Unit 38 - Sound track report - Two Movies

 Two Movies Sound Layers

Movie 1- The Dark Knight Rises

• Released: 20 July 2012
• Genre: Action, Crime, and Thriller
• Director: Christopher Nolan  

The Dark Knight Rises is the third film in a feature film trilogy.
It has been eight years since Batman taken the blame for the death of Harvey Dent. This is due to Batman taking the fall for Harvey Dent's murder. However, a new evil force named Bane has arrived in Gotham and aims to take over the city and expose the truth behind who Harvey Dent really was. As Bane starts taking over the city, it forces Batman to come out of retirement and fight.


Sound department: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm  



The department has a large team including three-foley artist and ten mixers. Hans Zimmer did the music for The Dark Knight Rises. Hans is an innovative Hollywood composer that has won an Oscar for his music in The Lion King. He was also nominated for another for his score on Christopher Nolan’s Inception. He has been working with Nolan on films for the past eight years and he worked closely with Richard King, supervising sound editor and sound design on this film.

Scene:Link to the Scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE08pz1soog 

The scene kicks offs of with a score that fades out when the lights go out and different score starts to fade in. this score that is associated with Batman so it makes us aware that Batman is back.  This stays playing until about halfway when Batman in corned. When he escapes the police it start once again. The sound has been edited to stop the score playing when Batman is not in control and it starts when he is.  The score is quite dominant and is non-diegetic and it there to accompany the action. The scene also contains sound effects when we hear police cars and other vehicles; this establishes the size of the chase between the cops, the robbers and Batman. There is a non-diegetic sound effect of a bike driver being grappled up off his bike. This noise is heard to make it clear about what has happened. It also makes the audience feel existed that Batman is back at his best with new gadgets. Halfway in the scene Batman walks into shot we hear a non-diegetic ‘thunder’ sound effect; this makes Batman’s present stronger on camera and would have made a large impact at the cinema. This sound effect works in parrallel to the  entrance of Batman. The last 40 seconds of the scene is diegetic sound that can be heard by the characters. Sound types like sync sound like dogs barking and dialogue. There is a use of Foley at the end on the scene when “The Bat” vehicle takes off.  Sound designer Ken Johnson came up with the idea to use a weed wacker and change the blades.  Three minutes into the scene when Batman is getting back on the Bat-Pod we see Batman go for right to left and the sound does the same.  The channel of sound matches the position of the character.  In a cinema it would have been 5.1-surround sound that would have tracked the moment of the Bat-Pod.   

A conclusion to the sound design of this scene is that it is designed to trill and excite the audience about Batman’s return. The sound adds to the verisimilitude of this world. Hans Zimmer and the sound department have desisted to use Batman’s theme score throughout the scene to establish that he is back and strong. There is a good balance of the other types of sound, which enhance key sounds. When they pause the score they use dialog and sound effects like vehicle noises, walky-talky and weapons; this adds a sense of a realistic atmosphere with action and danger. When we hear dialog between the police we anticipate for the out come of the chase. The use of surround sound makes use feel closer to the action.   
 

Movie 2 – The Wolf of Wall Street

• Released: 17 January 2014  
• Genre: Biography, Comedy, Crime 
• Director: Martin Scorsese

Sound department: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0993846/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm:

The department consists of forty crewmembers which four Foley editors. Eugene Gearty (sound effects editor / supervising sound editor) and Philip Stockton (dialogue editor / supervising sound editor) have both worked and won an Oscar for their work together on Hugo (Directed by Martin Scorsese). They have both worked together on Life of Pi. Robbie Robertson was a executive music producer for Wolf of Wall Street and has worked with Scorsese for over thirty years. He wanted to bring a “blues” style to the film. 

Scene:Link to the Scene:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P9KmDXIdP8  

The scene starts with just sync sound dialogue that makes us unaware where the characters are. Next we hear atmos of a diegetic storm with strong waves and lighting. This matches what we are seeing on screen. The atmos of the storm continues throughout the scene whilst there is dialogue for the characters. This scene mainly consists of sound effect atmos of the storm and dialogue. Two minutes when we can hear the sound of the helicopter braking and falling into the sea. This also would have been a sound effect. Before the water brakes into the yacht there is a “warning bleeping”, this would have been a sound effect. The sound of the glass being smashed would have been Foley. After this music starts to play. There is then a voice over of Jordan Bedford whilst the music is playing and there is also a sound of people cheering.  There is also a sound effect for a plane exploding.   

This scene starts off with realistic diegetic sound to make us feel apart of the scene. It continues like this until the water breaks in and then we view as a spectator. This happens because we start to hear non-diegetic sound like the music and the voice over.