Friday, March 5, 2010
Kingdom of Heaven - Sound Off
After being pushed to pay attention to close details while watching Kingdom of Heaven, I decided to re-watch important scenes with the volume set on mute. Basically, I realized that about 90% of the strength of the movie comes from the music/sound effects superimposed with the actual footage. Balian of Ibelin's entry into Jerusalem was very bland on mute; we watch him entering a city with lots of people in it. Cool. Watching it yet again with the sound on, Jerusalem appears to be an exotic, exciting new place for Balian and the streets come through as a cultural melting pot as they are filled with different faces, languages, foods, etc. Background music also plays an important role, setting a mood to scenes which would otherwise appear unimportant or uninteresting. I suggest you watch Kingdom of Heaven with the sound on (obviously) but don't forget to mute some scenes to appreciate the importance of sound in Kingdom of Heaven and any other movie!
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I watched a few scenes yesterday on mute and was amazed at how the focus of many scenes changes so dramatically without music to focus the viewer. I also listen to just the soundtrack of some movies like the lord of the rings and even without the video it is very apparent where the dramatic moments are and when something or someone new is introduced. I wish I could find a way to watch a movie with the music off but with the dialog on, I think that combination would lead to some interesting conclusions.
ReplyDeleteI after we watched those clips in class I borrowed the movie from a friend and watched the whole thing. I really liked it and even though some parts seemed way out there, like when Balin over the course of what seems like a day is able to dig a well and rehydrate his fathers fields almost singlehandedly. Overall though this movie does work as a beautiful piece of artwork and the story is very compelling whether it is exaggerated or not.
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ReplyDeleteWell, I just saw Kingdom of Heaven for the first time over break. It was a really good movie, although the ending got to me. It was obvious that Scott had an agenda to get across, and as usual, the lack of historical accuracy in favor of the politically correct agenda made me shake my head.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I definately agree with your observations about sound vs. no sound. I'm not a fan of horror movies myself, but my friends tell me that if you watch one without the sound, it isn't scary at all. I have another acquaintence that says that commercials are more interesting if you mute them, because you can add your own comments and noise to the pictures on the screen. It's pretty obvious that the sound in a movie, or TV show, is there to evoke an emotional response...
~C. Erba
It is very interesting to see what people focus on during movies, or how certain unconscious things guide viewer attention. Personally I've developed a strange habit of watching muted TV on occasion, and this often includes movies shown on TV. I agree it changes the mood of the movie, but as for ruining scenes there are always so many visual cues given in any scene that I find it helps to pull attention closer to detail with no sound. My father on the other hand, who is a musician, would probably agree with you. I find it's based more on preference, just as learning styles are.
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