University

of Edinburgh

Sound And Fixed Media Film Sound Analysis The City of Lost Children
Pavlidis Aris s0967255 Msc Acoustics and Music Technology 04/03/2001

Introduction
In order to analyze the soundtrack of a specific segment of a film, it would be useful first to identify some characteristics of the whole film. Listening the whole soundtrack without seeing the movie, someone could say that City of Lost Children is an animated film because it uses sounds with characteristics of an animation world. A world that anyone can speak and anything can produce sound that we can hear. From oncle Irvin , the speaking brain , to the petit puce can produce a clear and distinct sound. Micro and Macro world becomes one body. One big loudspeaker . Fantasy, mystery, the battle of the good and the evil, the magic powers of randomness, all that are dressed with unique distinguished sounds bringing imagination and realism into the same plain. The wedding of the two worlds would be impossible without the presence of music. Music can guarantee for a successful wedding by using its powers to bridge the gaps, the missing steps, between sound and picture and lead us to the desirable emotional pattern. We are going to analyze mainly a 2 and a half minutes scene. Moreover, some discussion would be done about some interesting factors of the next scene, which is very important for the narrative. Three are the main characteristics we are going to discuss, starting from the same point of departure.

* On Caro and Jeunet films, frames and sounds are tided together with an invisible chain. The most insignificant in appearance act, can turn out to play the most important role and change the route of the story.

Sound Analysis Scene 1

Analyzing the scene from 01:12:57 to 01:13:24 Some ambient territory sound is heard in the beginning of the scene (sound of water) giving us information about the location of the action. A bunch of passive off screen and visualized sounds some of which are materializing indices, such as the sound of the broken chain and the movement of the boat, dress the first moments of the scene and give it no action. The start of the action is signaled the moment when a ship horn is heard and looks like an off screen intervention to the scene in order to set a different route to the story by bringing about some trouble to the protagonists. The most significant moment of this segment starts exactly after the sound of the horn when some non diegetic (pit) music starts to play. It is the prelude of what is going to happen which in fact gives the play what in criticism is called <<predictability>>. A suspension event occurs while we are waiting to hear a package to hit the boat but no sound is produced. This happens because the directors want to change the picture and go from the human world to the flea world, and make the fleas role more important. The ambience is reduced and the flea produces its first sound from the offscreen plane at 01:13:15 . Music and the fleas first sound raise the question and give us information about the next action, while, at the same time, the protagonists have not realized anything. Only the audience has the advantage and the ability to hear sounds from the non diegetic plane or the micro world (point of audition) while at the same time can identify with the main characters of the movie. The fleas actions produce hyper real sounds with the help of some sound effects. These emphatic sounds are not realistic and are created in a studio but can express the feelings associated with the moment (rendering). Once more, the specific features of animation in the film can be both seen and heard.

Diagram 1: Sound Analysis diagram from 01:12:57 to 01:13:24

Laughter of the twins (active off-screen - acousmatic sound):

The role of this specific sound is very important for the narrative as the 2 scenes start and end with the twins laughter. Firstly, we hear it as an off - screen acousmatic sound. It is a sound that sees but can not be seen. It talks, speaking the language of the evil of the fairy - tail : Ive found you and I am going to kill you. However, the laughter discloses some madness and a thoughtless confidence and gives hope to the spectator. We are in a fantasy world where anything could happen. The scene would have become more cruel and hopeless if there is no laughter and music at all. Evil that keeps its human characteristics (i.e confidence , ambition) in the shadow is more dreadful. Its power comes out of its silence. There is no hope in the shadow of the unknown. The laughter de- acousmatized some seconds later and its source become visible to us. In fact, we can say that it is a mental de acousmatization while we cannot see the twins laugh but can only conclude that they are them that produce the laughter. The laughter becomes a visualized sound some minutes later.

 The same laughter can be heard in the end of scene 2 when the ship stops in front of the twins. Now, it is visualized from the beginning. At first it is hesitant and then becomes louder and shriller as the camera moves away from the object (twins) and shows us the magnitude of the ship in contrast to the twins. This way, it emphasizes the superficial character of the wicked and makes us feel sure about the rescue of the good. It is the total demystification of the evil character. Analyzing the scene from 01:13:25 to 01:15:24 After the fleas animated action, the sound becomes more realistic. Ambience volume is increased again , and some materializing indices can be heard (hear the footsteps on the boat and ladders sound). Music here proves to be a sound bridge between the two images(the fless movements and the next scene) and keeps the same mysterious atmosphere, thus accompanies efficiently the acousmatic evil laughter of the twins. It is a successful attempt to keep this atmosphere until the real action begins (the moment when the twins start playing the gramophone).The laughter rouses the girls fear and curiosity who in turn climbs up the ladder to find out the source of the acousmatic laughter. We can hear now some non diegetic tones, part of the music that has been following the action for some seconds and follow the girls steps as she is walking up the

ladder. It seems as if the footsteps produce these 3 tones(1:13:28 fro 3 seconds) by themselves. This way, the spectators curiosity and agony increse. However, these tones are not exactly like the standard clichs that are usually used in such scenes. Some hope is hidden behind these tones. Someone could say that these three non-diegetic anempathetic sound tones do not fit well in the specific moment. They look like Micky mouses music where for example some synthesized piano tones follow Plutos footsteps while he tiptoes to catch a running bone. These tones remind us of the animated nature of the film and give us that fairy tail feeling, when the battle of the good and the evil is, in fact, a childrens game where the bad has to chase the good and the good must always be the winner. 6

Voice

In the scene, from 01:13:34 to 01:14:05, the ambience and pit music lay the red carpet for the dialogue. Clear frequency of the voice can be used as an index to understand the acoustical characteristics of the recording. We can hear a clear and direct dialogue with some reverb upon it, which is not compatible with the pictures location. Thus, someone can conclude that the dialogue is not recorded directly during the shooting but afterwards in the studio (post- synchronization). The post edited reverb along with the simultaneous speech of the twins, give an out world feeling. Evil becomes stronger and the moment more dreadful. It is interesting the fact that the reverb increases into the twins speech. This is easily understood the moment when the jewels hit the ground. The sound is dryer than the voices and uses only some of the reverb of the virtual reverberating space. This way the spectator focuses on the evil character whose power is increased. Its speech plays the role of the herald of the next scene where something bad is going to happen. Music Music starts when the flea comes into the action. It accompanies the fleas actions by creating the approporiate mysterious atmosphere and some instant lower notes follow the fleas movement as it jumps into ones head. This Micky Mousing tecnique is used to emphasize each particular action of the flea. Music keeps the same atmosphere into the next scene, and a similar Micky mousing technique is used to emphasize girls action. At the end of the dialague, some tone flactuations give tension to the moment and empasize twins words. Then the gramophone starts. The flea is led from gramophones melody, and does its bad work. This active melody can be characterized as leitmotif music. Every time we hear that music, the flea gives its performance. After the fleas work, the camera moves away from the characters and along with some pit music that accompanies the gramophone give tension to the scene. Then, although the twins are still playing the gramophone, we cannot hear it.The same melody (one octave lower) is palyed from the non-diegetic plane and accompanies Ones transformation. However, we can hear it again when the pitch of the melody is increased and the camera focuses on it. It is difficult to understand when exactly screen and pit music are played together. A wonderful waltz song is created from the diegetic and the non- diegetic position. Pitch fluctuations are used in order to change our feelings. The lower pitch makes us feel less agony but maybe more fear while the higher one more tension. At the end of the scene an extended high pitch note is played in order to accompany the tears fall into the spiders web emphasizing its action and pass into another space. 7

Diagram 2 : Music Analysis

01:13:15 Start of music score

01:13:45

01:14:15

01:14:45

01:15:15

01:15:25

Gramophone ea's action

focus on gramophone confusing moment

Action

Flea action footsteps on ladder

camera moves one get bad tension music

cry falls

twins speak

music score Music

music score

pit music (accompany gramophone & play melodie )

instant notes actuations

ambient pit music score Screen music(waltz)

High pitch low pitch

Sound Analysis Scene 2

This scene is chosen to be partially analyzed mainly because it is inextricably linked with the first one and their soundtracks serve the same aesthetics in different ways. Here there is no music at all as the directors want to focus on some fortuitous sound events that happen in another space near or far away of the action of the first scene. These sound events are magically connected with each other, as each one is actually the cause for the other. Living beings and inanimate things, play their musical unique instrument to compose a 2 and a half minute soundtrack to save the girl. We can hear very clear to each particular sound, while there is no ambience or pit music. Each sound MUST be unique and clear because they are extremely important for the story. We can hear some of them so clear that we can distinguish exactly their frequencies. Two examples of frequency diagrams are illustrated underneath.

Diagram 3: Frequency Diagrams

Parrots clear melody is generated from girls tear that hits the spiders web, which then it is mixed with a dogs bark and together signal the start of this funny concert. The sound of the animal, the machine, the human and nature work together to generate the ships action(01:16:38) and its horn is heard for one more time like a battle cry. In the end, the ship destroys everything in front of it, and produces loud and complicated sounds (in the wings effect) that are not easily distinguished. There are no clear and direct sounds as before. The magic kettle explodes and a fleet of different sounds comes out to fulfill its destiny. 9

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References about the symbols and sound analysis methods that have been used to the essay : 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Sonnenschein, D., Sound design: the expressive power of music, voice, and sound effects in cinema. 2001, Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions. xxiii, Michael Chion, Audio Vision: Sound on Screen , 1994.New York, Columbia university Press Michael Chion: The voice in Cinema, 1999.New York, Columbia university Press Peter Larsen, Film Music, 2005,London. Reaktion Books Ltd Prendergast, Film music:A neglected art, 1992 New York-London W.W Norton & Company, second edition Rick Altman, Sound theory Sound practice , 1992. New York-London Routledge Edward R.Tufte, Envisioning Information , 1990. Graphics Press

Software that is used for the diagrams: Matlab OmniGraffle Professional Audacity

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