Watching the movie closely I began to realize that you never really hear the words to the song. However the most sacred and memorable moments in the movie are enhanced by the instrumental version of this Contemporary ballad. The two most notable times of love oozing script was came in the middle and end of the movie. The first, when Jack allowed her to go on the rescue boat before him and essentially tried to save her life while risking his own, we hear the song which added to the selfless act of her leaving her spot on the boat and returning to the death trap that was the Titanic we get the affirmation that she is in love with him. The heart breaking last scene of the movie we see a rescue boat come and all the people floating in the water dead and frozen and when we spot the couple initially they seem to have perished like the rest but we see movement from Rose and in the heart breaking next moment realize that Jack has died next to his love and the music once again begins to play. The song is being used to enhance the drama of the scene and it brought a tear to my eye every time I heard the instrumental, almost like it was forcing you to feel sad. The lyrics of the song are “my heart will go on and on,” foreshadowing her love for him will forever be there, as we see in her eyes when they interview her as an older woman.

The different songs in the Titanic do a great job of showing the sadness and depression of the movie. There could possibly have been more happy songs to lighten the mood but generally the foreshadowing of death was always upon them. Horner did a great job of appealing to the hearts and minds of the audience. I give this musical soundtrack a four out of five pickles. The songs aren’t a major part but do a great job of making the major moments memorable. The score gives a voice to the dead.